Only at the Helen Hayes awards will you have three acceptance speeches referencing the word "girdle." The celebratory, at times irreverent ceremony took place in front of a sold-out crowd at the Warner Theater last night. The big winners of the evening were Synetic Theater, the edgy dance-dominant Rosslyn troupe, solidifying its place as one of the most innovative companies working in the area right now. Five out of the group's six trophies were for......

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. Along with winners in 24 categories, the Helen Hayes Awards will give out a few special honors. Planned are a special tribute to British stage actor Sir Derek Jacobi, a The Washington Post Award......

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,......

So the big winners at last night’s Helen Hayes awards were… puppets? Indeed, Aaron Posner’s unique vision for Measure for Measure, produced at the Folger this year, where puppets took on many of the play’s roles, earned him a best director trophy (he tied with Michael Kahn, for his zany take on Love’s Labor Lost), as well as the award for Outstanding Resident Play. Signature Theater’s Assassins won the most awards of the night with......

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......

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: 1. For tiny companies like Meat & Potato and Natural Theatricals to have their seats filled more frequently, and for small but innovative companies like Rorschach to get Helen Hayes nods this......

The Tony's. The Helen Hayes Awards. Opening night of just about anything, natch. The world of theater has a lot of big nights, it seems. Add one more to the list. On October 19, D.C. will celebrate a Free Night of Theater. Participating theaters — and there are many of them — will offer free tickets to some of the area's most popular shows. And we're not talking just a few tiny theaters desperate for......

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......

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. This evening, Warner Theatre will be bustling with our local onstage and backstage heroes, dressed to the nines, as they celebrate the Helen Hayes Awards, which recognize the year’s finest contributions to professional theatre in......

DCist is through with living a lie. We have to confess: we're developing quite the crush on Kate Eastwood Norris. After seeing her shine as the barb-tongued Beatrice in Folger’s Much Ado About Nothing last October, it was no surprise to catch the Helen Hayes award nominee investing Anna, one half of the tumultuous lesbian couple at the center of David Mamet’s Boston Marriage, with the same kind of unbridled energy and wry wit we......

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......

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......