The National Theatre’s hit production of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time leads the way in the nominations for this year’s Olivier Awards with MasterCard, gaining recognition in a staggering eight categories including MasterCard Best New Play.

Simon Stephens’ adaptation, which won acclaim at the National’s Cottesloe theatre before transferring to the West End's Apollo Theatre, received nods for individual performances, with Luke Treadaway nominated for Best Actor and Nicola Walker for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, as well as its creative team, with nominations for director Marianne Elliott, sound designer Ian Dickinson, lighting designer Paule Constable and set designers Bunny Christie and Finn Ross.

Announced today at a special event at the May Fair Hotel presented by Elaine Paige and Ruth Wilson, the nominations also recognise current West End hits The Bodyguard and Top Hat, the latter of which stands just behind the NT’s production of Mark Haddon’s best-seller with seven nominations.

Both Thea Sharrock’s Whitney Houston-inspired hit and Matthew White’s stage adaptation of the famous Fred Astaire film will fight it out for the coveted Best New Musical accolade alongside Loserville and Soul Sister, while leading ladies Summer Strallen and Heather Headley come up against each other in the Best Actress in a Musical category opposite Sweeney Todd’s Imelda Staunton and Kiss Me, Kate’s Hannah Waddingham. The Bodyguard’s Hildegard Bechtler and Top Hat’s Tim Hatley also compete against Wild Swans’ Miriam Buether and Wang Gongxin, and The Curious Incident’s Christie and Ross for Best Set Design.

Top Hat is also recognised in the Best Actor in a Musical category, where leading man Tom Chambers is nominated alongside star of six-time nominated Sweeney Todd Michael Ball, Kiss Me, Kate’s Alex Bourne, whose nomination forms just one of the Chichester Festival Theatre production’s five nods, and musical theatre newcomer and star of Cabaret Will Young. Young’s Cabaret co-star Siân Phillips is also nominated for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical alongside Adam Garcia (Kiss Me, Kate), Debbie Kurup (The Bodyguard) and Leigh Zimmerman (A Chorus Line).

Other actors gaining recognition for their individual performances include Rafe Spall (Constellations), Rupert Everett (The Judas Kiss), Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and James McAvoy (Macbeth), who all face competition from Treadaway for the Best Actor award, while actresses Billie Piper (The Effect), Hattie Morahan (A Doll’s House), Kristin Scott Thomas (Old Times) and Helen Mirren (The Audience) compete for the crown of Best Actress.

Richard McCabe, who plays PM Harold Wilson alongside Mirren’s Queen in The Audience, is also nominated for his role in Peter Morgan’s monarch-inspired piece – which has notched up five nominations for this year’s awards – competing against Paul Chahidi (Twelfth Night), Adrian Scarborough (Hedda Gabler) and Kyle Soller (Long Day’s Journey Into Night) for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role accolade, while the play itself will face competition from Nick Payne’s Constellations, James Graham’s This House and Stephens’ Curious Incident for MasterCard Best New Play.

Five actresses will fight it out for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award, a category that consists of NSFW’s Janie Dee, The Effect’s Anastasia Hille, Julius Caesar’s Cush Jumbo, The Last Of The Haussman’s Helen McCrory and Curious Incident’s Walker.

Curious Incident’s director Elliott hopes to triumph in the Best Director category alongside This House’s Jeremy Herrin, The Master And Margarita’s Simon McBurney and The Audience’s double Olivier award-winning director Stephen Daldry, whose production of Billy Elliot The Musical has also been shortlisted for the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award alongside fellow long-runners Wicked, The Phantom Of The Opera and last year’s big winner Matilda The Musical.

In the revival categories, Shakespearean productions of Macbeth and Twelfth Night go head to head with Long Day’s Journey Into Night and Old Times for Best Revival, while the Best Musical Revival category sees current West End hit A Chorus Line come up against Stephen Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd, Rufus Norris’ production of Cabaret and the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Kiss Me, Kate.

Other shows nominated this year include the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Goodnight Mister Tom, Cinderella at the St James theatre, hit children’s adaptation Room On The Broom and the National Theatre’s Hansel And Gretel, which are all recognised in the Best Entertainment and Family category.

The English National Opera leads the way in the opera categories, with its productions of Billy Budd, Caligula, and La Traviata all nominated for Best New Opera Production alongside the Barbican theatre’s epic five-hour production of Einstein On The Beach, while the company’s Music Director Edward Gardner is recognised for his work on Billy Budd and The Flying Dutchman in the Outstanding Achievement in Opera category, which also recognises Bryan Hymel’s performances in Les Troyens, Robert Le Diable and Rusalka, and Music Theatre Wales’ In the Locked Room/Ghost Patrol, all at the Royal Opera House, as well as the stage management teams of both companies.

In dance, the Royal Ballet’s Aeternum, Cacti at Sadler’s Wells and Scottish Ballet’s A Streetcar Named Desire fight it out for the Best New Dance Production award, while acclaimed Islington dance venue Sadler’s Wells faces competition from the Royal Opera House in the Outstanding Achievement in Dance category with nominations for Lez Brotherston, who is recognised for the set and costumes for New Adventures’ Sleeping Beauty, ILL-Abilities company in Breakin’ Convention at Sadler’s Wells and Marianela Nunez for Aeternum, Diana And Acteon, and Viscera at the Royal Opera House.

The winners of this year’s Olivier Awards will be announced at the star-studded ceremony, hosted by double Olivier Award winner Sheridan Smith and Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville, on 28 April at the Royal Opera House. Theatre fans can follow the awards by listening on BBC Radio 2, watching the special highlights package on ITV or attending the public Covent Garden piazza event.

You can also keep up to date with all the latest news and announcements by following the Olivier Awards on Twitter and get involved by uploading content to Twitter, Instagram, Tumbler and YouTube using #Oliviers.

Full list of nominations:

Best Actor
Rupert Everett – The Judas Kiss
James McAvoy – Macbeth
Mark Rylance – Twelfth Night
Rafe Spall – Constellations
Luke Treadaway – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

Best Actress
Helen Mirren – The Audience
Hattie Morahan – A Doll’s House
Billie Piper – The Effect
Kristin Scott Thomas – Old Times

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Paul Chahidi – Twelfth Night
Richard McCabe – The Audience
Adrian Scarborough – Hedda Gabler
Kyle Soller – Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Janie Dee – NSFW
Anastasia Hille – The Effect
Cush Jumbo – Julius Caesar (Donmar Warehouse)
Helen McCrory – The Last Of The Haussmans
Nicola Walker – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

MasterCard Best New Play
Constellations
The Audience
The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
This House

Best Director
Stephen Daldry – The Audience
Marianne Elliott – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
Jeremy Herrin – This House
Simon McBurney – The Master And Margarita

Best Actor in a Musical
Michael Ball – Sweeney Todd
Alex Bourne – Kiss Me, Kate
Tom Chambers – Top Hat
Will Young – Cabaret

Best Actress in a Musical
Heather Headley – The Bodyguard
Imelda Staunton – Sweeney Todd
Summer Strallen – Top Hat
Hannah Waddingham – Kiss Me, Kate

Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical
Adam Garcia – Kiss Me, Kate
Debbie Kurup – The Bodyguard
Siân Phillips – Cabaret
Leigh Zimmerman – A Chorus Line

Best New Musical
Loserville
Soul Sister
The Bodyguard
Top Hat

Best Revival
Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Macbeth
Old Times
Twelfth Night

Best Musical Revival
A Chorus Line
Cabaret
Kiss Me, Kate
Sweeney Todd

Best Entertainment and Family
Cinderella (St James theatre)
Goodnight Mister Tom
Hansel And Gretel
Room On The Broom

White Light Award for Best Lighting Design
Paul Anderson – The Master And Margarita
Paule Constable – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
Lee Curran – Constellations
Mark Henderson – Sweeney Todd

Best Sound Design
Ian Dickinson – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
Paul Groothuis – Sweeney Todd
David McSeveney – Constellations
Gareth Owen – Top Hat

Best Costume Design
Bob Crowley – The Audience
Jon Morrell – Top Hat
Jenny Tiramani – Twelfth Night
Anthony Ward – Sweeney Todd

XL Video Award for Best Set Design
Hildegard Bechtler – Top Hat
Miriam Buether & Wang Gongxin – Wild Swans
Bunny Christie & Finn Ross – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
Tim Hatley – The Bodyguard

Best New Dance Production
Aeternum by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon
Cacti by Nederlands Dans Theatre 2 at Sadler’s Wells, choreographed by Alexander Ekman
A Streetcar Named Desire by Scottish Ballet at Sadler’s Wells

Outstanding Achievement in Dance
Lez Brotherston for the set and costumes for Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty, New Adventures at Sadler’s Wells
ILL-Abilities company in Breakin’ Convention at Sadler’s Wells
Marianela Nunez for Aeternum, Diana & Actaeon and Viscera, The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House

Best Theatre Choreographer
Scott Ambler – Chariots Of Fire
Bill Deamer – Top Hat
Scott Graham & Steven Hoggett – The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
Stephen Mear – Kiss Me, Kate

Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre
Caroline Horton for You’re Not Like The Other Girls Chrissy at the Bush theatre
The production of Red Velvet at the Tricycle theatre
The season of new writing at the Royal Court Upstairs
Kate Bond and Morgan Lloyd for You Me Bum Bum Train, presented by Theatre Royal Stratford East

Best New Opera Production
Billy Budd, English National Opera at the London Coliseum
Caligula, English National Opera at the London Coliseum
Einstein On The Beach at the Barbican theatre
La Traviata, English National Opera at the London Coliseum

Outstanding Achievement in Opera
Edward Gardner for his conducting of The Flying Dutchman and Billy Budd at the English National Opera, London Coliseum
Bryan Hymel for his performances in Les Troyens, Robert Le Diable and Rusalka at the Royal Opera House
Music Theatre Wales for In the Locked Room/Ghost Patrol at the Linbury Theatre, the Royal Opera House
The Stage Management teams at English National Opera, London Coliseum and the Royal Opera House

BBC Radio 2 Audience Award
Billy Elliot The Musical
Matilda The Musical
The Phantom Of The Opera
Wicked

Special Award
Gillian Lynne
Michael Frayn

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