The nominations for this year’s 2018 Olivier Awards have been announced with Hamilton (unsurprisingly) leading the way with 13 nominations. Here’s Love London Love Culture’s thoughts….
Ok I’m just going to get this off my chest first of all before moving on to predictions for this year’s awards – I’m slightly disappointed with how predictable it is this year with Hamilton gaining the most nominations. A worthy show of course to be nominated but it does mean in some categories there is a lack of diversity in the shows being celebrated.
Right, now that’s out of the way, for those who haven’t heard who has been nominated for what in the main categories let’s take a closer look.
In terms of musicals, Hamilton might be leading the way with nominations – but it does have some pretty strong competition to beat off. In the Supporting Actor in a Musical is a strong Hamilton category with Michael Jibson, Jason Pennycooke, Cleve September being nominated alongside the hilarious Ross Noble who has been nominated for his performance in Young Frankenstein – this is a category that certainly could have been more reflective of the diverse musicals that have been presented in the UK this year.
Meanwhile, Best Supporting Actress in a Musical is a difficult one to predict with Sheila Atim(Girl from the North Country) Tracie Bennett (Follies) Lesley Joseph (Young Frankenstein) and Rachel John (Hamilton) all going head to head.
Outstanding Achievement in Music sees Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Hamilton, Follies and Girl From the North Country all nominated. It would be fabulous to see Everybody’s Talking About Jamie winning given the fact it is one of the strongest musicals to be created in the UK for a long time.
42nd Street, Follies and On the Town at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre are all nominated for Best Musical Revival. Although I’m personally backing 42nd Street, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Olivier Award went to Follies.
The Best Actor in a Musical Award sees Ciarán Hinds (Girl from the North Country) John McCrea (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), Giles Terera (Hamilton) and Jamael Westman (Hamilton) all nominated. Prediction? John McCrea.
Janie Dee, Shirley Henderson, Imelda Staunton and Josie Walker have all been nominated for Best Actress in a Musical with either Janie Dee or Josie Walker strong favourites in the category.
The Best New Musical category is formed of An American in Paris, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Girl From the North Country, Hamilton and Young Frankenstein. It would be easy to put Hamilton as the favourite, but again it would be great to see Everybody’s Talking About Jamie winning this one.
Meanwhile, the Best Actor category has a strong list of contenders formed of Paddy Considine, Bryan Cranston, Andrew Garfield and Andrew Scott. Given the success of The Ferryman it would be a surprise if Paddy Considine didn’t win it.
Best Actress sees Laura Donnelly, Lesley Manville, Audra McDonald, Imelda Staunton all nominated, but I personally hope that Audra McDonald wins for her performance in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill – as that was a stupendous and heartbreaking performance.
It would be a surprise if The Ferryman didn’t win Best New play – despite some strong competition from Ink, Network and Oslo. The Ferryman has proved to be a strong success at both the Royal Court Theatre and the West End, where it is playing until May.
Other nominations include:
Best entertainment and family
David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny at Garrick theatre
Derren Brown: Underground at Playhouse theatre
Dick Whittington at London Palladium
Five Guys Named Moe at Marble Arch theatre
Best theatre choreographer
Andy Blankenbuehler for Hamilton at Victoria Palace theatre
Bill Deamer for Follies at National theatre – Olivier
Kate Prince for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at Apollo theatre
Randy Skinner for 42nd Street at Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Christopher Wheeldon for An American in Paris at Dominion theatre
Best revival
Angels in America at National theatre – Lyttelton
Hamlet at Almeida theatre
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Harold Pinter theatre
Witness for the Prosecution at London County Hall
Best new comedy
Dry Powder at Hampstead theatre
Labour of Love at Noël Coward theatre
Mischief Movie Night at Arts theatre
The Miser at Garrick theatre
Outstanding achievement in affiliate theatre
The B*easts at Bush theatre
Killology at Jerwood Theatre Upstairs – Royal Court theatre
The Red Lion at Trafalgar Studios 2
The Revlon Girl at Park theatre
Best lighting design
Howell Binkley for Hamilton at Victoria Palace theatre
Paule Constable for Angels in America at National theatre – Lyttelton
Paule Constable for Follies at National theatre – Olivier
Jan Versweyveld for Network at National theatre – Lyttelton
Best sound design
Tom Gibbons for Hamlet at Almeida theatre
Gareth Owen for Bat Out of Hell the Musical at London Coliseum
Eric Sleichim for Network at National theatre
Nevin Steinberg for Hamilton at Victoria Palace theatre
Best costume design
Hugh Durrant for Dick Whittington at London Palladium
Roger Kirk for 42nd Street at Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Vicki Mortimer for Follies at National theatre – Olivier
Paul Tazewell for Hamilton at Victoria Palace theatre
Best set design
Bunny Christie for Ink at Almeida theatre and Duke of York’s theatre
Bob Crowley and 59 Productions for An American in Paris at Dominion theatre
Rob Howell for The Ferryman at Gielgud theatre and Jerwood Theatre Downstairs – Royal Court theatre
Vicki Mortimer for Follies at National theatre
Best actor in a supporting role
Bertie Carvel for Ink at Almeida theatre and Duke of York’s theatre
John Hodgkinson for The Ferryman at Gielgud theatre and Jerwood Theatre Downstairs – Royal Court theatre
James McArdle for Angels in America at National theatre – Lyttelton
Peter Polycarpou for Oslo at Harold Pinter theatre
Best actress in a supporting role
Bríd Brennan for The Ferryman at Gielgud theatre and Jerwood Theatre Downstairs – Royal Court theatre
Denise Gough for Angels in America at National theatre – Lyttelton
Dearbhla Molloy for The Ferryman at Gielgud theatre and Jerwood Theatre Downstairs – Royal Court theatre
Imogen Poots for Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? at Harold Pinter theatre
Overall, it is a very mixed bag and it will be interesting to see what happens at the awards when the ceremony takes place in April. But currently it is looking like that Hamilton will do the best out of all the shows nominated.
The Olivier Awards take place at the Royal Albert Hall on the 8th April. For more information visit: https://officiallondontheatre.com/olivier-awards/