# 2001 Laurence Olivier Awards

The 2001 Laurence Olivier Awards were presented by the Society of London Theatre in 2001 at the Lyceum Theatre, London, celebrating excellence in West End theatre.

## Winners and nominees

Details of winners (in bold) and nominees, in each award category, per the Society of London Theatre.
| Best New Play | Best New Musical |
| Blue/Orange by Joe Penhall – National Theatre Cottesloe Dolly West's Kitchen by Frank McGuinness – Old Vic Life x 3 by Yasmina Reza – National Theatre Lyttelton My Zinc Bed by David Hare – Royal Court | Merrily We Roll Along – Donmar Warehouse Fosse – Prince of Wales The Beautiful Game – Cambridge The Witches of Eastwick – Theatre Royal Drury Lane |
| Best New Comedy | Outstanding Musical Production |
| Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones – Duke of York's Cooking with Elvis by Lee Hall – Whitehall House/Garden by Alan Ayckbourn – National Theatre Lyttelton / Olivier Peggy for You by Alan Plater – Comedy | Singin' in the Rain – National Theatre Olivier H.M.S. Pinafore – Savoy The King and I – London Palladium The Mikado – Savoy The Pirates of Penzance – Regent's Park Open Air |
| Best Actor | Best Actress |
| Conleth Hill as Charlie Conlon in Stones in His Pockets – New Ambassadors / Duke of York's Simon Russell Beale as Prince Hamlet in Hamlet – National Theatre Lyttelton Sean Campion as Jake Quinn in Stones in His Pockets – New Ambassadors / Duke of York's Michael Gambon as Davies in The Caretaker – Comedy Bill Nighy as Dr. Robert Smith in Blue/Orange – National Theatre Cottesloe | Julie Walters as Kate Keller in All My Sons – National Theatre Cottesloe Jessica Lange as Mary Tyrone in Long Day's Journey into Night – Lyric Helen Mirren as Lady Torrance in Orpheus Descending – Donmar Warehouse Julia Ormond as Elsa in My Zinc Bed – Royal Court Harriet Walter as Sonia in Life x 3 – National Theatre Lyttelton |
| Best Actor in a Musical | Best Actress in a Musical |
| Daniel Evans as Charley Kringas in Merrily We Roll Along – Donmar Warehouse Jimmy Johnston as The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance – Regent's Park Open Air Paul Robinson as Don Lockwood in Singin' in the Rain – National Theatre Olivier David Shannon as John Kelly in The Beautiful Game – Cambridge | Samantha Spiro as Mary Flynn in Merrily We Roll Along – Donmar Warehouse Nicola Hughes as Performer in Fosse – Prince of Wales Joanna Riding as Jane Smart in The Witches of Eastwick – Theatre Royal Drury Lane Josie Walker as Mary in The Beautiful Game – Cambridge |
| Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Best Actress in a Supporting Role |
| Ben Daniels as Chris Keller in All My Sons – National Theatre Cottesloe Chiwetel Ejiofor as Christopher in Blue/Orange – National Theatre Cottesloe Douglas Hodge as Aston in The Caretaker – Comedy Jason Watkins as Truffaldino in A Servant to Two Masters – Young Vic / New Ambassadors | Pauline Flanagan as Rima West in Dolly West's Kitchen – Old Vic Gillian Barge as Agnes in Passion Play – Donmar Warehouse Catherine McCormack as Ann Deever in All My Sons – National Theatre Cottesloe Marcia Warren as Annie/Gramma in In Flame – New Ambassadors |
| Best Supporting Performance in a Musical |
| Miles Western as Miss West Coast in Pageant – Vaudeville Rosemary Ashe Felicia Gabriel in The Witches of Eastwick – Theatre Royal Drury Lane Rebecca Thornhill as Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain – National Theatre Olivier Taewon Yi Kim as Lady Thiang in The King and I – London Palladium |
| Best Director | Best Theatre Choreographer |
| Howard Davies for All My Sons – National Theatre Cottesloe Michael Grandage for Passion Play – Donmar Warehouse Nicholas Hytner for Orpheus Descending – Donmar Warehouse Trevor Nunn for The Cherry Orchard – National Theatre Cottesloe / Olivier Ian Talbot for The Pirates of Penzance – Regent's Park Open Air | Bob Fosse and Ann Reinking for Fosse – Prince of Wales Peter Darling for Merrily We Roll Along – Donmar Warehouse Stephen Mear for Singin' in the Rain – National Theatre Olivier Meryl Tankard for The Beautiful Game – Cambridge |
| Best Set Designer | Best Costume Designer |
| William Dudley for All My Sons – National Theatre Cottesloe Bunny Christie for Baby Doll – National Theatre Lyttelton / Albery Rob Howell for The Caretaker – Comedy Brian Thomson for The King and I – London Palladium | Alison Chitty for Remembrance of Things Past – National Theatre Cottesloe Gregg Barnes for Pageant – Vaudeville Bob Crowley for Cressida – Albery and The Witches of Eastwick – Theatre Royal Drury Lane Roger Kirk for The King and I – London Palladium |
| Best Lighting Designer |
| Hugh Vanstone for The Cherry Orchard – National Theatre Cottesloe and The Graduate – Gielgud Howard Harrison for The Witches of Eastwick – Theatre Royal Drury Lane and To the Green Fields Beyond – Donmar Warehouse Mark Henderson for All My Sons – National Theatre Cottesloe Paul Pyant for Hamlet – National Theatre Lyttelton |
| Outstanding Achievement in Dance | Best New Dance Production |
| Deborah Colker for choreographing Mix – Barbican Matthew Bourne for conceiving and dramatisating The Car Man – Old Vic Robert Parker in Shakespeare Suite, Birmingham Royal Ballet – Royal Opera House Michael Revie in Mozartina, Zürich Ballet – Sadler's Wells | Le Jardin Io Io Ito Ito, Compagnie Montalvo-Hervieu – Barbican Indigo Rose, Nederlands Dans Theater 2 – Sadler's Wells Mellantid, Nederlands Dans Theater 2 – Sadler's Wells Mozartina, Zürich Ballet – Sadler's Wells |
| Outstanding Achievement in Opera | Outstanding New Opera Production |
| Amanda Holden and Mark-Anthony Turnage for creating The Silver Tassie – National Theatre Lyttelton Gerald Finley in The Silver Tassie, English National Opera – National Theatre Lyttelton Kirov Opera for their season – Royal Opera House Stefanos Lazaridis for set designing The Greek Passion and the Italian season, English National Opera – London Coliseum | The Greek Passion, The Royal Opera – Royal Opera House Pelléas and Mélisande, English National Opera – London Coliseum The Coronation of Poppea, English National Opera – London Coliseum War and Peace, Kirov Opera – Royal Opera House |

## Productions with multiple nominations and awards

The following 22 productions, including one ballet and two operas, received multiple nominations:
* 6: All My Sons
* 5: The Witches of Eastwick
* 4: Merrily We Roll Along, Singin' in the Rain, The Beautiful Game and The King and I
* 3: Blue/Orange, Fosse, Stones in His Pockets, The Caretaker and The Pirates of Penzance
* 2: Dolly West's Kitchen, Hamlet, Life x 3, Mozartina, My Zinc Bed, Orpheus Descending, Pageant, Passion Play, The Cherry Orchard, The Greek Passion and The Silver Tassie
The following three productions received multiple awards:
* 4: All My Sons
* 3: Merrily We Roll Along
* 2: Stones in His Pockets