LONDON (AP) — Screen stars Jude Law, Tom Hiddleston and Judi Dench are among big-name nominees as Britain's theater community gets set for the Laurence Olivier Awards.
Two members of Swedish supergroup ABBA are set to perform during Sunday's ceremony at London's Royal Opera House, celebrating the 15-yea! r West End run of "Mamma Mia."
New musical "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and Stephen Sondheim revival "Merrily We Roll Along" lead the nominations, with seven apiece. Musicals "Once," ''The Book of Mormon" and "The Scottsboro Boys" — all of which originated on Broadway — are nominated in six categories each.
Law and Hiddleston are both best-actor nominees for Shakespeare roles, in "Henry V" and "Coriolanus," respectively. They are nominated alongside Henry Goodman for "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" and Rory Kinnear for "Othello."
Dench is a best-actress contender for her performance as the real-life inspiration for "Alice in Wonderland" in "Peter and Alice." The other nominees are Anna Chancellor for "Private Lives," Lesley Manville for "Ghosts" and Hayley Atwell for "The Pride."
The Olivier awards honor achievements in London theater, musicals, dance and opera.
Winners in most categories are chosen by a panel of stage professiona! ls and theatergoers. The Audience Award, decided by public vot! e, is a contest among fan favorites "Matilda The Musical," ''Les Miserables," ''The Phantom of the Opera" and "Wicked."
Founded in 1976, the Oliviers have been laying on the glitz in recent years, with glossy ceremonies modeled on Broadway's Tony Awards. This year's hosts are actors Gemma Arterton and Stephen Mangan, and performers include tenor Joseph Calleja, Broadway legend Bernadette Peters and ABBA's Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus.
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Online: www.olivierawards.com
- Performing Arts
- Humanities
- Judi Dench
- Jude Law
- Tom Hiddleston
- Laurence Olivier Awards
- Stephen Sondheim
Source : http://news.yahoo.com/judi-de! nch-jude-law-uks-olivier-awards-102527358.html
