Show Boat leads UK Theatre Award nominations

The nominations have been announced for this year's UK Theatre Awards.

Cameron Mackintosh's production of Half a Sixpence is nominated for Best Musical Production, following the announcement it would be transferring to the West End, alongside Flowers for Mrs Harris and Show Boat.

The show's lead, Charlie Stemp, is also nominated for Best Performance In A Musical, with Clare Burt for Flowers… and Allyson Ava-Brown, Jennifer Saayeng and Nina Toussaint-White all nominated for their parts in The Etienne Sisters.

The nominations for best new play include Charlene James' Cuttin' It, Folk by Tom Wells, and Zinnie Harris' The Relentless House.

Robert Hastie (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Samuel Hodges (The Glass Menagerie) and Raz Shaw for Wit are nominated for best director.

Sir Ian McKellen will be given the award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre in recognition of his "tireless work both in championing diversity and for his commitment to theatre, including touring productions, across the country." McKellen will open in No Man's Land with Patrick Stewart later this month.

The ceremony will take place on Sunday 9 October at Guildhall, London, and will be compered by Lesley Manville OBE.

The nominations in full are:

Best New Play

• Folk by Tom Wells, a Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Hull Truck Theatre and Watford Palace Theatre production

• Cuttin' It by Charlene James, a Young Vic/Royal Court Theatre co-production with Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Sheffield Theatre and The Yard Theatre

• This Restless House by Zinnie Harris, a Citizens Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland production

Best Musical Production

• Flowers for Mrs Harris directed by Daniel Evans, a Sheffield Theatres Production

• Half a Sixpence directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, a Chichester Festival Theatre and Cameron Mackintosh production

• Show Boat directed by Daniel Evans, a Sheffield Theatres production

Best Touring Production

• A Raisin in the Sun directed by Dawn Walton an Eclipse Theatre Company, Belgrade Theatre Coventry and Sheffield Theatres production

• The Herbal Bed directed by James Dacre, an English Touring Theatre, Royal & Derngate Northampton and Rose Theatre Kingston production

• Toast directed by Eleanor Rhode, a Snapdragon Production

Best Show For Children And Young People

• Gangsta Granny, a Birmingham Stage Company production

• The Hobbit, a The Dukes production

• Little Red and the Wolf, a Dundee Rep Ensemble production

Best Director

• Robert Hastie for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a Theatr Clwyd production

• Samuel Hodges for The Glass Menagerie, a Nuffield Theatre production

• Raz Shaw for Wit, a Royal Exchange Theatre production

Best Performance In A Play

• Paapa Essiedu for Hamlet, a Royal Shakespeare Company production

• Julie Hesmondhalgh for Wit, a Royal Exchange Theatre production

• James McArdle for Young Chekhov: Platonov and Ivanov, a Chichester Festival Theatre production

Best Performance In A Musical

• Clare Burt for Flowers for Mrs Harris, a Sheffield Theatres Production

• Charlie Stemp for Half a Sixpence, a Chichester Festival Theatre and Cameron Mackintosh production

• Allyson Ava-Brown, Jennifer Saayeng and Nina Toussaint-White for The Etienne Sisters, a Theatre Royal Stratford East production

Best Supporting Performance

• Emmanuel Kojo for Show Boat, a Sheffield Theatres production

• Rebecca Trehearn for Show Boat, a Sheffield Theatres production

• Olivia Vinall for Young Chekhov: The Seagull, a Chichester Festival Theatre production

Best Design

• Lez Brotherston for Flowers for Mrs Harris and Show Boat, a Sheffield Theatres productions

• Max Dorey and Sally Ferguson for And Then Come the Nightjars, a Theatre503 and Bristol Old Vic production in association with Tara Finney Productions

• Robert Jones for Strife, a Chichester Festival Theatre production

Achievement In Opera

• The Royal Opera and Guildhall School Of Music and Drama for 4.48 PSYCHOSIS in association with the Lyric Hammersmith

• Scottish Opera and Music Theatre Wales for The Devil Inside

• Welsh National Opera for Figaro Gets A Divorce and In Parenthesis

Achievement In Dance

• Dance Consortium for bringing back the exceptional dancers of Nederlands Dans Theater 2 for a UK tour

• Gary Clarke for his vital, heartfelt and socially relevant dance-theatre production Coal

• Northern Ballet for commissioning two striking new contemporary ballets: Jonathan Watkins’ 1984 and Cathy Marston’s Jane Eyre

Promotion Of Diversity

• Belgrade Theatre

• Eclipse Theatre Company

• Oldham Coliseum

UK Theatre Insurance Award For Theatre Employee Or Manager Of The Year

• Kevin Shaw, Oldham Coliseum

• Diane Belding, Liverpool Empire Theatre

• Neil Chandler, New Wimbledon Theatre

Achievement In Marketing

• Birmingham Hippodrome

• York Theatre Royal

• Northern Ballet

The Renee Stepham Award For Best Presentation Of Touring Theatre

• Curve On Tour

• Northern Stage

• Northern Ballet