Photo by Kevin H.

Pretty amazing news for the local theater community. The 2009 Tony Award nominees are set to be announced tomorrow morning, but in the meantime, the special, non-competitive awards were announced today, and Arlington’s Signature Theatre was awarded this year’s Regional Theatre Tony Award. From the release:

On the recommendation of the American Theatre Critics Association, the Tony Awards has selected the Signature Theatre of Arlington, Virginia as the recipient of the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The Award is accompanied by a gift of $25,000 from Visa, USA.

In 20 seasons, Signature Theatre (under the leaderhip of artistic director Eric Schaeffer and managing director Maggie Boland) has established a national reputation for giving some of the nation’s most talented artists a place to do their best work before appreciative, knowledgeable audiences.

You can scroll through some of DCist’s most recent reviews of Signature shows by clicking here. From the 2008 season, our critics particularly enjoyed their productions of Les Miserables and Kiss of the Spider Woman.