This year's Olivier Award Nominations, announced yesterday, were kind to the big musicals Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Merrily We Roll Along, and both shows earned three nods each in the design categories. But the play Chimerica and the musical The Light Princess also did well in the design categories, each earning three as well.
Mark Thompson is a double nominee for his sets and costumes for Charlie. Charlie and Merrily led total nominations with seven each, with shows like The Book of Mormon, The Scottsboro Boys, Once and the aforementioned Chimerica also bringng in a nice number of nod as well. All of this year's nominated desigers are UK-based, unlike the Tonys, which usually have a mix of US and UK based designers.
Interestingly, the Oliviers offer sponsorships for certain categories, and as a result several known industry companies' names are attached to the design nominations, such as White Light, XL Video, and Autograph Sound, who oddly enough sponsor the Best Music category but not Best Sound Design.
Here is the list of this year's nominees:
White Light Award For Best Lighting Design:
Paule Constable – The Light Princess
Tim Lutkin & Finn Ross – Chimerica
Peter Mumford – Ghosts
Paul Pyant – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Best Sound Design
Simon Baker – The Light Princess
Carolyn Downing – Chimerica
Clive Goodwin – Once
Gareth Owen – Merrily We Roll Along
Best Costume Design
Nicky Gillibrand – The Wind in the Willows
Soutra Gilmour – Merrily We Roll Along
Rae Smith – The Light Princess
Mark Thompson – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
XL Video Award For Best Set Design
Bob Crowley – Once
Es Devlin – Chimerica
Tim Goodchild – Strangers on A Train
Mark Thompson – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Olivier Awards ceremony will be held April 13. Here is a full list of nominations.