EGN NEWS DESK
A revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard,” starring Nicole Scherzinger as a former display screen idol descending into insanity, acquired essentially the most nominations on Tuesday for this yr’s Olivier Awards, Britain’s equal of the Tonys.
The present, which ran on the Savoy Theater in London and can switch to Broadway this yr, is within the working for 11 awards — two greater than some other play or musical — together with greatest musical revival, greatest actress in a musical for Scherzinger and greatest director for Jamie Lloyd.
When the manufacturing opened final fall, it impressed London’s typically demanding theater critics. Matt Wolf, writing in The New York Times, stated the manufacturing was, like its lead character, “a bit mad: reckless and daring, stretching its supply materials to the restrict and past.”
“I can’t think about one other London present producing comparable buzz this season,” Wolf added.
Lloyd’s maverick manufacturing options hand-held cameras which can be used to highlight characters’ feelings at pivotal moments. Although critics appreciated the approach, Lloyd faces stiff competitors in the perfect director class.
The different nominees embody Sam Mendes for “The Motive and the Cue,” which debuted final spring on the National Theater. The play, by Jack Thorne, dramatizes a fraught backstage relationship between Richard Burton and John Gielgud as they rehearse a Broadway manufacturing.
Rupert Goold can be nominated for greatest director, for “Dear England,” a play concerning the English nationwide soccer group that additionally ran on the National Theater and transferred to the West End. That present secured 9 nominations.
Despite receiving combined critiques, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a theatrical prequel to the Netflix present that’s working on the Phoenix Theater, secured 5 nominations, together with greatest new leisure or comedy play. Houman Barekat, reviewing the manufacturing in The New York Times, stated it was “precisely what you’d count on from a present co-produced by Netflix: Cheap thrills, expensively made.”
This yr’s nominations embody a touch of TV glamour in lots of classes. Among the nominees for greatest actress in a play are Sarah Jessica Parker for “Plaza Suite,” which runs by means of April 13 on the Savoy Theater, and Sarah Snook (of “Succession”) for a one-woman “The Picture of Dorian Gray” on the Theater Royal Haymarket, by means of May 11.
They will compete for that title towards Laura Donnelly for “The Hills of California” on the Harold Pinter Theater, Sheridan Smith for “Shirley Valentine” on the Duke of York’s Theater, and Sophie Okonedo for “Medea” at @sohoplace.
The greatest actor nominees embody Andrew Scott for a one-man “Vanya” on the Duke of York’s Theater, and James Norton for his efficiency in “A Little Life” on the Harold Pinter Theater. The different nominees are Joseph Fiennes for “Dear England,” Mark Gatiss for “The Motive and the Cue,” and David Tennant for “Macbeth” on the Donmar Warehouse.
The winners of this yr’s awards are scheduled to be introduced April 14 in a ceremony on the Royal Albert Hall in London.
