Laurence Olivier Award nominee David Bradley today spoke of the honour he felt to receive a 2009 Best Actor nomination for his role in the late playwright Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land.

Bradley starred in Rupert Goold’s production of Pinter’s play first at the Gate theatre Dublin and then at the West End’s Duke of York’s theatre, where it opened shortly before Pinter’s death in December.
 
“I know Harold Pinter wrote many many great plays, but for me personally No Man’s Land is his masterpiece,” Bradley told Official London Theatre. “I know he loved this production particularly, he was very fond of it and very supportive of it. He even flew over to Ireland when he wasn’t very well to see it, and he came to the press night in London of course, and he gave it the thumbs up and that’s all we wanted really. And in some way the fact that me and Michael [Gambon] and Neil [Austin] for lighting have been nominated is in some way acknowledging the greatness of the play and the production of it.”

The actor, who previously won a Laurence Olivier Award in 1991 for his performance in King Lear at the National Theatre, was one of the guests in attendance at the Nominees' Celebration, held this afternoon at the Haymarket Hotel to celebrate the achievement of all the nominees in the 2009 Laurence Olivier Awards.

At the ceremony on 8 March, Bradley will compete against Derek Jacobi, Adam Godley and Michael Gambon for the Best Actor prize. “Oh we’re still speaking!” he joked about competing against Gambon. “It’s just great that we’re both together on this. I’ll be delighted for him if he wins and I’m sure he would be for me. We’re such great friends, we have a sense of humour about these things.”

No Man’s Land is just one of several shows staged by producer Sonia Friedman to collect nominations this year. The producer’s haul of 13 nominations – including seven for the musical La Cage Aux Folles, plus recognition for That Face and sister Maria Friedman’s show Rearranged – equals that of the Donmar Warehouse.

“Every year is special but it’s certainly been a successful year in terms of the work I’ve produced, the choices I’ve made, commercially,” said Friedman. “Of course as a commercial producer I believe it’s tougher when you don’t have government funding, you really don’t have that right to fail in the commercial sector, so it is actually tougher to make choices, and so to be level pegging in terms of number of nominations with companies who can afford to take artistic risk is very, very rewarding.”

The prolific producer, who is about to take her first holiday in four years, said her company develops no less than 25 projects at any one time, spanning a wide range of work from drama to musicals to entertainment and cabaret. “I’ve always approached producing a bit like running a repertory company… it seems that I am now fulfilling that ambition,” she said. “I guess the unticked box for me is creating and developing more large-scale musical work, which would be the next stage, I think, of my producing life.”

In addition to La Cage Aux Folles, nominated for Best Musical Revival, the musicals hoping to turn their nominations into wins on 8 March include Jersey Boys and Zorro, both nominated for Best New Musical.

Zorro’s Lesli Margherita, nominated for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical, and Emma Williams, receiving a Best Actress in a Musical nomination, have both already chosen their outfits for the ceremony, which takes place a week before Zorro ends its run on 14 March. Los Angeles-based actress Margherita was especially surprised to be recognised by the awards judges: “I didn’t even expect it; I thought well I’m American, there’s no way, so it’s been so great, so exciting. It’s just been the best gift to kind of wrap up the whole journey for me,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to [Zorro] going to the States; I’d like to do this show a little closer to home, in the same country as my husband might be nice! But yeah I wish it could have gone a little bit longer here, but we’re really proud of the run it’s had. I cried with relief on our first preview because people went nuts. I didn’t know how the British public would react, so it was a huge relief that it got the reaction that it did.”

Williams’s post-Zorro plans currently include a much needed visit to the dentist. “At the moment a little bit of a break and the removal of my wisdom teeth would be nice. Two and a half years of ahh and it’s been really bad on this production so I’m looking forward to them taking them out!”

While Zorro closes, Jersey Boys is one of the few nominated shows to remain a fixture in the West End. “We’re the only ones still standing, out of all the other shows and all the other actors, we’re the ones that are still going, so that’s testament to us as gentlemen,” commented Ryan Molloy, who is also nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Frankie Valli in the show. “I think we should win an award for our hairstyles, how they’ve changed over the last year. When we started out they were living in oblivion, but now they are really sharp, they’re slick, they’re right. Best hair – let’s get that in!” joked Molloy.

Someone who won’t be able to make the ceremony is Best Actress in a Musical nominee Ruthie Henshall, who already has a Sunday evening commitment as a judge on ITV’s Dancing On Ice. It will be left to Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical nominee Alexander Hanson to represent Marguerite at the awards ceremony. “I’ve never been nominated for anything in my life, so it’s lovely, really lovely,” he said.

The show itself missed out on a nomination for Best New Musical, which Henshall said she had been especially shocked by. “When you look round the West End at all the performances that haven’t been nominated, it’s quite amazing when you find yourself nominated. I could name quite a few that I felt would be in there and [it’s] a shame for the show that it wasn’t nominated. I really thought it was worthy of it.” She added: “I was very proud to be in it and the role that I’ve been nominated for, it’s the kind of role that every actress waits for and hopes they’ll get just once.”

Meanwhile, nominated for his performance in Mother Goose at Hackney Empire, seven-times panto dame Clive Rowe will be hoping to bring home a statuette in the name of pantomime this year. “To be nominated for a pantomime, I think it’s fantastic. We have this thing within the business where panto’s seen as a lesser form of theatre and it’s a real privilege and an honour that… the Oliviers have said that it’s not, they’ve given it the rubber stamp.”

All the nominees will find out if they have triumphed in their categories at the star-studded ceremony held at Grosvenor House Hotel on Sunday 8 March. Official London Theatre will be bringing you the very best, minute-by-minute coverage of the event, including exclusive video footage of the acceptance speeches, live interactive commentary and the full list of winners, as they are announced.

CB