Plays featuring British royalty, French satire and American optimism dominated this year's Helen Hayes nominations, with works such as Folger's ambitious Henry VIII, Shakespeare Theatre's Candide and Arena's revisioned Oklahoma! scoring the most nods. more ›

Looks like actors, companies and productions may be sharing the wealth a bit more than usual at this year's Helen Hayes Awards. At least when it comes to musicals. more ›

Sure, the student revolutionaries may not have triumphed in the uprising of 1803, but Signature's was definitely triumphant last night at the 25th Anniversary Helen Hayes Awards. more ›

Only at the Helen Hayes awards will you have three acceptance speeches referencing the word "girdle." more ›

If you see a bunch of people milling around the Warner Theater tonight in evening dress, no, it's not prom; tonight, the D.C. theater community gets its chance to shine at the Helen Hayes Awards, our city's version of the Tonys. more ›

Betty Rules! is the title of a much-celebrated show for which Amy Ziff, one-third of the long-lived, D.C.-bred pop band Betty, got a Helen Hayes Award nomination last year. I didn’t see it, and I’ve never seen Betty play, so I can’t comment upon its, or their, alleged reign. But I can state with authority the following: Accident, Ziff's one-woman show that opens Theatre J’s new “Incubator Series” of works-in-progress, does not rule. Oh,... more ›

So the big winners at last night’s Helen Hayes awards were… puppets? more ›

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... more ›

It's officially December, so we find our thoughts turning to holiday shopping. Will you be giving the gift of local theater (or hoping to receive it) this season? Here are a couple of things on our wish list for the D.C. theatre community: more ›

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DCist theater critic Missy Frederick contributed to this report. Signature Theatre's production of Urinetown took top honors at last night's Helen Hayes Awards, D.C.'s local theater awards ceremony, taking home 8 prizes including director of a musical (Joe Calarco), choreographer (Karma Camp), four different acting awards (Will Gartshore is pictured right accepting his award for lead actor in a musical, which he shared in a tie with Michael McElroy from Big River), and outstanding resident... more ›

Sure, there probably aren’t too many office pools going around wagering on whether Scott Bradley will take Tony Cisek in the set design category. But lack of watercooler chatter aside, tonight is an important night for the D.C. theater community. more ›

DCist is through with living a lie. We have to confess: we're developing quite the crush on Kate Eastwood Norris. more ›

For D.C.'s avid area theatre-goers, the Helen Hayes Awards is a chance to locally honor some of the nation’s great theatre. For Post critic Peter Marks, it’s an opportunity to receive at least a scintilla of exposure to the shows he’s spent the past year avoiding. And for the dedicated theatrical practitioners who create these superlative works -- it’s prom. And everyone is a winner at the Helen Hayes Awards. That’s what the abundance of liquor at the afterparty is there to ensure. But this year, D.C.’s premiere theatre awards show took it to heart, having arrived at a voter impasse over two of the bigger awards of the night, sensibly chose to hand out some extra hardware and honor some multiple winners. Even with the extras, host E. Faye Butler did her duty and brought the show in for a landing in a scant 120 minutes -- truly deserving of an award herself. After all, those cocktails -– they do not quaff themselves. more ›

The nominations for the Helen Hayes Awards were announced last night, despite the cancellation of the traditional reception at the Canadian Embassy. As today's Post notes, the nominations had their share of surprises. Not surprising, especially to veterans of the D.C. theater scene, was the dominance of the Kennedy Center (17 nominations), Signature Theatre (15 nominations) and the Shakespeare Theatre (14 nominations). With pockets significantly deeper than smaller theater companies, large theaters can spend significant... more ›