Musicals ‘& Juliet,’ ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ seek Olivier awards

The one-woman stage version of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s barbed sitcom “Fleabag” is nominated for best entertainment or comedy play at Britain’s Olivier theater awards, it was announced Tuesday, March 3, 2020. Image: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, file

LONDON — Pop-Shakespearean musical “& Juliet” leads the race for Britain’s Olivier theater awards, where “Fleabag” creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge is up for two trophies.

The “Romeo and Juliet”-inspired show, with music by Swedish songwriter Max Martin, has nine nominations, including best new musical.

Trevor Nunn’s revival of “Fiddler on the Roof” was nominated in eight categories on Tuesday, while Broadway import “Dear Evan Hansen” is up for seven prizes.

The one-woman stage version of Waller-Bridge’s barbed sitcom “Fleabag” is nominated for best entertainment or comedy play. Waller-Bridge is also nominated for best actress in a play, competing with Hayley Atwell for “Rosmersholm”, Sharon D. Clarke for “Death of a Salesman”, and Juliet Stevenson for “The Doctor”.

“Fleabag” co-star Andrew Scott is among the best-actor nominees for his performance as a self-centered actor in Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter”. The other contenders are James McAvoy for “Cyrano de Bergerac”, Toby Jones for “Uncle Vanya” and Wendell Pierce for “Death Of A Salesman”.

The nominees for best new musical are “Dear Evan Hansen”, “& Juliet”, “Amelie” and “Waitress”. In the new-play category, the contenders are Lucy Prebble’s “A Very Expensive Poison”, Tom Stoppard’s “Leopoldstadt”; Arthur Schnitzler adaptation “The Doctor” and “The Ocean At The End Of The Lane”, a state adaption of Neil Gaiman’s novel.

The winners will be announced April 5 at London’s Royal Albert Hall. NVG

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