text: The Crucible's production of Show Boat and its new musical Flowers for Mrs Harris are both up for best musical.
  Paapa Essiedu, the Royal Shakespeare Company's first black Hamlet, is in the running for best performance in a play.
  Sir Ian McKellen will receive a special prize at this year's event, to be held at London's Guildhall on 9 October.
  Previous recipients of the outstanding contribution to British theatre award include Sir Peter Hall, choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne and actor Simon Callow.
  Clare Burt is nominated for best performance in a musical for Flowers for Mrs Harris, which was adapted from a 1958 novel by Paul Gallico.
  Daniel Evans directed both Flowers for Mrs Harris and Show Boat, which transferred to the West End in April. He has since left Sheffield Theatres to become artistic director of Chichester Festival Theatre.
  Chichester's exuberant summer production of Half a Sixpence is up for two awards ahead of its West End transfer next month.
  Actress Lesley Manville, host of this year's awards ceremony, said she "looked forward to celebrating a year of artistic achievement".
  The full list of nominations is as follows:
  Theatregoers have until 12:00 BST on 19 September to cast their vote for the UK's most welcoming theatre.
  Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.
target: Musicals staged by Sheffield's Crucible theatre lead the nominations for this year's UK Theatre Awards, which reward the best shows produced outside London.