Andrew Lloyd Webber Musical, ‘Love Never Dies,’ Grabs Seven Olivier Nominations

Broadway buffs will have to wait until late spring for this year’s Tony nominations, but on the other side of the pond today (February 7), the Laurence Olivier nominations were announced to honor outstanding work on the London stage from 2010. Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s new musical, the Phantom of the Opera sequel Love Never Dies, scored a field-leading seven nominations, including Best New Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (Sierra Boggess), and Best Actor in a Musical (Ramin Karimloo). A revival of Terence Rattigan‘s play, After the Dance, received six nods.

Longtime BBC America viewers will want to congratulate Tamsin Greig, best known for her roles on the comedies Black Books and Green Wing. She’s up for a Best Actress in a Play Olivier for her role as a tart-tongued Hollywood agent in A Little Dog Laughed. (American actress Julie White won a Tony for playing the same part back in 2007.) It’s been a great year for Greig, as her new sitcom, the Matt LeBlanc-led Episodes, has been a critical and ratings hit for Showtime.

The Best Actor in a Play field is so overstuffed with legendary talent that the Oliviers expanded the category to five nominees: last year’s Best Actor, Mark Rylance, could make it two in a row for his part as the foul jokester Valere in La Bête. (After moving the show to Broadway late last year with co-stars David Hyde Pierce and Joanna Lumley, Rylance is also deemed a leading contender for the Tony.)

Rylance is heralded as the great Shakespearean actor of our time, and this year finds him vying against three actors performing the Bard’s works: Roger Allam in Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, Sir Derek Jacobi in King Lear, and Rory Kinnear in Hamlet. Lastly, David Suchet a.k.a. TV’s Poirot is nominated for his performance in Arthur Miller‘s All My Sons.

Here’s the full list of nominees (via The Stage):

BEST ACTRESS

• Tracie Bennett for End of the Rainbow at the Trafalgar Studios 1

• Nancy Carroll for After the Dance at the NT Lyttelton

• Tamsin Greig for The Little Dog Laughed at the Garrick

• Sophie Thompson for Clybourne Park at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court

BEST ACTOR

• Roger Allam for Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

• Derek Jacobi for King Lear at the Donmar Warehouse

• Rory Kinnear for Hamlet at the Olivier

• Mark Rylance for La Bete at the Comedy

• David Suchet for All My Sons at the Apollo

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Sarah Goldberg for Clybourne Park at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court

• Anastasia Hille for The Master Builder at the Almeida

• Gina McKee for King Lear at the Donmar Warehouse

• Rachael Stirling for An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville

• Michelle Terry for Tribes at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• James Laurenson for Hamlet at the Olivier

• Hilton McRae for End of the Rainbow at the Trafalgar Studios 1

• Lee Ross for Birdsong at the Comedy

• Adrian Scarborough for After the Dance at the National Theatre, Lyttelton

MASTERCARD BEST NEW PLAY

• Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court

• End of the Rainbow by Peter Quilter at the Trafalgar Studios 1

• Sucker Punch by Roy Williams at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court

• The Little Dog Laughed by Douglas Carter Beane at the Garrick

• Tribes by Nina Raine at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court

BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL

• Into the Woods at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

• Passion at the Donmar Warehouse

• Sweet Charity at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

BEST NEW MUSICAL

• Fela! book by Jim Lewis and Bill T Jones, music and lyrics by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, additional lyrics by Jim Lewis, arrangements and additional music by Aaron Johnson and Jordan McLean at the National Theatre, Olivier

• Legally Blonde the Musical book by Heather Hach, music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefeand Nell Benjamin at the Savoy

• Love Never Dies music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater, book by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton at the Adelphi

• Love Story by Erich Segal, book and lyrics by Stephen Clark, music and additional lyrics byHoward Goodall at the Duchess

BEST ENTERTAINMENT

• Beauty and the Beast devised by Katie Mitchell, text by Lucy Kirkwood at the Cottesloe

• Ghost Stories by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman at the Duke of York’s

• Potted Panto by Daniel Clarkson, Jefferson Turner and Richard Hurst at the Vaudeville

• The Railway Children by E Nesbit, adapted by Mike Kenny at the Waterloo Station Theatre

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

• Sierra Boggess for Love Never Dies at the Adelphi

• Elena Roger for Passion at the Donmar Warehouse

• Sheridan Smith for Legally Blonde the Musical at the Savoy

• Emma Williams for Love Story at the Duchess

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL

• Alex Gaumond for Legally Blonde the Musical at the Savoy

• Ramin Karimloo for Love Never Dies at the Adelphi

• Sahr Ngaujah for Fela! at the Olivier

• David Thaxton for Passion at the Donmar Warehouse

• Michael Xavier for Love Story at the Duchess

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MUSICAL

• Josefina Gabrielle for Sweet Charity at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket

• Jill Halfpenny for Legally Blonde the Musical at the Savoy

• Summer Strallen for Love Never Dies at the Adelphi

• Michael Xavier for Into the Woods at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

BEST DIRECTOR

• Dominic Cooke for Clybourne Park at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court

• Howard Davies for The White Guard at the National Theatre, Lyttelton

• Michael Grandage for King Lear at the Donmar Warehouse

• Thea Sharrock for After the Dance at the National Theatre, Lyttelton

BEST REVIVAL

• After the Dance directed by Thea Sharrock at the National Theatre, Lyttelton

• All My Sons directed by Howard Davies at the Apollo

• King Lear directed by Michael Grandage at the Donmar Warehouse

• When We Are Married directed by Christopher Luscombe at the Garrick

BEST THEATRE CHOREOGRAPHER

• Leon Baugh for Sucker Punch at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court

• Bill T Jones for Fela! at the National Theatre, Olivier

• Stephen Mear for Sweet Charity at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket

• Jerry Mitchell for Legally Blonde – the Musical at the Savoy

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN

• After the Dance designed by Mark Henderson at National Theatre, Lyttelton

• Deathtrap designed by Hugh Vanstone at the No‚àö¬¥l Coward

• Love Never Dies designed by Paule Constable at the Adelphi

• The White Guard designed by Neil Austin at the National Theatre, Lyttelton

XL VIDEO AWARD FOR BEST SET DESIGN

• Design for Living designed by Lez Brotherston at the Old Vic

• Earthquakes in London designed by Miriam Buether at the National Theatre, Cottesloe

• Love Never Dies designed by Bob Crowley at the Adelphi

• The White Guard designed by Bunny Christie at the National Theatre, Lyttelton

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• After the Dance designed by Hildegard Bechtler at the National Theatre, Lyttelton

• Design for Living designed by Lez Brotherston at the Old Vic

• London Assurance designed by Mark Thompson at the National Theatre, Olivier

• Love Never Dies designed by Bob Crowley at the Adelphi

BEST SOUND DESIGN

• End of the Rainbow designed by Gareth Owen at the Trafalgar Studios 1

• Ghost Stories designed by Nick Manning at the Duke of York’s

• King Lear designed by Adam Cork at the Donmar Warehouse

• The Railway Children designed by Craig Vear at the Waterloo Station Theatre

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN AN AFFILIATE THEATRE

• The Royal Court and Drum Theatre Plymouth for Empire at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court

• Soho Theatre and ATC for Ivan and the Dogs Trafalgar Studios 2

• Donmar Warehouse for Les Parents Terribles

• Lyric Hammersmith for Blasted

BEST NEW OPERA PRODUCTION

• English National Opera and Young Vic’s Elegy for Young Lovers at the Young Vic

• De Nederlandse Opera, English National Opera and Complicite’s A Dog’s Heart at the London Coliseum

• Royal Opera, Vienna State Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Liceu, Barcelona, and Opera Bastille’s Adriana Lecouvreur at the Royal Opera House

• OperaUpClose and Soho Theatre’s La Boheme at the Soho Theatre

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN OPERA

• Jonas Kaufmann for his performance in the Royal Opera’s Adriana Lecouvreur at the Royal Opera House

• Andrew Shore for his performance in English National Opera’s The Elixir Of Love at the London Coliseum

• Christian Gerhaher for his performance in the Royal Opera’s Tannhauser at the Royal Opera House

BEST NEW DANCE PRODUCTION

• Mambo 3XX1 by Danza Contemporanea de Cuba at Sadler’s Wells, choreographed byGeorge Cespedes

• Babel (Words) by Eastman vzw and Theatre Royal de la Monnaie at Sadler’s Wells, choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet

• Cinderella by New Adventures at Sadler’s Wells, choreographed by Matthew Bourne

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE

• John MacFarlane for his designs for Asphodel Meadows by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House

• Antony Gormley for his set design of Babel (Words) by Eastman vzw and Theatre Royal de la Monnaie at Sadler’s Wells

• Yoshi Sunahata for her drumming in Gnosis by Akram Khan at Sadler’s Wells