Many eyes will be on Nationals Stadium tonight, as D.C. residents desperately hope for a win (we’ve got nowhere to go but up) at this evening’s home opener. But a large segment of the area population has a different sort of win on their minds – namely, who will clean up at this year’s Helen Hayes Awards at the Warner Theater.

The event’s completely sold out this year, so there are clearly a number of theater community members looking for a party in spite (or perhaps, on account) of the dreary economy. DCist traditionally avoids making predictions on who will (or should) win, and with an alarmingly epic list of nominees this year, it’s even more of a fool’s errand than usual. But we like to take this time to give a couple shoutouts to performances we’re excited to see recognized.

*Synetic Theater tends to be a shoe-in when it comes to the outstanding choreography category, and the dizzyingly talented Irina Tsikurishvili has two nominations this year. We were particularly enamored of the athletic and sexy Carmen, which was showcased at the Kennedy Center.