Frontmezzjunkies reports: The 2025 Olivier Award Nominations
By Ross
Nominations were announced yesterday morning by Olivier Award winners Nicole Scherzinger and Tom Francis, who won Best Actor and Actress in a Musical for Sunset Boulevard last year. The pair, looking bloody beautiful from Broadway, arrived (prerecorded) still dressed in their Sunset Boulevard costumes, complete with fake blood and bare skin.
The nominations were then scrolled out with Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s Fiddler on the Roof leading the pack, with 13 nominations including Best Musical Revival. Off Broadway’s Titanique and Broadway’s MJ were also well represented in the nominations.
This year’s Olivier Awards will take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday, April 6th.
The Olivier Awards are the most prestigious in British theatre, honoring the best productions in the West End and leading non-commercial theaters in London. The awards were established in 1976 by the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) as the Society of West End Theatre Awards and were renamed in 1984 in honor of the great actor Laurence Olivier.
Here are the nominees:
Best New Play
The Fear of 13 by Lindsey Ferrentino at Donmar Warehouse
Giant by Mark Rosenblatt at Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at Royal Court Theatre
Kyoto by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson at @sohoplace
Shifters by Benedict Lombe at Duke of York’s Theatre
The Years adapted by Eline Arbo, in an English version by Stephanie Bain at Almeida Theatre and Harold Pinter Theatre
Best New Musical
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, music and lyrics by Darren Clark, book and lyrics by Jethro Compton at Ambassadors Theatre
MJ The Musical, book by Lynn Nottage at Prince Edward Theatre
Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812, music, lyrics and book by Dave Malloy at Donmar Warehouse
Why Am I So Single?, music, lyrics and book by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss at Garrick Theatre
Best Revival
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde at National Theatre – Lyttelton
Machinal by Sophie Treadwell at The Old Vic
Oedipus by Robert Icke at Wyndham’s Theatre
Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett at Theatre Royal Haymarket
Best Musical Revival
Fiddler on the Roof, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, book by Joseph Stein at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
Hello, Dolly!, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, book by Michael Stewart at The London Palladium
Oliver!, book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart, new material and revisions by Cameron Mackintosh at Gielgud Theatre
Starlight Express, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Richard Stilgoe at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Jorge Bosch for Kyoto
Tom Edden for Waiting for Godot
Elliot Levey for Giant
Ben Whishaw for Bluets
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Sharon D Clarke for The Importance of Being Earnest
Romola Garai for Giant
Romola Garai for The Years
Gina McKee for The Years
Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Liv Andrusier for Fiddler on the Roof
Amy Di Bartolomeo for The Devil Wears Prada
Beverley Klein for Fiddler on the Roof
Maimuna Memon for Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Andy Nyman for Hello, Dolly!
Raphael Papo for Fiddler on the Roof
Layton Williams for Titanique
Tom Xander for Mean Girls
Best Actor in a Musical
John Dagleish for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Adam Dannheisser for Fiddler on the Roof
Myles Frost for MJ The Musical
Simon Lipkin for Oliver!
Jamie Muscato for Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812
Best Actress in a Musical
Chumisa Dornford-May for Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812
Lauren Drew for Titanique
Clare Foster for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Lara Pulver for Fiddler on the Roof
Imelda Staunton for Hello, Dolly!
Best Actress
Heather Agyepong for Shifters
Lesley Manville for Oedipus
Rosie Sheehy for Machinal
Meera Syal for A Tupperware of Ashes
Indira Varma for Oedipus
Best Actor
Adrien Brody for The Fear of 13
Billy Crudup for Harry Clarke
Paapa Essiedu for Death of England: Delroy
John Lithgow for Giant
Mark Strong for Oedipus
Best Director
Eline Arbo for The Years
Jordan Fein for Fiddler on the Roof
Nicholas Hytner for Giant
Robert Icke for Oedipus
Best Costume Design
Hugh Durrant for Robin Hood
Sachiko Nakahara for Spirited Away
Tom Scutt for Fiddler on the Roof
Best Sound Design
Nick Lidster for Fiddler on the Roof
Christopher Shutt for Oedipus
Thijs van Vuure for The Years
Koichi Yamamoto for Spirited Away
Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play
Ballet Shoes adapted by Kendall Feaver at National Theatre
Inside No. 9 Stage/Fright by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith
Spirited Away adapted by John Caird and co-adapted by Maoko Imai
Titanique by Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle and Constantine Rousouli
Best Family Show
Brainiac Live at Marylebone Theatre
Maddie Moate’s Very Curious Christmas at Apollo Theatre
The Nutcracker at Polka Theatre
Rough Magic at Shakespeare’s Globe
Best Theatre Choreographer
Matthew Bourne for Oliver!
Julia Cheng for Fiddler on the Roof
Hofesh Shechter for Oedipus
Christopher Wheeldon for MJ The Musical
Best Set Design
Jon Bausor for set design, Toby Olié and Daisy Beattie for puppetry design, and Satoshi Kuriyama for projection design — Spirited Away
Frankie Bradshaw for set design — Ballet Shoes
Es Devlin for set design — Coriolanus
Tom Scutt for set design — Fiddler on the Roof
Best Lighting Design
Paule Constable and Ben Jacobs — Oliver!
Howard Hudson — Starlight Express
Howard Hudson — Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
Aideen Malone — Fiddler on the Roof
Best New Production in Affiliate Theatre
Animal Farm — Theatre Royal Stratford East
Boys on the Verge of Tears — Soho Theatre
English — Kiln Theatre
Now, I See — Theatre Royal Stratford East
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank — Marylebone Theatre
Outstanding Achievement in Opera
Aigul Akhmetshina for Carmen at the Royal Opera House
Allan Clayton for Festen at the Royal Opera House
Jung Young-doo for direction of Lear at the Barbican
Best New Opera Production
Duke Bluebeard’s Castle by ENO at the London Coliseum
Festen by the Royal Opera at the Royal Opera House
L’Olimpiade by Irish National Opera and the Royal Opera at the Royal Opera House
The Tales of Hoffmann by the Royal Opera at the Royal Opera House
Photo Karolina Kuras, courtesy The National Ballet of Canada
Best New Dance Production
Assembly Hall — Sadler’s Wells
Frontiers: Choreographers of Canada — Pite/Kudelka/Portner — Sadler’s Wells
Theatre of Dreams — Sadler’s Wells
An Untitled Love — Sadler’s Wells
Outstanding Achievement in Dance
Sarah Chun for her performance in Three Short Ballets
Tom Visser for his lighting design of Angels’ Atlasas part of Frontiers: Choreographers of Canada — Pite/Kudelka/Portner
Eva Yerbabuena for her performance in Yerbabuena
Outstanding Musical Contribution
Mark Aspinall for Musical Supervision and Additional Orchestrations for Fiddler on the Roof
Darren Clark for Music Supervision, Orchestrations and Arrangements and Mark Aspinall for Musical Direction, Music Supervision, Orchestrations and Arrangements for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Dave Malloy for Orchestrations and Nicholas Skilbeck for Musical Supervision for Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812
Asaf Zohar for Compositions and Gavin Sutherland for Dance Arrangements and Orchestration for Ballet Shoes
