Elena Roger and Douglas Hodge

John Tiffany
Best Director, Black Watch
“I love this tactic that you can open a show in 2006 and then in 2009 you win an Olivier Award for it. It's amazing, but then the whole Black Watch journey has just been fantastic and the people involved have, you know, just been so committed and it really is a group effort in the true sense of the word. I liked group effort thing that was going on tonight. I was delighted for Michael Boyd that he won a couple of awards, and I love the idea that people are understanding that theater isn't just an actor or a director: it's a whole world. There were some mad big shows up for awards and this is a real West End ceremony, so for a show like Black Watch to be acknowledged like that is amazing. I'd never been nominated myself, and probably won't be again, and my award was right at the end so I had to stay sober, which is why I'm drinking gin and tonic now.”

Elena Roger
Best Actress in a Musical, Piaf
“I just doubted for a minute that I was going to win and I thought, ‘Oh no, maybe they're going to mention another name!’ So it was great when they said ‘Elena Roger,' and I felt happy and nervous. I didn't know what to do with my body and my words: I didn't prepare any speech so that in case I didn't win I wouldn't feel bad. But of course then I forgot to mention Jamie Lloyd and Michael Grandage and felt guilty because they are the two people who most helped me. But I managed later to find them and tell them that I loved them, and I feel happier now. I am delighted to have this award. I've got one important prize from Argentina and now this from London and I wish someday I'm going to win a Tony Award. [Laughs] Maybe....

Jersey Boys earned five nominations, including Best New Musical (against only one other nominee, Zorro), Best Actor (Ryan Malloy as Frankie Valli), Best Director (Des McAnuff), Best Choreographer (Sergio Trujillo) and Best Sound Design. August: Osage County earned four Olivier nominations, including Best New Play, the newly created category Best Company Performance and Best Actress for Tony winner Deanna Dunagan. Dunagan will compete with Lindsay Duncan for That Face and Margaret Tyzack and Penelope Wilton, both in The Chalk Garden.

The new Best Company Performance award was created in response to the high level of ensemble productions in 2008. In addition to August: Osage County, the nominees include the casts of Black Watch, The Histories, The Norman Conquests and Sunset Boulevard.

Michael Gambon, already the recipient of four Olivier Awards, is nominated in the Best Actor category for his role in No Man’s Land along with his co-star David Bradley, Adam Godley for Rain Man and Derek Jacobi for Twelfth Night. ...