Southgate play Dear England and Sunset Boulevard revival lead Olivier nods

Dear England, the hit play about Gareth Southgate and England’s journey to the 2022 World Cup, and the musical revival of Sunset Boulevard lead the nominations at the Olivier Awards.

The sports drama by James Graham, which had a sell-out run at the National Theatre before it transferred to the West End last year, has received nine nods including best new play and best actor for Joseph Fiennes’ portrayal of Southgate.

Former Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger has been nominated for her starring role in the revival of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, which leads the charge for musicals with 11 nominations in total.

Dear England will go up against Jack Thorne’s The Motive And The Cue, which starred Mark Gatiss and Tuppence Middleton, Beth Steel’s new drama Till The Stars Come Down and Jez Butterworth’s The Hills Of California for best new play.

The play, which is a fictionalised account of the struggles and successes of England’s football teams, also garnered nods for Gina McKee’s portrayal of Pippa Grange and Will Close’s turn as Harry Kane in the support actress and actor categories respectively.

Last month it was announced the play will be adapted for a TV drama for the BBC, with Fiennes reprising his starring role.

The Handmaid’s Tale star Fiennes will face tough competition for the best actor gong from Sherlock star Gatiss, Happy Valley’s James Norton for his role in A Little Life, Doctor Who star David Tennant for Macbeth and All Of Us Strangers actor Andrew Scott for Vanya.

The best actress category also features a star-studded line-up as Sex And The City star Sarah Jessica Parker has been nominated for Plaza Suite, Succession actress Sarah Snook for The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Gavin & Stacey actress Sheridan Smith for Shirley Valentine, The Fall actress Laura Donnelly for The Hills Of California and Hotel Rwanda actress Sophie Okonedo for Medea.

US singer Scherzinger, who plays a famed Hollywood star fading and spiralling into mental illness, will compete against Natasha Hodgson for Operation Mincemeat, Caissie Levy for Next To Normal and Celebrity Big Brother star Marisha Wallace for Guys & Dolls for the best actress in a musical gong.

Her Sunset Boulevard co-star Tom Francis is up for the equivalent male prize, which also features nominations for David Cumming for Operation Mincemeat, Daniel Mays for Guys & Dolls and Charlie Stemp for Crazy For You.

Director Jamie Lloyd’s reimaging of the musical, which is based on the film of the same name, is also up for best musical revival alongside Tim Minchin’s Groundhog Day, Anais Mitchell’s Hadestown and Frank Loesser’s Guys & Dolls.

The best revival prize features a number of heavyweights including the Donmar Warehouse staging of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Simon Stephens’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Vanya, alongside Lucy Prebble’s The Effect and Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine.

The annual awards ceremony will take place on Sunday April 14 at the Royal Albert Hall, with a highlights package broadcast on ITV that evening.