Crowds gather outside the marquee for the Helen Hayes Awards.

It takes a Hines brother to unseat Irina Tsikurishvili.

That was one of the surprises early in the night of the 26th annual Helen Hayes awards, held Monday night at the Warner Theater. Maurice Hines, brother of the late tap legend Gregory, took the trophy for Outstanding Choreography, Resident Production, for MetroStage’s Cool Papa’s Party, despite perennial winner Tsikurishvili’s not one, not two, but three nominations for her work for Synetic Theater Company. Hines was so elated, he got up on stage and promptly broke his award.

“Oh shit!” he said, laughing.

The moment was demonstrative of the overall tone of last night’s awards, which were more relaxed, irreverent and just plain fun than many ceremonies of previous years. The show also hit some emotional high notes, such as playwright Terrence McNally’s moving tribute to his mentor (and former lover), fellow playwright Edward Albee. McNally had fine words to say of Albee’s expansive career, but couldn’t resist sharing anecdotes as well — such as the time he locked Albee in an apartment with Bette Davis as they debated whether she would take over the movie lead in his “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

“When I came home, they were both passed out drunk,” McNally shared. The role ended up going to Elizabeth Taylor.

McNally himself had something to be proud of during the awards. His Ragtime, given epic treatment by the Kennedy Center last year (the show briefly moved to Broadway), took home several high-profile awards, such as Outstanding Costume Design, Outstanding Director, Resident Musical, Outstanding Resident Musical and an Outstanding Lead Actress trophy for Christiane Noll in her third D.C. area theater appearance, who joked she’d be honored to work in D.C. again now that Ragtime has shuttered.