Tonight, the D.C. theater community will descend on Warner Theater, decked out in tuxes, kilts, ball gowns and whatever else the artsy crowd comes up with to approximate “black tie” attire. It's the night each year they get the chance to party their brains out and recognize the outstanding contributions they've made this year; it's the Helen Hayes Awards.

As busy theater critics with day jobs, we don’t get the chance to attend and review every production the D.C. scene has to offer each year. So instead of offering our picks for who “will win” and “should win” in each category, we thought we’d recognize some of the nominees we're excited about, and note a few names we would have liked to see.

>> We’re consistently entranced with the signature style of the Arlington-based Synetic Theater. Irina Tsikurishvili gets two nods in the choreography category this year, but we think her gyrating gothic music video of Faust is particularly deserving.

>> We can’t say enough good things about Signature Theater's production of the darkly comic Assassins. Whether it be Joe Calarco’s eerily intimate direction or Will Gartshore’s menacing John Wilkes Booth, we expect the show to steal the awards just as the company’s Urinetown did last year.

>> Getting inside the head of a pedophile has to be a harrowing journey, but when the results are as impressive as Andrew Long’s turn in Studio Theatre’s Frozen, we wonder if any leftover scars might have been worth it.

>> There's a special place in our hearts for the likes of particularly funny females. We hope voters similarly embrace the value of comedy and honor Veanne Cox’s knowingly imperious performance in The Beaux Stratagem or either of these two scene stealers: our fave D.C. actress Kate Eastwood Norris or the promising Stephanie Burden from Folger’s lovely A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

>> We’re also excited the awards added the category of outstanding ensemble this year, and no nominee is more worthy than the dazzling cast of Theatre Alliance’s The Bluest Eye

>> Sure, it might feel a little Anna-Paquin-in-The-Piano to award Phoebe Rusch the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical for her 3/4 of a Mass for St. Vivian, which she wrote at age 15, but the work was moving enough to make us care less.

The Helen Hayes Awards again neglected to recognize much of the outstanding work that smaller companies throughout the region have done this season, with some worthy exceptions (Catalyst’s The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui, Longacre Lea’s Rosencrantz & Gildenstern Are Dead, etc.). Whether it be Rorschach Theater’s many successes, the fine lead performances in Open Circle’s Evita, or the haunting script of Theater J’s outstanding Picasso’s Closet, the little guys always seem drowned out at these ceremonies.

We know everyone can’t be nominated, but we’re a little surprised to see the absence of Kate Debelack's brave turn in Studio Second Stage’s Fat Pig (did it just miss the deadline?)…the preening performance of Jeremy Webb in Don Juan ignored…Woolly’s spooky The Velvet Sky lacking in any recognition…whom are we missing? Did you get the chance to be wowed by some turns we didn’t catch? Who are your favorites to take home trophies tonight?