Imelda Staunton, Sir Kenneth Branagh Receive Olivier Award Nominations

by · March 4, 2016

Congratulations are in order for former Potter alumni Imelda Staunton (Professor Dolores Umbridge) and Sir Kenneth Branagh (Professor Gilderoy Lockhart), who have both received nominations for the 2016 Olivier Awards, which celebrate the best of British theater in the past 12 months.

Staunton picked up her 11th career total Olivier nomination for her acclaimed performance as Rose in Stephen Sondheim’s Gypsy, which subsequently received the most nominations with 8 nods in total. Other nominations for the production include Best Lighting Design, Best Theatre Choreographer, Best Director, Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical, Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical, and Best Musical Revival.

Staunton, who announced the nominations on Monday alongside fellow Olivier Award winner Michael Ball, had this to say about her nomination:

Meanwhile, Branagh has been nominated for Best Director and Best Actor for The Winter’s Tale. The production has also secured nominations for Best Revival, Best Lighting Design, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Other nominees include the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Guys and Dolls, with actors Sophie Thompson (Mafalda Hopkirk in Deathly Hallows – Part 1) and Jamie Parker, who is set to play Harry in Cursed Child, both receiving individual nominations.

Furthermore, Sonia Friedman, the producer of the upcoming stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and her production company, received an impressive total of 20 nominations for various West End productions, including Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet, A Christmas Carol (which starred Jim Broadbent (Professor Horace Slughorn)), Bend It Like Beckham, and Farinelli and the King. Friedman said,

It is extraordinary. I want to take the chance to congratulate all the writers, performers, composers, directors, designers, lighting designers, sound designers, musicians, co-producers, investors and of course my team at SFP. I also want to say a very big thank you to all the immensely talented artists involved in all the productions we produced and co-produced in 2015 /2016. Today I am feeling very proud.

Click here for the full list of nominations. The awards ceremony will take place in London at the Royal Opera House on Sunday, April 3. Are you pleased with the nominees? Did you get to see either Gypsy or The Winter’s Tale last year? Let us know your thoughts!