Matilda the Musical became the most nominated new musical in the history of the Olivier Awards yesterday, heading a list of nominees that includes four Matildas, two Frankensteins and almost no Shakespeare.
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book about a girl with extraordinary powers scored ten nominations in the most prestigious awards in the London theatre calendar. Written by Dennis Kelly, the English playwright, and Tim Minchin, the Anglo-Australian musician and comedian, it has breathed fresh life into the genre and helped to boost box office takings in the West End.
Matilda’s inventiveness, if not its commercial appeal, has been matched by London Road, the National Theatre’s remarkable musical about the Ipswich prostitute murders, which received four nominations.
In addition to its overall haul, Matilda set another record with its four Best Actress nominations for the girls who play the title character on rotation — Eleanor Worthington Cox, Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram and Sophia Kiely.
The only production to have received more than Matilda’s tally of nominations was Hairspray, with 11, but it was a proven US musical that had already picked up eight Tony Awards by the time it reached the West End.
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Away from Matilda, the most striking aspects of the 2012 list are the 15 nods for the National Theatre, the broad recognition for comedy and the absence of any Shakespeare plays except for Catherine Tate and David Tennant’s Much Ado About Nothing, which earned a Best Revival nomination.
Apart from London Road, the National is recognised for the Danny Boyle-directed Frankenstein, and for One Man, Two Guvnors, its comedy hit adapted from Carlo Goldoni’s 18th-century masterpiece The Servant of Two Masters. Both are strong contenders in the Best Actor category, where Frankenstein’s Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, who alternated the roles of inventor and monster, vie with One Man, Two Guvnors’ James Corden.
The nominations
Best New Play
Collaborators; Jumpy; The Ladykillers; One Man, Two Guvnors
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Best Revival
Anna Christie; Flare Path; Much Ado About Nothing; Noises Off
Best Entertainment and Family
Derren Brown: Svengali; Midnight Tango; Potted Potter; The Tiger Who Came To Tea
Best New Musical
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Betty Blue Eyes; Ghost The Musical; London Road; Matilda The Musical; Shrek The Musical
Best Musical Revival
Crazy For You; Singin’ In The Rain; South Pacific; The Wizard of Oz
Best New Opera Production
Castor And Pollux; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Passenger; Clemency
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Best New Dance Production
Desh; Gardenia; The Metamorphosis; Some Like It Hip Hop
Best Actress
Celia Imrie, Noises Off; Lesley Manville, Grief; Kristin Scott Thomas, Betrayal; Marcia Warren, The Ladykillers; Ruth Wilson, Anna Christie
Best Actor
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James Corden, One Man, Two Guvnors; Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, Frankenstein; David Haig, The Madness of George III; Douglas Hodge, Inadmissible Evidence; Jude Law, Anna Christie
Best Actress in a Musical
Kate Fleetwood, London Road; Sarah Lancashire, Betty Blue Eyes; The Matildas, Matilda The Musical; Scarlett Strallen, Singin’ In The Rain
Best Actor in a Musical
Bertie Carvel, Matilda The Musical; Nigel Lindsay, Shrek The Musical; Reece Shearsmith, Betty Blue Eyes; Paulo Szot, South Pacific