U.K.'s 55th Annual Evening Standard Award Nominees Announced: Celebrate Spacey, McKellen, Mendes, and More, 11/23

The 55th Annual Evening Standards Theatre Awards, honoring outstanding achievements in London Theater, today has released their long list of 2009 nominees.  The award ceremony, which will take place on November 23 at the Royal Opera House, will honor some of theater's biggest stars, including Ian McKellen, Kevin Spacey, Sam Mendes, and more. Sponsored by U.K'.s Evening Standard newspaper, with nominees selected by a panel of London theater critics, the shortlist of nominees will be sometime next week. 

Among the list of nominees are four nominations for August Osage County for Best Play, Best Actress (Deanna Dunagan and Amy Morton) and Best Director (Annie D. Shapiro). In addition, the nominees for Best Musical include the Broadway transfer of Spring Awakening. Sam Mendes is up for Best Director for his production of The Winter's Tale. Best Actor incldues a host of actors seen on and off Broadway, including Ian McKellen in Waiting for Godot, Mark Rylance in Jerusalem, and Kevin Spacey in Inherit the Wind. Best Actress incldues Amy Morton, Deanna Dunagan, Rachel Weisz and Rebecca Hall.

The awards have also renamed their Best Actress award to honor the late Natasha Richardson, with The category now titled: The Natasha Richardson Best Actress Award.

The full set of nominees include:

BEST PLAY
August: Osage County - Tracy Letts (Steppenwolf/National)
England People Very Nice - Richard Bean (National)
Enron - Lucy Prebble (Royal Court)
Jerusalem - Jez Butterworth (Royal Court)
Our Class - Tadeusz Slobodzianek/Ryan Craig (Steppenwolf/National)
Pornography - Simon Stephens (Tricycle)
Punk Rock - Simon Stephens (Lyric Hammersmith)
Tusk Tusk - Polly Stenham (Royal Court)
When The Rain Stops Falling - Andrew Bovell (Almeida)

BEST ACTOR
Bertie Carvel - The Pride (Royal Court)
Michael Feast - Plague Over England (Duchess)
Henry Goodman - Duet For One (Almeida/Vaudeville)
David Harewood - The Mountaintop (Theatre 503/Trafalgar Studios)
Matthew Kelly - Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf (Trafalgar Studios) & Troilus And Cressida (Shakespeare's Globe)
Ian McKellen - Waiting For Godot (Theatre Royal Haymarket)
Simon Russell Beale - The Winter's Tale (Old Vic)
Mark Rylance - Jerusalem (Royal Court)
Kevin Spacey - Inherit The Wind (Old Vic)
Ken Stott - A View From The Bridge (Duke of York's)
David Tennant - Hamlet (RSC Stratford/Novello)
David Troughton - Enjoy (Gielgud) & Inherit The Wind (Old Vic)
Samuel West - Enron (Royal Court)

THE Natasha Richardson AWARD FOR BEST ACTRESS
Samantha Bond - Arcadia (Duke of York's)
Deanna Dunagan - August: Osage County (Steppenwolf/ National)
Penny Downie - Helen (Shakespeare's Globe)
Rebecca Hall - The Winter's Tale (Old Vic)
Pauline Malefane - The Mysteries (Garrick)
Lyndsey Marshal - The Pride (Royal Court)
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio - A View From The Bridge (Duke of York's)
Amy Morton - August: Osage County (Steppenwolf/ National)
Juliet Stevenson - Duet For One (Almeida/Vaudeville)
Michelle Terry - England People Very Nice (National)
Rachel Weisz - A Streetcar Named Desire (Donmar Warehouse)

THE NEd Sherrin AWARD FOR BEST MUSICAL
A Little Night Music (Menier Chocolate Factory/Garrick)
Been So Long (Young Vic)
Hello, Dolly (Open Air, Regent's Park)
The Mysteries (Garrick)
Spring Awakening (Lyric Hammersmith/Novello)
Sunset Boulevard (Comedy)

BEST DIRECTOR
Howard Davies - Burnt by the Sun (National)
MariAnne Elliott - All's Well That Ends Well (National)
Richard Eyre - The Last Cigarette (Trafalgar Studios) and The Observer (National)
Rupert Goold - Enron (Royal Court)
Jeremy Herrin - Tusk Tusk (Royal Court)
Janice Honeyman - The Tempest (RSC Stratford/Richmond)
Sean Mathias - Waiting For Godot (Theatre Royal Haymarket)
Sam Mendes - The Winter's Tale (Old Vic)
Ian Rickson - Jerusalem (Royal Court)
Anna D Shapiro August: Osage County (Steppenwolf/National)

BEST DESIGN
Jon Bausor - Kursk (Young Vic)
Miriam Buether - Judgement Day (Almeida)
Lez Brotherston - Dancing At Lughnasa (Old Vic)
Bob Crowley - Phedre (National) & The Power Of Yes Naational)
Rob Howell - The Observer (National)
Mamoru Iriguchi - Mincemeat (Cardboard Citizens/Cordy House, Shoreditch)
Peter McKintosh - Prick Up Your Ears (Comedy)
Vicki Mortimer - Burnt by The Sun (National)
Christopher Oram - Hamlet/Madame de Sade/Twelfth Night (Donmar at Wyndham's) & A Streetcar Named Desire (Donmar Warehouse)
Todd Rosenthal - August: Osage County (National)
Ultz - Jerusalem (Royal Court)

THE MILTON SHULMAN AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER
Naana Agyei-Ampadu (Been So Long/Young Vic)
Aneurin Barnard (Spring Awakening/Lyric Hammersmith)
Lenny Henry (Othello/Northern Broadsides at Trafalgar Studios)
Ruth Negga (Phedre/National)
Bel Powley (Tusk Tusk/Royal Court)
Toby Regbo (Tusk Tusk/Royal Court)
Tom Sturridge (Punk Rock/ Lyric Hammersmith)
Charlotte Wakefield (Spring Awakening/ Lyric Hammersmith & Novello)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (2nd May 1997/Bush)

THE CHARLES WINTOUR AWARD FOR MOST PROMISING PLAYWRIGHT
Alia Bano (Shades/Royal Court)
Kieron Barry (Stockwell/Landor & Tricycle)
Lucy Kirkwood (It Felt Empty When The Heart Went At First But It Is Alright Now/Arcola)
Molly Davies (A Miracle/Royal Court)
Katori Hall (Mountaintop/Theatre 503 & Trafalgar Studios)
Ella Hickson (Eight/Trafalgar Studios)
Alexi Kaye Campbell (The Pride/Royal Court & Apologia/Bush)

This year's judges are Henry Hitchings of the Standard, Susannah Clapp of The Observer, Matt Wolf of the International Herald Tribune, Georgina Brown of The Mail on Sunday and Charles Spencer from the Daily Telegraph. Standard deputy editor Sarah Sands chairs the panel and Mr Lebedev will present his own special award.