BEST ACTOR
Roger Allam Henry IV Parts One and Two (Shakespeare’s Globe)
Rory Kinnear Hamlet (National’s Olivier)/Measure For Measure (Almeida)
David Suchet All My Sons (Apollo)

THE NATASHA RICHARDSON AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
Nancy Carroll After The Dance (National Lyttelton)
Elena Roger Passion (Donmar Warehouse)
Sheridan Smith Legally Blonde (Savoy)
Sophie Thompson Clybourne Park (Royal Court)

BEST PLAY
Mike Bartlett Cock (Royal Court)
Bruce Norris Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
Roy Williams Sucker Punch (Royal Court)

THE NED SHERRIN AWARD FOR BEST MUSICAL
Legally Blonde Savoy Theatre
Les Misérables Cameron Mackintosh 2010 production at Barbican Theatre
Passion Donmar Warehouse

BEST DIRECTOR
Howard Davies The White Guard (National Lyttelton)/All My Sons (Apollo)
Nicholas Hytner The Habit Of Art (National Lyttelton)/London Assurance (National Olivier)/Hamlet (National Olivier)
Laurie Sansom Beyond The Horizon and Spring Storm (National Cottesloe)
Thea Sharrock After The Dance (National Lyttelton)

BEST DESIGN
Miriam Buether Sucker Punch (Royal Court)/Earthquakes In London (National Cottesloe)
Bunny Christie The White Guard (National Lyttelton)
Christopher Oram Passion (Donmar Warehouse)/Red (Donmar Warehouse)

CHARLES WINTOUR AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING PLAYWRIGHT
DC Moore The Empire (Royal Court)
Nick Payne If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet (Bush)/Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Anya Reiss Spur Of The Moment (Royal Court)

THE MILTON SHULMAN AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER
Melanie Chisholm for her performance in Blood Brothers (Phoenix)
Daniel Kaluuya for his performance in Sucker Punch (Royal Court)
Isabella Laughland for her performance in Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Shannon Tarbet for her performance in Spur Of The Moment (Royal Court)
You Me Bum Bum Train created by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd (LEB Building, E2)

THE GOLDEN SEAGULL AWARD
Presented on behalf of Moscow Art Theatre.

THE LEBEDEV SPECIAL AWARD
For outstanding contribution to theatre.

The nominees cover some of the most high-profile of this year’s West End shows with a starry list of performers, directors and playwrights alongside some serious new talent. The Royal Court scores particularly highly with a range of acting and creative nods – including four nominations for Clybourne Park.

See the full list of London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2010 nominees here

Sheridan Smith (pictured) and her show, Legally Blonde, both nominated

The shortlist of nominees will be announced a week prior to the awards ceremony, which will be held this year on 28 November at the newly reopened Savoy Hotel. The judging panel for the awards includes theatre critics Henry Hitchings of the Standard, Charles Spencer of the Telegraph, Susannah Clapp of the Observer, Georgina Brown of the Mail on Sunday and Matt Wolf of the Herald Tribune. Chair will be Evgeny Lebedev, who is chairman of the Standard and also the son of the proprietor Alexander Lebedev.

In terms of musicals it’s a good list for Sir Cameron Mackintosh who sees his 25th anniversary production of Les Misérables tapped, plus his West End transfer of Broadway hit of Hair – which closed after a relatively short run at the Gielgud Theatre. Also listed is the Menier’s Sweet Charity at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, which is about to close on 6 November, alongside long-runner Legally Blonde at the Savoy and current critical success Passion at the Donmar Warehouse.

Simon Russell Beale, nominated for Deathtrap

In the Best Actor category up-and-coming stars such as Benedict Cumberbatch and Rory Kinnear are matched alongside established heavy-weights, from Roger Allam and Jonathan Pryce to David Suchet and Simon Russell Beale, the later for his turns in the National’s London Assurance and current West End hit Deathtrap. Alfred Molina also gets a nod for the Donmar’s Red after losing out at the Tony’s to co-star Eddie Redmayne.

Best Actress nominees feature a range of talent from high-profile crowd-pleasers that will guarantee plenty of red carpet coverage (Keira Knightley, Gemma Arterton, Sheridan Smith) to hard-hitters Judi Dench, Zoe Wannamaker and Fiona Shaw.

Best Plays feature both boxing shows to have played in London this year – Beautiful Burnout by Bryony Lavery at the York Hall and Sucker Punch by Roy Williams at the Royal Court. It’s a big awards for the Court who also get nods for Cock by Mike Bartlett, Clybourne Park by Mike Bartlett and Posh by Laura Wade.

Stars Sophie Thompson (pictured) and Martin Freeman, director Dominic Cooke and writer Bruce Norris all nominated for Clybourne Park

Director nods feature a who’s who of current hitmakers, ticking pretty much every director box including Howard Davies, Rupert Goold, Michael Grandage, Nicholas Hytner, and director of the moment Thea Sharrock. Also Dominic Cooke gets a well-deserved nod for Clybourne Park, which transfers from the Royal Court to the West End in January.

Lez Brotherston is a notable inclusion in the Designer category with four of his productions credited: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice at the Vaudeville, Measure for Measure at the Almeida, Women Beware Women at the National and Design for Living at the Old Vic.

Most Promising Playwright nominees pay tribute to the Royal Court’s progressive programme of nurturing new writing talent, with 3 playwrights nominated: DC Moore for The Empire, Anya Reiss for Spur of the Moment and Nick Payne for Wanderlust. Equally impressive is the Bush, which is once again proving to punch well above its weight, with James Graham for The Whisky Taster, Nick Payne (again) for If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet and Penelope Skinner for Eigengrau all nominated.

The Outstanding Newcomer category is dominated by onstage talent, with a surprise nod to the Spice Girls’ Melanie Chrisholm for her much-praised stint in Blood Brothers, alongside upstarts including Laura Dos Santos for Educating Rita, Henry Lloyd-Hughes for Rope and Posh, and Simon Godwin for his direction, and Isabella Laughland and James Musgrave for their performances, in the Royal Court’s Wanderlust.

See the full list of London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2010 nominees here

BEST ACTOR

Roger Allam: Henry IV Parts One and Two (Shakespeare’s Globe)
Bertie Carvel: Rope (Almeida)
Benedict Cumberbatch: After the Dance (National’s Lyttelton)
Martin Freeman: Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
Alex Jennings: The Habit of Art (National’s Lyttelton)
Rory Kinnear: Measure for Measure (Almeida)/ Hamlet (National’s Olivier)
Adrian Lester: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Novello)
Alfred Molina: Red (Donmar Warehouse)
Jonathan Pryce: The Caretaker (Trafalgar Studios)
Simon Russell Beale: London Assurance (National’s Olivier)/ Deathtrap (Noël Coward)
Adrian Scarborough: After the Dance (National’s Lyttelton)
David Suchet: All My Sons (Apollo)

THE NATASHA RICHARDSON AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS

Gemma Arterton: The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick)
Nancy Carroll: After the Dance (National’s Lyttelton)
Judi Dench: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rose, Kingston)
Tamsin Greig: The Little Dog Laughed (Garrick)
Jenny Jules: Ruined (Almeida)
Keira Knightley: The Misanthrope (Comedy Theatre)
Amanda Lawrence: Jiggery Pokery (BAC)/ Henry VIII (Shakespeare’s Globe)
Rosaleen Linehan: The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic)
Helen McCrory: The Late Middle Classes (Donmar Warehouse)
Lesley Manville: Six Degrees of Separation (Old Vic)
Anna Maxwell Martin: Measure for Measure (Almeida)
Elena Roger: Passion (Donmar Warehouse)
Fiona Shaw: London Assurance (National’s Olivier)
Sheridan Smith: Legally Blonde (Savoy)
Sophie Thompson: Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
Zoë Wanamaker: All My Sons (Apollo)

BEST PLAY

Cock by Mike Bartlett (Royal Court)
The Big Fellah by Richard Bean (Lyric Hammersmith)
The Habit of Art by Alan Bennett (National’s Lyttelton)
Beautiful Burnout by Bryony Lavery (York Hall)
Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris (Royal Court)
Ruined by Lynn Nottage (Almeida)
Posh by Laura Wade (Royal Court)
Sucker Punch by Roy Williams (Royal Court)

THE NED SHERRIN AWARD FOR BEST MUSICAL

Hair – Gielgud Theatre
The Human Comedy - A Young Vic/The Opera Group production co-produced with Watford Palace Theatre
Legally Blonde - Savoy Theatre
Les Misérables (2010) - Cameron Mackintosh production at Barbican Theatre
Passion - Donmar Warehouse
Sweet Charity - Menier Chocolate Factory; transferred to Theatre Royal Haymarket

BEST DIRECTOR

Dominic Cooke: Clybourne Park (Royal Court)
Howard Davies: The White Guard (National’s Lyttelton)/ All My Sons (Apollo)
Rupert Goold: Romeo and Juliet (RSC Stratford)/Earthquakes in London (National’s Cottesloe)
Michael Grandage: Red (Donmar Warehouse)/ Danton’s Death (National’s Olivier)
Jeremy Herrin: Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)
Joe Hill-Gibbins: The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Young Vic)
Nicholas Hytner: The Habit of Art (National’s Lyttelton/London Assurance (National’s Olivier)/Hamlet (National’s Olivier)
James MacDonald: Cock (Royal Court)
Roger Michell: Rope (Almeida)
Laurie Sansom: Beyond the Horizon and Spring Storm (National’s Cottesloe)
Thea Sharrock: After the Dance (National’s Lyttelton)
Lyndsey Turner: Posh (Royal Court)

BEST DESIGN

Lez Brotherston: The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Vaudeville)/Measure for Measure (Almeida)/Women Beware Women (National’s Olivier)/Design for Living (Old Vic)
Miriam Buether: Sucker Punch (Royal Court)/Earthquakes in London (National’s Cottesloe)
Bunny Christie: The White Guard (National’s Lyttelton)
Rob Howell: Private Lives (Vaudeville)/Deathtrap (Noël Coward)
Vicki Mortimer: The Cat in the Hat (National’s Cottesloe; transferred to Young Vic)
Christopher Oram: Passion (Donmar Warehouse)/Red (Donmar Warehouse)
Mark Thompson: London Assurance (National’s Olivier)

THE CHARLES WINTOUR AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING PLAYWRIGHT

James Graham: The Whisky Taster (Bush)/The Man (Finborough)
DC Moore: The Empire (Royal Court)
Nick Payne: If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet (Bush)/Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Anya Reiss: Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)
Atiha Sen Gupta: What Fatima Did (Hampstead)
Penelope Skinner: Eigengrau (Bush)

THE MILTON SHULMAN AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER

You Me Bum Bum Train created by Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd (LEB Building, E2)
Melanie Chisholm for her performance in Blood Brothers (Phoenix)
Laura Dos Santos for her performance in Educating Rita (Menier Chocolate Factory, transferred to Trafalgar Studios)
Simon Godwin for his direction of Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Daniel Kaluuya for his performance in Sucker Punch (Royal Court)
Isabella Laughland for her performance in Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Henry Lloyd-Hughes for his performances in Rope (Almeida) and Posh (Royal Court)
James Mcardle for his performance in Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)
James Musgrave for his performance in Wanderlust (Royal Court)
Nikesh Patel for his performance in Disconnect (Royal Court)
Shannon Tarbet for her performance in Spur of the Moment (Royal Court)

THE GOLDEN SEAGULL AWARD
Presented on behalf of Moscow Art Theatre.

THE LEBEDEV SPECIAL AWARD
For outstanding contribution to theatre.

La Bete

September marks a busy time for Theatreland as a slate of new shows open in town, which means a number of summer hits are closing to make way.

This month, Sam Mendes’ Bridge Project shows at the Old Vic, As You Like It and The Tempest, starring Stephen Dillane and Juliet Rylance, closes on 21 August. They are swiftly followed by La Bete at the Comedy Theatre, which closes on 28 August before heading off to Broadway. The Matthew Warchus-helmed show features a starry cast including David Hyde Pearce, Mark Rylance and Joanna Lumley.

In September, things start to get really shaken up and we lose some of the big summer shows. In a reversal of La Bete, HAIR made its debut on Broadway and then came to London – and you only have until 4 September to see what all the fuss was about and catch the New York cast, including Gavin Creel, before they head home.

Burn The Floor

Also on the 4th we lose David Essex penned musical All The Fun of the Fair, and dance spectacular Burn The Floor , which is clearing its tango shoes and sequins out of the Shaftesbury Theatre to make room for another big dance show, Flashdance The Musical. This will star Matt Willis and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and is choreographed by Arlene Phillips.

And it’s never just one big dance show that goes: butch and blue-collar Tap Dogs starring Adam Garcia is also leaving the West End the day after Burn The Floor, on 5 September.

The short run of The Secret of Sherlock Holmes, riding high after the BBC’s Sherlock series, will end on 11 September at the Duchess Theatre to make way for Michael Gambon in Krapp’s Last Tape.

And we wave goodbye to Jeff Goldblum and Mercedes Ruehl on 25 September as Neil Simon’s The Prisoner of Second Avenue leaves the Vaudeville Theatre.

BOOKING AND OFFERS

Save £19 on tickets to see HAIR at the Gielgud Theatre

Save £30 on tickets to see All The Fun of the Fair at the Garrick Theatre

Save £21 on tickets to see Burn The Floor at the Shaftesbury Theatre

Save £11 on tickets to see Tap Dogs at the Novello Theatre

Half Price tickets to see The Secret of Sherlock Holmes at the Duchess Theatre

Save £14 on tickets to see The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre