Theatre News

2009 Laurence Olivier Winners Announced Sunday

Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff

| London | London's West End |

6 March 2009

Winners of the 33rd annual Laurence Olivier Awards, London’s equivalent of the Tonys and the UK’s most prestigious stage awards, are announced this Sunday evening, 8 March 2009 (See News, 3 Feb 2009).

Full coverage & entertainment

On the night, Whatsonstage.com will be reporting live from the event, with details of winners across all 25 categories – the 24 shortlisted below and the annual Special Award given for overall career achievement – announced to you as they’re announced to the industry guests. In addition to up-to-the-minute results, our multimedia Oliviers coverage will include video footage, photo galleries, speech highlights, interactive discussion and in-depth analysis, capturing all of the event’s glitz, glamour and overall buzz.

ALL AWARDS COVERAGE IS AVAILABLE VIA OUR DEDICATED
LAURENCE OLIVIERS’ PAGE –
CLICK HERE NOW
!

This year’s star-studded Oliviers ceremony is hosted by James Nesbitt at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, with nominees, guest presenters and other VIPs confirmed to attend including: Lindsay Duncan, Penelope Wilton, Michael Gambon, Patrick Stewart, Derek Jacobi, Deanna Dunagan, David Bradley, Elena Roger, Ruthie Henshall, Denis Lawson, Douglas Hodge, Margaret Tyzack, Michael Grandage, Michael Boyd, Sonia Friedman, Sadie Frost, Imelda Staunton, Ian Lavender, Andrea Corr, Dominic Cooper, Sheridan Smith, David Hare, Pete Postlethwaite, Jason Donovan, Tom Chambers, Gareth Gates, Anton du Beke, Kevin Spacey, Jodie Prenger, Sian Phillips, Gillian Anderson, Rosalind Plowright, David Morrissey and Liza Goddard.

The evening’s entertainment will comprise performances from many of this year’s nominated – musicals Sunset Boulevard, La Cage aux Folles, Piaf, Zorro, West Side Story and Jersey Boys and cabaret troupe La Clique – as well as West End long-runners The Lion King and Mamma Mia!, both celebrating their tenth anniversaries this year. David Hare will also present a tribute to fellow playwright Harold Pinter, who passed away on Christmas Eve (See News, 25 Dec 2008).

Who’s in the running?

In terms of nomination tallies, the Donmar Warehouse leads the field with 13 nominations across four productions – The Chalk Garden (four nods) and Piaf (five), both originated at its Covent Garden home base, and Ivanov (two) and Twelfth Night (two) as part of its year-long Donmar West End season at Wyndham’s Theatre.

Other plays that have made strong showings on the shortlists include: the National Theatre of Scotland London debut production of Gregory Burke’s Black Watch (five) and, all with four nominations apiece, Steppenwolf’s premiere of Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County at the National, the Old Vic’s in-the-round revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s eight-play cycle of The Histories at the Roundhouse, and Kneehigh’s multimedia version of Brief Encounter at the specially created Cinema Haymarket.

In musical categories, La Cage aux Folles weighs in with seven nominations (more than any other single production in this year’s awards), while this year’s only Best New Musical contenders, Jersey Boys and Zorro, are both vying for prizes in five fields.

The Oliviers have this year introduced a new category celebrating ensemble work, entitled Best Company Performance. Last year’s new category of Best Newcomer in a Play has been dropped in 2009 and the occasional field of Best Entertainment re-inserted.

The Laurence Olivier Awards were created in 1976, then called the Society of West End Theatre Awards, to recognise excellence on the London stage. They were rebranded in 1984 when Lord Olivier agreed to have his name associated with them. The full list of nominations follows. (For full analysis of this year’s nominations: See News, 3 Feb 2009)).


How will the decisions of this year’s Olivier judges compare with those of the Evening Standard & Critics’ Circle judges as well as the public’s choices in our own Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers’ Choice Awards. Tune in on Sunday to find out!


The full list of 2009 Olivier nominations is as follows:

BEST ACTRESS

  • Deanna Dunagan for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY at the NT Lyttelton
  • Lindsay Duncan for THAT FACE at the Duke of York’s
  • Margaret Tyzack for THE CHALK GARDEN at the Donmar
  • Penelope Wilton for THE CHALK GARDEN at the Donmar

    BEST ACTOR

  • David Bradley for NO MAN’S LAND at the Duke of York’s
  • Michael Gambon for NO MAN’S LAND at the Duke of York’s
  • Adam Godley for RAIN MAN at the Apollo
  • Derek Jacobi for TWELFTH NIGHT, Donmar at Wyndham’s

    BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

  • Oliver Ford Davies for HAMLET at the Novello
  • Kevin R McNally for IVANOV, Donmar at Wyndham’s
  • Paul Ritter for THE NORMAN CONQUESTS at The Old Vic
  • Patrick Stewart for HAMLET at the Novello

    BEST COMPANY PERFORMANCE

  • AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY directed by Anna D Shapiro at the Lyttelton
  • BLACK WATCH directed by John Tiffany at the Barbican
  • THE HISTORIES directed by Michael Boyd at the Roundhouse
  • THE NORMAN CONQUESTS directed by Matthew Warchus at The Old Vic
  • SUNSET BOULEVARD directed by Craig Revel Horwood at the Comedy

    BEST NEW PLAY

  • AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY by Tracy Letts at the Lyttelton
  • BLACK WATCH by Gregory Burke at the Barbican
  • THE PITMEN PAINTERS by Lee Hall at the Cottesloe
  • THAT FACE by Polly Stenham at the Duke Of York’s

    BEST NEW COMEDY

  • FAT PIG by Neil La Bute at the Comedy
  • THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES by Joanna Murray-Smith at the Vaudeville
  • GOD OF CARNAGE by Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton at the Gielgud

    BEST REVIVAL

  • THE CHALK GARDEN directed by Michael Grandage at the Donmar
  • THE HISTORIES directed by Michael Boyd at the Roundhouse
  • THE NORMAN CONQUESTS directed by Matthew Warchus at The Old Vic

    BEST ENTERTAINMENT

  • Noel Coward’s BRIEF ENCOUNTER at the Cinema Haymarket
  • LA CLIQUE at the Hippodrome
  • MARIA FRIEDMAN: RE-ARRANGED at Trafalgar Studios 1

    BEST NEW MUSICAL

  • JERSEY BOYS The Story Of Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe at the Prince Edward
  • ZORRO book & lyrics by Stephen Clark, music by The Gipsy Kings, original story by Stephen Clark & Helen Edmundson, music co-composed and adapted by John Cameron at the Garrick

    BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL

  • LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the play “La Cage Aux Folles” by Jean Poiret, at the Playhouse Theatre.
  • PIAF by Pam Gems at the Donmar and Vaudeville
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber’s SUNSET BOULEVARD book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton, based on the Billy Wilder film at the Comedy
  • WEST SIDE STORY based on a conception by Jerome Robbins, book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, entire original production directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins at Sadler’s Wells

    BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

  • Sofia Escobar for WEST SIDE STORY at Sadler’s Wells
  • Kathryn Evans for SUNSET BOULEVARD at the Comedy
  • Ruthie Henshall for MARGUERITE at the Haymarket
  • Elena Roger for PIAF at the Donmar and Vaudeville
  • Emma Williams for ZORRO at the Garrick

    BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

  • Douglas Hodge for LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at the Playhouse
  • Denis Lawson for LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at the Playhouse
  • Ryan Molloy for JERSEY BOYS at the Prince Edward
  • Matt Rawle for ZORRO at the Garrick

    BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL

  • Alexander Hanson for MARGUERITE at the Haymarket
  • Katherine Kingsley for PIAF at the Donmar and Vaudeville
  • Lesli Margherita for ZORRO at the Garrick
  • Jason Pennycooke for LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at the Playhouse
  • Dave Willetts for SUNSET BOULEVARD at the Comedy

    BEST DIRECTOR

  • Terry Johnson for LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at the Playhouse
  • Des McAnuff for JERSEY BOYS at the Prince Edward
  • Emma Rice for BRIEF ENCOUNTER at the Cinema Haymarket
  • John Tiffany for BLACK WATCH at the Barbican

    BEST THEATRE CHOREOGRAPHER

  • Rafael Amargo for ZORRO at the Garrick
  • Steven Hoggett for BLACK WATCH at the Barbican
  • Lynne Page for LA CAGE AUX FOLLES at the Playhouse
  • Kate Prince for INTO THE HOODS at the Novello
  • Sergio Trujillo for JERSEY BOYS at the Prince Edward

    BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

  • THE CHALK GARDEN designed by Paule Constable at the Donmar
  • IVANOV designed by Paule Constable, Donmar at Wyndham’s
  • NO MAN’S LAND designed by Neil Austin at the Duke of York’s
  • PIAF designed by Neil Austin at the Donmar and Vaudeville

    BEST SET DESIGN

  • AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY designed by Todd Rosenthal at the Lyttelton
  • BRIEF ENCOUNTER designed by Neil Murray, projections by Gemma Carrington and Jon Driscoll at the Cinema Haymarket
  • THE HISTORIES designed by Tom Piper at the Roundhouse
  • THE LOVER AND THE COLLECTION designed by Soutra Gilmour at the Comedy
  • MARGUERITE designed by Paul Brown at the Haymarket

    BEST COSTUME DESIGN

  • THE HISTORIES designed by Tom Piper and Emma Williams at the Roundhouse
  • LA CAGE AUX FOLLES designed by Matthew Wright at the Playhouse
  • THE NORMAN CONQUESTS designed by Rob Howell at The Old Vic
  • TWELFTH NIGHT designed by Christopher Oram, Donmar at Wyndham’s

    BEST SOUND DESIGN

  • BLACK WATCH designed by Gareth Fry at the Barbican
  • BRIEF ENCOUNTER designed by Simon Baker at the Cinema Haymarket
  • JERSEY BOYS designed by Steve Canyon Kennedy at the Prince Edward
  • PIAF designed by Christopher Shutt, Max & Ben Ringham at the Donmar and Vaudeville

    OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN AN AFFILIATE THEATRE

  • The ensemble cast of OXFORD STREET, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court
  • The Royal Court Theatre’s production of THE PRIDE, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs
  • Clive Rowe for his performance in MOTHER GOOSE at Hackney Empire
  • Jo Newbery for the design of SCARBOROUGH, Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court

    BEST NEW OPERA PRODUCTION

  • The Royal Opera’s DON CARLO at the Royal Opera House
  • The Royal Opera’s THE MINOTAUR at the Royal Opera House
  • English National Opera’s I PAGLIACCI at the Coliseum
  • English National Opera’s PARTENOPE at the Coliseum

    OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN OPERA

  • Patricia Bardon for her performances in The Royal Opera’s THE RAKE’S PROGRESS at the Royal Opera House and English National Opera’s PARTENOPE and RIDERS TO THE SEA at the Coliseum
  • Feruccio Furlanetto for his performance in the Royal Opera’s DON CARLO at the Royal Opera House
  • Ed Gardner for conducting English National Opera’s BORIS GODUNOV, CAVALLIERA RUSTICANA, DER ROSENKAVALIER, I PAGLIACCI, RIDERS TO THE SEA at the Coliseum and PUNCH AND JUDY at the Young Vic
  • Christine Rice for her performances in the Royal Opera’s THE MINOTAUR at the Royal Opera House and English National Opera’s PARTENOPE at the Coliseum

    BEST NEW DANCE PRODUCTION

  • Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal’s CAFÉ MULLER/ THE RITE OF SPRING at Sadler’s Wells
  • The Royal Ballet of Flanders’ IMPRESSING THE CZAR at Sadler’s Wells
  • The Royal Ballet’s INFRA at the Royal Opera House
  • DV8’s TO BE STRAIGHT WITH YOU at the Lyttelton

    OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE

  • The company of the Royal Ballet of Flanders for their performances in IMPRESSING THE CZAR at Sadler’s Wells
  • The company of the The Royal Ballet for their performances in INFRA
  • Savion Glover, Marshall Davis Jr and Maurice Chestnut for their performances in Savion Glover’s BARE SOUNDZ at Sadler’s Wells

    ALL AWARDS COVERAGE IS AVAILABLE VIA OUR DEDICATED
    LAURENCE OLIVIERS’ PAGE –
    CLICK HERE NOW
    !

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