Falling just short of a barber shop quartet, Chichester Festival Theatre’s Sweeney Todd, which ended its run in London just last week, has picked up a trio of nominations for the Theatre Awards UK.
The murderous musical collects nominations for Michael Ball’s performance as Sondheim’s barbaric barber, Imelda Staunton’s turn as petrifying pie-maker Mrs Lovett and in the category of Best Musical Production, where it will hope to scare off opposition from Sheffield Theatres’ production of Company and the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Royal & Derngate Northampton and Derby LIVE production of The Go-Between.
Co-stars Ball and Staunton actually face each other – hopefully without razors in hand – in the Best Performance in a Musical category, where they are joined by Sheffield Theatres’ Artistic Director Daniel Evans, who is nominated for his performance in Company.
The Theatre Awards UK, previously known as the TMA Awards, is staged annually to celebrate excellence and achievement on and off stage at theatres across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Many of the productions nominated have enjoyed success around the capital over the last year. Chichester Festival Theatre’s production of South Downs, written by David Hare and nominated in the Best New Play category, ran at the Harold Pinter theatre in a double bill with The Browning Version. Two of the Best Supporting Performances were seen on the London stage; Stephen Boxer in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Written On The Heart and Aidan McArdle in Sheffield Theatres’ Democracy, which transferred to the Old Vic. DruidMurphy, for which Garry Hynes is nominated as Best Director, ran at the Hampstead theatre.
This year’s winner of the Olivier Award for Best Dance Production, DESH, is strongly represented in the Achievement in Dance category with choreographer Akram Khan and lighting designer Michael Hulls, who also worked on The Rodin Project, receiving nominations. The Unicorn theatre’s production of Something Very Far Away represents London in the Best Show for Children and Young People category.
The awards, which were re-launched last year, have added a new twist for 2012, with the Best Touring Production now chosen by public vote. Among the five strong list of nominees, which also includes The King And I, Reasons To Be Cheerful and We Are Three Sisters, are the touring productions of Shakespeare’s Globe’s Anne Boleyn and Swallows And Amazons, which the National Theatre helped bring to the Vaudeville theatre last Christmas.
Fans of the shows can lend their support by voting on the website of the awards’ media partner, The Stage. As an added bonus, everyone who votes will be entered into a prize draw to win a pair of tickets to the lunchtime ceremony on 28 October at London’s Grade 1 listed Guildhall, where nominees, celebrity presenters and invited guests will come together to honour a fantastic year for theatre across the UK. A winner will be chosen at random from entries made by midnight on 22 October.
Full list of nominees:
BEST NEW PLAY
LUNGS by Duncan MacMillan, a Sheffield Theatres and Paines Plough co-production at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield
SOUTH DOWNS by David Hare, a Chichester Festival Theatre production
IN THE NEXT ROOM by Sarah Ruhl, a Theatre Royal Bath production in the Ustinov Studio
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A PLAY
Leanne Best for THE MATCH BOX, a Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse production
Henry Goodman for THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI, a Chichester Festival Theatre production
Tim Pigott-Smith for KING LEAR, a West Yorkshire Playhouse production
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Stephen Boxer for WRITTEN ON THE HEART by David Edgar, a Royal Shakespeare Company production at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon
Claire-Louise Cordwell for BEAUTIFUL THING, a Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester production
Aidan McArdle for DEMOCRACY, a Sheffield Theatres production at the Crucible, Sheffield
BEST MUSICAL PRODUCTION
COMPANY directed by Jonathan Munby, a Sheffield Theatres production at the Crucible, Sheffield
THE GO-BETWEEN directed by Roger Haines, a West Yorkshire Playhouse, Royal & Derngate Northampton and Derby LIVE production at West Yorkshire Playhouse
SWEENEY TODD directed by Jonathan Kent, a Chichester Festival Theatre production
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL
Michael Ball for SWEENEY TODD, a Chichester Festival Theatre production
Daniel Evans for COMPANY, a Sheffield Theatres production at the Crucible, Sheffield
Imelda Staunton for SWEENEY TODD, a Chichester Festival Theatre production
BEST SHOW FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
ALICE IN WONDERLAND, a New Vic Theatre production at the New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme
THE CURIOUS SCRAPBOOK OF JOSEPHINE BEAN by Shona Reppe on tour
SOMETHING VERY FAR AWAY, a Unicorn Theatre production
BEST TOURING PRODUCTION
ANNE BOLEYN, English Touring Theatre’s presentation of the Shakespeare’s Globe production
THE KING AND I, Music and Lyrics with Curve Theatre, Leicester
REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL, Graeae and New Wolsey Theatre production
SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS, The Children’s Touring Partnership in association with the National Theatre presenting Bristol Old Vic’s production
WE ARE THREE SISTERS, a Northern Broadside production
BEST DIRECTOR
Joe Harmston for THE FATHER by August Strindberg adapted by Laurie Slade, a Belgrade Theatre production
Dominic Hill for KRAPP’S LAST TAPE /FOOTFALLS by Samuel Beckett, a Citizens Theatre production
Garry Hynes for DRUIDMURPHY – plays by Tom Murphy – produced by Druid Theatre Company at Hampstead Theatre and Oxford Playhouse
BEST DESIGN
Gary McCann for THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry, music and lyrics by Nicholas Lloyd Webber and James D Reid, Lyric Theatre Belfast in association with Lamplighter Drama at the Lyric, Belfast
Amanda Stoodley for MANCHESTER LINES, a Library Theatre Company production
Neil Warmington for FURTHER THAN THE FURTHEST THING, a Dundee Rep Ensemble production at Dundee Rep
ACHIEVEMENT IN OPERA
Glyndebourne Festival Opera for its production of LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
Oliver Mears for his inspiring leadership of Northern Ireland Opera
Christopher Alden’s production of NORMA for Opera North, a co-production with Theater Chemnitz, with Annemarie Kremer in the title role
ACHIEVEMENT IN DANCE
DV8 Physical Theatre for their courageous and innovative blend of dance and speech
Akram Khan for DESH – the epic scale of a very personal journey
Michael Hulls for his brilliant contribution to lighting for dance: in particular for this year’s DESH, TORSION and THE RODIN PROJECT
THEATRE EMPLOYEE/MANAGER OF THE YEAR
Ciaran McAuley – Chief Executive, Lyric Theatre, Belfast
Janthi Mills – General Manager, Belgrade Theatre
Graham Sutherland – Head of Production, Citizens Theatre
Erica Whyman – Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Northern Stage
ACHIEVEMENT IN MARKETING
The Marlowe Theatre
Shakespeare’s Globe
York Theatre Royal
MOST WELCOMING THEATRE
Chipping Norton Theatre
Curve (Leicester Theatre Trust Ltd.)
New Wolsey Theatre
PROMOTION OF DIVERSITY
Graeae Theatre Company
Oldham Coliseum Theatre
Theatre Royal Stratford East
THE RENEE STEPHAM AWARD FOR BEST PRESENTATION OF TOURING THEATRE
Graeae/New Wolsey Theatre
Hull Truck Theatre
Music and Lyrics Limited