Picture: Marc Brenner
American stars Glenn Close and Andy Karl will battle it out with homegrown talent Sheridan Smith for the title of Best Musical Performance at this year’s London Evening Standard theatre awards.
The stars of Sunset Boulevard, Groundhog Day and Funny Girl were included on the shortlist for the 2016 awards which will be presented at a ceremony hosted by Elton John and the owner of Evening Standard, Evgeny Lebedev, at the Old Vic Theatre on Sunday 13 November.
The coveted awards will also include a tussle between Funny Girl, Groundhog Day, Guys and Dolls, Jesus Christ Superstar, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour and Sunset Boulevard for the Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical.
The complete shortlist:
Best Actor
Kenneth Branagh, The Entertainer (Garrick)
O-T Fagbenle, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
Ralph Fiennes, The Master Builder (Old Vic)/Richard III (Almeida)
James McArdle, Platonov (Chichester Festival Theatre/National Theatre, Olivier)
Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress
Noma Dumezweni, Linda (Royal Court, Jerwood Downstairs)
Helen McCrory, The Deep Blue Sea (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
Sophie Melville, Splott (Sherman Cymru/National Theatre/Temporary Theatre)
Billie Piper, Yerma (Young Vic)
Best Musical Performance
Glenn Close, Sunset Boulevard (Coliseum)
Andy Karl, Groundhog Day (The Old Vic)
Sheridan Smith, Funny Girl (Savoy)
Picture: Richard Hubert Smith
Best Play
Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 and 3) by Suzan-Lori Parks (Royal Court, Jerwood Downstairs)
The Flick by Annie Baker (National Theatre, Dorfman)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne, J K Rowling and John Tiffany (Palace Theatre)
Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical
Funny Girl (Menier Chocolate Factory/Savoy)
Groundhog Day (Old Vic)
Guys and Dolls (Savoy/Phoenix)
Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre)
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (National Theatre, Dorfman)
Sunset Boulevard (Coliseum)
Milton Shulman Award for Best Director
Dominic Cooke, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (National Theatre, Lyttelton)
John Malkovich, Good Canary (Rose Kingston)
John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace)
Best Revival
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (National Theatre, Lyttelton; dir. Dominic Cooke)
No Man’s Land (Wyndham’s; dir. Sean Mathias)
Young Chekhov: Platonov, Ivanov & The Seagull (Chichester Festival Theatre/National Theatre, Olivier)
Les Blancs (National Theatre, Olivier; dir Yael Farber)
Best Design
Jon Bausor, You For Me For You (Royal Court, Jerwood Upstairs)
Gareth Fry with Peter Malkin (sound design), The Encounter (Edinburgh International Festival/Barbican)
Rob Howell, The Master Builder (Old Vic)/Groundhog Day (Old Vic)
Picture: Manuel Harlan
Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright
Charlene James, Cuttin’ It (Young Vic/Royal Court/Yard)
Jon Brittain, Rotterdam (Theatre503/Trafalgar Studios)
David Ireland, Cypress Avenue (Royal Court, Jerwood Upstairs)
Emerging Talent Award
Jaygann Ayeh, The Flick (National Theatre, Dorfman)
Anthony Boyle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace)
Aoife Duffin, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing (Samuel Beckett Theatre, Dublin and Young Vic)/The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare’s Globe)
Tyrone Huntley, Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre)
The recipients of three more awards – Beyond Theatre Award, Editor’s Award and Lebedev Award – will also be revealed at the ceremony.
Commenting on the shortlist, Lebedev said: “The breadth of talent recognised in this year’s shortlist is astonishing and spans London’s diverse and superior theatre offering. It’s unsurprising that we’re the envy of the globe with generations of fantastic performers, writers and the finest in innovative productions.”
Angela Thomas
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Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award For Best Musical – nominations revealed – News
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