In New York they have Broadway where the annual Tony Awards honour the best in Broadway Theatre; in the United Kingdom they have the West End where the annual Olivier Awards pay tribute to the best in British theatre.

On February 28 via YouTube, the Olivier Awards released the list of nominees for the 2023 Awards presentation.  The winners will be revealed on April 2 at a gala event at Royal Albert Hall.

The comedic play “My Neighbour Totoro” leads the list of nominations with nine.  “Jack and the Beanstalk”, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”, “Good”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, and “Standing at the Sky’s Edge” also earned multiple nominations.

The nominees for the 2023 Oliver Awards are:
Best Entertainment or Comedy Play:
“Jack and the Beanstalk”
“My Neighbour Totoro”
“My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?”
“One Woman Show”

Best Family Show:
“Blippi the Musical”
“Hey Duggee the Live Theatre Show”
“Midsummer Mechanicals”
“The Smartest Giant in Town”

Best Theatre Choreographer:
Matt Cole for “Newsies”
Lynn Page for “Standing at the Sky’s Edge”
Kate Prince for “Sylvia”
Basil Twist for “My Neighbour Totoro”

Best Costume Design:
Frankie Bradshaw for “Blues for an Alabama Sky”
Hugh Durrant for “Jack and the Beanstalk”
Jean Paul Gaultier for “Jean Paul Gaultier Fashinon Freak Show”
Kimie Nakano for “My Neighbour Totoro”

Best Revival of a Play:
“Good”
“Jerusalem”
“A Streetcar Named Desire”

Best Musical Revival:
“My Fair Lady”
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”
“Sister Act”
“South Pacific”

Best Sound Design:
Bobby Aitken for “Standing at the Sky’s Edge”
Tony Gayle for “My Neighbour Totoro”
Drew Levy for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”
Ben and Max Ringham for “Prima Facie”

Best Original Score or New Orchestrations:
David Yazbek for “Jamshied”
Sharifi and Andrea Grody for “The Band’s Visit”
Joe Hisaishi and Will Stuart for “My Neighbour Totoro”
Daniel Kluger and Nathan Koci for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”
Richard Hawley and Tom Deering for “Standing at the Sky’s Edge”

Best Supporting Actor in a Play:
Mark Akintimehin, Emmanuel Akwafo, Nnabiko Ejimofor, Darragh Hand, Aruna Jalloh, and Kaine Lawrence in “For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Get too Heavy”
Will Keen in “Patriots”
Elliot Levey in “Good”
David Moorst in “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Sule Rimi in “Blues for an Alabama Sky”

Best Supporting Actress in a Play:
Rose Ayling-Ellis in “As You Like It”
Pamela Nomvete in “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Caroline Quentin in “Jack Absolute Flies Again”
Sharon Small in “Good”
Anjana Vasan in “A Streetcar Named Desire”

Best Set Design:
Miriam Buether for “To Kill a Mockingbird”
“Tom Pye for “My Neighbour Totoro”
Ben Stones for “Standing at the Sky’s Edge”
Mark Walters for “Jack and the Beanstalk”

Best Lighting Design:
Natasha Chivers for “Prima Facie”
Lee Curran For “A Streetcar named Desire”
Jessica Hung Han Yun for “My Neighbour Totoro”
Tim Lutkin for “The Crucible”

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical:
Beverley Knight in “Sylvia”
Maimuna Memon in “Standing at the Sky’s Edge”
Liza Sadovy in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”
Marisha Wallace in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical:
Sharif Afifi in “The Band’s Visit”
Peter Polycarpou in “The Band’s Visit”
Clive Rowe in “Sister Act”
Zubin Varla in “Tammy Faye”

Best New Opera Production:
“Alcina” by the Royal Opera
“Least Like the Other” by the Irish National Opera and the Royal Opera
“Peter Grimes” by the Royal Opera
“Sibyl” by the Barbican Theatre

Outstanding Achievement in Opera:
Sinead Campbell-Wallace in “Tosca”
William Kentridge for “Sibyl”
Antony McDonald for “Alcina”

Best Actor in a Musical:
Alon Moni Aboutboul in “The Band’s Visit”
Arthur Darvill in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”
Julian Ovenden in “South Pacific”
Andrew Rannells in “Tammy Faye”

Best Actress in a Musical:
Katie Brayben in “Tammy Faye”
Anoushka Lucas in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma”
Miri Mesika in “The Band’s Visit”
Faith Omole in “Standing at the Sky’s Edge”

Best New Dance Production:
Crystal Pite for “Light of Passage”
La Veronal for “Pasionaria”
Ivan Michael Blackstock for “Traplord”
Peeping Tom for “Triptych (The Missing Door, The Lost Room, and The Hidden Floor)”

Outstanding Achievement in Dance:
Manuel Linan for “VIVA!”
Dickson Mbi for “Enowate”
Raquel Meseguer Zafe for “Ruination by Lost Dog”
Cartrina Nisbett for “Family Honour by Spoken Movement”

Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre:
“Age is a Feeling”
“Blackout Songs”
“The P Word”
“Paradise Now!”
“Two Palestinians Go Dogging”

Best Director:
Rebecca Frecknall for “A Streetcar Named Desire”
Robert Hastie for “Standing at the Sky’s Edge”
Justin Martin for “Prima Facie”
Phelim McDermott for “My Neighbour Totoro”
Bartlett Sher for “To Kill a Mockingbird”

Best Actress:
Jodie Comer in “Prima Facie”
Patsy Ferran in “A Streetcar Named Desire”
Mei Mac in “My Neighbour Totoro”
Janet McTeer in “Phaedra”
Nicola Walker in “The Corn is Green”

Best Actor:
Tom Hollander in “Patriots”
Paul Mescal in “A Streecar Named Desire”
Raafe Spall in “TO Kill a Mockingbird”
David Tennant in “Good”
Giles Terera in “Blues for an Alabama Sky”

Best New Play:
“For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets too Heavy”
“Patriots”
“Prima Facie”
“To Kill a Mockingbird”

Best New Musical:
“The Band’s Visit”
“Standing at the Sky’s Edge”
“Sylvia”
“Tammy Faye”

Feature photo credit: Gillian Lynne Olivier Awards2013.jpg