TORONTO - Money may not buy you love, but it might get you a few Dora Award nominations.

When the smoke cleared following yesterday's announcement of nominations for the 27th annual Dora Awards, which celebrate the best in Toronto theatre, The Lord Of The Rings, the most expensive musical ever to hit the Toronto stage, had scored 15 nominations, topping the General Theatre division.

In the smaller Independent Theatre Division, Birdland Theatre's production of The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot led the pack with nine nods, and the Canadian Opera Company walked away with 10 nominations in the Opera Division plus six more in General Theatre.

The Lord Of The Rings, still at the Princess of Wales Theatre, is in the running in the musical division for Best New Musical, Best Production and Best Direction, a slew of technical awards, and three nominations for Best Actor (Peter Howe, Michael Therriault and Brent Carver), two for Best Actress (Rebecca Jackson Mendoza and Carly Street) and one for Best Supporting Actor (Evan Buhling).

The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot, which played the Distillery District's Fermenting Room last November, took nods for Best Production, Best Direction, two for Best Actor (Philip Aiken and Diego Matamoros) and one for Best Actress (Irene Poole), and nods in a handful of technical categories.

Along with two nominations for Musical Direction for Richard Bradshaw, the COC scored two nominations each for their productions of Rodelinda, Macbeth, Norma, Gotterdammerung and Wozzeck.

By theatre company, the nominations break down thus:

For Soulpepper Theatre Company, a total of 10 nominations, including four for The Long Valley, four for their celebrated production of Our Town, one for The Wild Duck and one for The Government Inspector;

For the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre For Young Audiences, nine nominations, five of which are in the Theatre For Young Audiences Division, and four in the General Theatre Division for Bunnicula;

For Obsidian Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille, seven nominations each with Obsidian scoring six for The Monument, including a Best Director nod for Nigel Shawn Williams and a Best Actress nomination for Yanna McIntosh. Five of TPM's nominations were for d'bi young's blood.clatt -- one womban story.

Ross Petty's Snow White And The Group Of Seven earned six nominations, BoyGroove copped four, and Song And Dance, three, including a Best Actress nod for Louise Pitre.

Tarragon Theatre's production of Leo earned five nominations, while Buddies In Bad Times' staging of A Beautiful View scored three, and CanStage's presentation of Ronnie Burkett's 10 Days On Earth earned two.

In the Independent Theatre Division, both Planet 88's production of Cringeworthy and Theatrefront's Return: The Sarajevo Project earned five nominations. In the Theatre for Young Audiences category, the other big player was Roseneath Theatre, which earned four nominations.

The 27th annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards will be handed out June 27 at the Winter Garden Theatre, hosted by David Gale. For tickets to the event ($60) or for After-Party tickets ($15), call 416-872-5555 and for VIP tickets ($160), call 416-536-6468, ext 27.