Ted Dykstra has Dora nominations for musical direction and for his performances as Cale Blackwell in Fire. (Cylla von Tiedemann/Canadian Stage Co.)The Canadian Stage Company production of Fire and Soulpepper Theatre's Top Girls each have a leading seven nominations for the Dora Mavor Moore Awards, Toronto's awards for excellence in theatre, announced Thursday.

Both Fire, a Canadian rock-gospel musical that first played in Toronto in 1985, and Top Girls, a 25-year-old British comedy-drama, are revivals.

Fire, about duelling brothers who go their separate ways to become a rock star and an evangelical pastor, is competing for best musical with another Canadian Stage Company production, the revival of New York hit Little Shop of Horrors.

Other plays nominated for best musical include Mirvish's Dirty Dancing, Arthouse Cabaret by Buddies in Bad Times Theatre and A Man of No Importance by Acting Up Stage.

Fire earned nominations for outstanding direction for James MacDonald and outstanding musical direction for Ted Dykstra, who plays the rocker brother. Dykstra earned a nomination for best male lead in the role, which he also played in the 1980s.

Top Girls is a comedy by Caryl Churchill set in Thatcher's Britain about women working at the Top Girls employment agency. It has a nomination for best production, best direction for Alisa Palmer and outstanding performance for cast members Megan Follows, Kelly Fox and Robyn Stevan.

Also nominated for best production were The December Man at CanStage, Rose at Harold Green Jewish Theatre Co., Le Misanthrope at le Théâtre Français de Toronto and Intimate Apparel at Obsidian Theatre Co.

The Canadian Stage Company, Toronto's largest theatre company, has been criticized this year for staging fewer original Canadian works and lost its newly hired artistic director, David Storch, mid-season.

Julian Richings, left, appears as a British weapons inspector, Maev Beaty as a U.S. soldier and Arsinee Khanjian as an Iraqi mother in Dora-nominated Palace of the End. (Chris Gallow/Canadian Stage)

Nontheless, it has 21 nominations for its productions, including five for The December Man, the Governor General's Award winning play about the 1989 Montreal massacre, four for Little Shop of Horrors and three for The Palace of the End.

Both leads in The December Man — Nicola Lipman and Brian Dooley — have nominations for their performances.

"It looks like we did well," said artistic producer Martin Bragg, after the Dora announcement Thursday.

He said he was sorry not to see a nomination for The Clean House, a CanStage production starring Fiona Reid, one of Canada's top theatre artists.

"But the nominations are wide-ranging — it's good to see so many groups get recognition," Bragg said.

Soulpepper has 13 nominations, with multiple nods for Time of Your Life and two nominations for best lead actress for Megan Follows, in both Top Girls and Three Sisters.

Mirvish Productions has seven nominations, including three for Dirty Dancing and a nod for best touring show for Nicholas Nickelby.

Emerging playwright Hannah Moscovitch, this year's playwright in residence at Tarragon Theatre, got two nominations for outstanding new play for her works Essay and East of Berlin.

She is competing for the honour with The Palace of the End, by Judith Thompson, which combines three powerful tales from the Iraq War, and with the comedy Tazed and Confused by the Ensemble and Alias Godot by Brendan Gall.

Paul Braunstein, left, appears as Wilfrid Laurier and Linda Prystawska as Emilie LaVergne, while Greg Campbell as Joseph LaVergne stands behind, in Laurier. (Michael Cooper/VideoCabaret) Other multiple nominees included Rose which had five nominations including best direction for Diana Leblanc and best performance by Lally Cadeau, and A Man of No Importance by Acting Up Stage, which earned outstanding direction nomination for Lezlie Wade and outstanding performance nomination for Patty Jamieson.

The late Bluma Appel bequeathed money for a cash prize for winners in the independent theatre categories.

Aluna Theatre's Madre, Modern Times' Waiting for Godot, single threat's A Quiet Place and Theatre Rusticle's April 14, 1912 each earned five nominations for independent theatre Doras, while Laurier, a comedy cabaret by writer-director Michael Hollingsworth earned six nominations.

The nominees for outstanding production were:

• Waiting for Godot by Modern Times Stage Co.
• Lullaby by Dark Horse Theatre.
• Laurier by VideoCabaret.
• April 14, 1912 by Theatre Rusticle.
• A Quiet Place by single threat.

In the opera division, the nominees for outstanding production were:

• Stitch by Theatre Centre and Urbanvessel.
• Pelléas and Mélisande by Canadian Opera Co.
• Idomeneo by Opera Atelier.
• From the House of the Dead by COC.
• Don Carlos by COC.

In the dance division the nominees for outstanding production were:

• Rite of Spring and Re- by Shen Wei Dance Arts.
• Portal by Peggy Baker Dance Projects.
• Chapel/Chapter by Harbourfront Centre.
• Bas-Reliefs by DanceWorks.
• Adelheid solos by DanceWorks.
• A Story Before Time by Dance Works/Kaha:wi Dance Theatre.
• 24 preludes by Chopin by the National Ballet of Canada.

The winners of the Dora Mavor Moore Awards will be named June 30 in Toronto.