1998 Olivier Nominations Announced

Nominations for the 22nd annual Olivier Awards, Britain's most prestigious theatre awards, were announced this week. Chicago and Lady in the Dark swept up with a number of nominations. Chicago comes out tops in the musical categories with seven nominations including two contenders for Best Actress in a Musical (both Ruthie Henshall and Ute Lemper).

The National's Lady in the Dark follows close behind with five nominations including Best New Musical and Best Actress in a Musical for Maria Friedman. New writing also fares well in the 1998 nominations as reflected in the Best New Play category which has expanded to five nominations for the first time ever.

The Olivier Awards are supported for the eighth year by American Express. This year's Awards are being given a totally new look. The lunchtime Awards ceremony will be hosted by TV presenter Clive Anderson on Monday, 16 February 1998 and will mix a snapshot of key events in the theatre year with presention of awards. Not all the winners will receive their awards conventionally. Some will be tracked down in unexpected places - on stage, in rehearsal or at home - to be presented. The Awards ceremony will be screened in the UK on BBC2 on 23 February at 9pm. For full details of the 78 nominations in 20 separate award categories, check out What's On Stage s full Olivier feature.

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