The nominations for The Olivier Awards 2014 with MasterCard – the most prestigious event in the UK’s theatrical calendar – were announced today (Monday 10 March) by Nigel Harman and Leigh Zimmerman with the full list of nominations available below and online at www.olivierawards.com.
New musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along lead the list with seven nominations, followed by the Best New Musical nominees Once, The Book of Mormon and The Scottsboro Boys each receiving six nominations. A good year for the Almeida is marked with ten nominations including two in the Best New Play category for Chimerica and 1984, and a Best Revival nomination for Ghosts.
In the coveted categories of Best Actor and Best Actress, Jude Law and Judi Dench receive nominations for their performances in Henry V and Peter and Alice respectively, both part of the successful Michael Grandage Season at the Noël Coward Theatre, which receives four acting nominations in total. They compete with Tom Hiddleston, Henry Goodman and Rory Kinnear for Best Actor, and Anna Chancellor, Lesley Manville and Hayley Atwell for Best Actress.
The Best New Comedy category makes a welcome return with original productions The Duck House, The Full Monty, Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense and The Same Deep Water As Me all vying for the award.
Women dominate the Best Director category with Maria Friedman (Merrily We Roll Along), Susan Stroman (The Scottsboro Boys) and Lyndsey Turner (Chimerica) up against Richard Eyre for his staging of Ghosts.
The highly anticipated shortlist for the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award – the only Olivier Award voted for by the public – is Matilda The Musical, Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera and Wicked.
Contemporary dance is strongly represented with nominations split between the Royal Opera House, the Barbican and Sadler’s Wells. Notable opera nominations include Les Vĕpres Siciliennes at the Royal Opera House and English National Opera’s new staging of Berg’s Wozzeck up for Best New Opera Production. English Touring Opera and the Royal Opera House are both nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Opera.
Nominations for the Affiliate category cover the breadth of London with Theatre Royal Stratford East and the Bush Theatre competing against the Soho Theatre and the Tricycle Theatre for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.
The star-studded 2014 Olivier Awards ceremony will take place at the Royal Opera House on Sunday 13 April with a full television highlights package broadcast on ITV later that evening.
MasterCard will make tickets for the 2014 ceremony available to the public on Monday 10 March at www.pricelesslondon.co.uk.
Mark Rubinstein, President of the Society of London Theatre, said: “Congratulations to all of this year’s Olivier Award nominees whose incredible talents lit up the West End and contributed to another record-breaking year. Thank you to MasterCard and all of our sponsors for ensuring the Olivier Awards are such a tremendous celebration of London theatre.”
Paul Trueman, Head of Marketing, MasterCard UK & Ireland, commented: “We are delighted once again to be supporting the Oliver Awards. Through this partnership we will be surprising and delighting theatre fans with Priceless experiences that bring them closer to their passion and the 2014 Olivier Awards and from today, tickets for the night are available on www.pricelesslondon.co.uk. Our support of London theatre continues after the Oliver Awards with the West End Live weekend in June and our work with independent theatre shows through the year. For more information on how to be part of our Priceless experiences, please follow @MasterCardUK.”
To keep up with the latest Olivier Awards news and engage with the Awards online visit Facebook.com/olivierawards, Twitter and Instagram @OlivierAwards #oliviers.