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 money on their productions — especially in design.
The big theatres in D.C. were not, however, completely dominant. Numerous nods were given to smaller, upstart theater companies. The Theater Alliance was the big winner among smaller companies, receiving 10 nominations for a variety of shows. Open Circle Theatre, which daringly integrates artists with disabilities into its cast, received four nominations for their production of “Jesus Christ, Superstar”. The Rorschach Theatre, nominated for just the second time, will pit it’s low-budget, one-man show “A Tale of a Tiger” against some show called “The Producers”, among others. And Catalyst Theater Company continues its tradition of high-quality small-theatre fare with two nominations for “The Elephant Man”.
The Helen Hayes awards are given each year to “recognize achievement and promote excellence in theatrical production and performance in the Washington metropolitan area.” The award’s namesake was a two time Oscar winner, known as “The First Lady of the American Theatre”. Now in its 21st year, the awards will be presented May 9th at the Warner Theatre. Though predicting winners for the Hayes awards is a little trickier than predicting Oscars, DCist will go out on a limb and call the Best Director and Best Play award for the Folger’s production of “Two Gentlemen of Verona”.
