Hollywood pair go head-to-head for Oliviers

Gwyneth Paltrow and Emily Watson will be pitted against each other for the best actress gong in this year's Laurence Olivier theatre awards, announced today.

Paltrow has been nominated for her acclaimed role in the hit play Proof, but she faces stiff competition from British star Emily Watson, praised for her performance in Uncle Vanya.

Also in the running are Clare Higgins, who won rave reviews and the Evening Standard best actress award for her role in Vincent in Brixton, and Anita Dobson, whose portrayal of a grieving mother was hailed as "brilliant" by Guardian critic Michael Billington

Musicals made a strong showing in the West End last year, and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bollywood spectacular Bombay Dreams is up against Boy George's Taboo, the Madness pop musical Our House and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for best new musical.

Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen, president of the Society of London Theatre which organises the awards, said: "It has been a strong year for London theatre. It is fantastic to see such a diverse range in this year's nominations, from two musicals by two 80s icons - Boy George and Madness - to classic productions of Shakespeare and Chekhov."

The awards ceremony takes place February 14 at the Lyceum Theatre.

In the running

Best actress
Anita Dobson for Frozen at the Cottesloe
Clare Higgins for Vincent in Brixton at the Cottesloe and Wyndham's
Gwyneth Paltrow for Proof at the Donmar Warehouse
Emily Watson for Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse

Best actor

Michael Gambon for A Number at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court
Simon Russell Beale for Uncle Vanya at the Donmar Warehouse
Mark Rylance for Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Globe
David Tennant for Lobby Hero at the Donmar Warehouse and New Ambassadors

Best actress in a musical
Janie Dee for My One and Only at the Piccadilly
Joanna Riding for My Fair Lady at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Elaine Stritch for Elaine Stritch at Liberty at The Old Vic
Sarah Wildor for Contact at the Queen's

Best actor in a musical
Tim Flavin for My One and Only at the Piccadilly
Alex Jennings for My Fair Lady at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Michael Jibson for Our House at the Cambridge
Euan Morton for Taboo at The Venue

Best new play
The Coast of Utopia (Voyage, Shipwreck, Salvage) by Tom Stoppard at the Olivier
The York Realist by Peter Gill at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court and the Strand
Vincent in Brixton by Nicholas Wright at the Cottesloe and Wyndham's

Best new musical
Bombay Dreams, music by AR Rahman, lyrics by Don Black, book by Meera Syal based on an idea by Shekhar Kapur and Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Apollo Victoria
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, music and lyrics by Richard M Sherman and Robert B Sherman, adapted for the stage by Jeremy Sams, based on the MGM/United Artists motion picture at the London Palladium
Our House by Tim Firth, music and lyrics by Madness at the Cambridge
Taboo, music and lyrics by Boy George, book by Mark Davies at The Venue

Outstanding musical production
Anything Goes, music and lyrics by Cole Porter, original book by PG Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman at the Olivier
Oh What a Lovely War, Joan Littlewood's musical entertainment by Theatre Workshop, Charles Chilton, Gerry Raffles and members of the original cast at the Open Air

Best director
Matthew Bourne for Play Without Words at the Lyttelton
Richard Eyre for Vincent in Brixton at the Cottesloe
Edward Hall for Rose Rage at the Haymarket
Sam Mendes for Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya in repertory at the Donmar Warehouse