‘Jerry Springer’ gets 8 Olivier nominations

“Jerry Springer -- The Opera” and two past Broadway musicals, “Ragtime” and “Pacific Overtures,” led the field Thursday for this year’s Laurence Olivier Awards, honoring achievement in London theater, opera and dance.

All three musicals received eight nominations apiece, while the London version of Tony-winner “Thoroughly Modern Millie” had five, including nods for costars Maureen Lipman and Amanda Holden, who plays Millie.

“Millie” will compete for best musical against “Ragtime,” which has closed, and “Jerry Springer -- The Opera,” the lone British entry. “Jerry” is currently running on the West End and will debut on Broadway later this year. Michael Brandon, the Brooklyn-born actor who plays the talk show host, is up for best actor in a musical.

The eight nods for “Pacific Overtures” were fairly surprising, since the Stephen Sondheim revival got mixed reviews during its limited run at the Donmar Warehouse last summer. The show is up for outstanding musical production (a category for revivals) against “High Society” and two Andrew Lloyd Webber revivals, “Tell Me on a Sunday” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

Brandon competes against his costar, David Bedella, who plays the rambunctious talk show’s MC, and Graham Bickley and Kevyn Morrow, both from “Ragtime.” Also nominated for best actress in a musical are Alison Jiear, who plays one of Springer’s more vocal guests, and past Olivier recipient Maria Friedman, who was a stirring Mother in “Ragtime.”

Among the plays, the obvious front-runner is Michael Frayn’s highly praised “Democracy,” about German chancellor Willy Brandt and his aide-de-camp, Gunter Guillaume, who was revealed to be a spy. Frayn’s new play goes up against two other National Theatre entries: Kwame Kwei-Armah’s “Elmina’s Kitchen” and Martin McDonagh’s “The Pillowman.” Terry Johnson’s “Hitchcock Blonde” completes the lineup.

Eileen Atkins and Helen Mirren were nominated for their performances in two National productions -- “Honour” and “Mourning Becomes Electra,” respectively. Other nominees for best actress include Kristin Scott Thomas, who made a memorable West End debut last spring in “Three Sisters”; Ann Mitchell, for “Through the Leaves”; and rising young star Kelly Reilly, who has the title role in “After Miss Julie.”

Roger Allam, who plays Brandt in “Democracy,” is up for actor in a play. His competition includes Kenneth Branagh, making his National debut in “Edmond”; Greg Hicks, who had the title role in “Coriolanus”; Matthew Kelly, for “Of Mice and Men”; and Michael Sheen, for “Caligula.”

Winners will be announced Feb. 22.