Plays featuring British royalty, French satire and American optimism dominated this year’s Helen Hayes nominations, with works such as Folger’s ambitious Henry VIII, Shakespeare Theatre’s Candide and Arena’s revisioned Oklahoma! scoring the most nods.

The Helen Hayes marquee. Looks like actors, companies and productions may be sharing the wealth a bit more than usual at this year’s Helen Hayes Awards. At least when it comes to musicals. The nominations were announced last night and demonstrated a bit more variety than usual when it came to recognized work. For once, Signature Theater didn’t totally dominate every musical-related category. Small company Keegan Theater made a splash with its local production…

Sure, the student revolutionaries may not have triumphed in the uprising of 1803, but Signature’s Les Miserables was definitely triumphant last night at the 25th Anniversary Helen Hayes Awards. The outstanding regional production, which crammed an epic musical into a theater with less than 300 seats, took home a number of the evening’s high profile prizes, including awards in the musicals categories for director, musical direction, supporting actor and actress (a tie), ensemble and…

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…