The nominations for the 2010 Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards were announced at the Vancouver TheatreSports League Improv Centre on Granville Island on March 25, and it was a love fest for actor Ryan Beil.

Beil received two lead-actor nominations in the large-theatre category (for his work in Billy Bishop Goes to War and The Comedy of Errors), a lead-actor nomination in small theatre (American Buffalo), and an outstanding-performance nomination in the theatre for young audiences stream (The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood).

With 20 nods, the Vancouver Playhouse squeaked past the Arts Club Theatre Company for most nominations in the large-theatre race. The Arts Club received 18 nominations; the company also produced Lucia Frangione’s Paradise Garden, which is in the running for outstanding new play.

For the Playhouse, Beyond Eden, Bruce Ruddell’s musical set amidst the cultural complexities of Haida Gwaii, leads the charge, with eight nominations. Another musical, Les Misérables, took seven nominations for the Arts Club. And director David Mackay’s interpretation of The Comedy of Errors took five nods for Bard on the Beach, helping the Shakespearean company to reach a total of 15.

The Arts Club’s Billy Bishop Goes to War and the Playhouse’s The Miracle Worker join Beyond Eden, Les Miz, and The Comedy of Errors in the race for best production.

Presentation House is out front in the small-theatre stream, with eight chances to win, including seven nominations for The Edward Curtis Project. Perennial favourite Blackbird Theatre’s production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? picked off six major nominations, including those for best production, direction (John Wright), lead actor (Kevin McNulty), lead actress (Gabrielle Rose), supporting actor (Craig Erickson), and supporting actress (Meg Roe).

Besides Edward Curtis and Virginia Woolf, the shows nominated for outstanding production, small theatre, are: Headlines Theatre’s after homelessness, Main Street Theatre Equity Co-op’s American Buffalo, and Touchstone Theatre, Felix Culpa, and Horseshoes and Hand Grenades Theatre’s production of Palace of the End.

Once again this year, Carousel Theatre dominates the theatre for young audiences category, with a total of 18 nominations, including seven for A Year With Frog and Toad. The entire cast of that show (Darren Burkett, Janet Gigliotti, Kaylee Harwood, Todd Talbot, and Allan Zinyk) is collectively nominated for outstanding performance. Also in the running for outstanding production for young people are Carousel’s Love You Forever”¦and More Munsch and Robin Hood, as well as Théí¢tre la Seizií¨me’s Comment Devenir Parfait en Trois Jours. The Critics’ Choice Innovation Award will go to either Leaky Heaven Circus’s antigone undone, the Chop Theatre’s KISMET one to one hundred, the Only Animal’s NiX, (r)evolution theatre’s True Story, or Fugue Theatre Society’s Via Beatrice.

The winners will be announced at the Jessie Awards, to be held June 21 at the Commodore Ballroom.