Helen Hayes Awards Will Be Given in DC April 25; Gavin Lee, Phylicia Rashad Among Nominees

By Kenneth Jones
April 25, 2011

The 2011 Helen Hayes Awards ceremony, celebrating excellence in Washington, DC-area professional theatre, will be held 8 PM April 25 at The Warner Theatre and JW Marriott Hotel.

Mixed in with the respected and talented resident artists who are nominated (but may not have a national profile) are more widely-known theatre people, including Phylicia Rashad (every tongue confess), Marc Kudisch (Sycamore Trees), Laurence Fishburne (Thurgood) and Gavin Lee (Mary Poppins), costume designer William Ivey Long (Henry VIII), songwriters Ricky Ian Gordon (Sycamore Trees), Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler (Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred)), playwright David Ives (The Liar), scenic designer Eugene Lee (Oklahoma!) and director Mary Zimmerman (Candide), among others. 

Two award recipients were announced: The John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company will go to No Rules Theatre Company and Factory 449: a theatre collective.

Below are nominees in production categories. For a complete list of nominees, representing acting, directing, design and choreographic work in the 2010 calendar year, visit www.helenhayes.org.

The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical
every tongue confess, Marcus Gardley, Arena Stage
Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), music by Zina Goldrich, book and lyrics by Marcy Heisler, The Kennedy Center Family Theater
Sycamore Trees, music and lyrics by Ricky Ian Gordon, book by Nina Mankin and Ricky Ian Gordon, Signature Theatre
Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), book and lyrics by Marcy Heisler, The Kennedy Center Family Theater
The Liar, David Ives, Shakespeare Theatre Company
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, music by Michael Silversher, script and lyrics by Mo Willems, musical arrangements by Deborah Wicks La Puma, The Kennedy Center Family Theater
Pirates! A Boy at Sea, Charles Way, Imagination Stage

Outstanding Non-Resident Production
Avenue Q
The Last Cargo Cult
Mary Poppins
South Pacific
Thurgood

Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences
If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Adventure Theatre
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, The Kennedy Center Family Theater
The Nutcracker, The Puppet Co.
Pirates! A Boy at Sea, Imagination Stage
Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), The Kennedy Center Family Theater
The Red Balloon, Adventure Theatre

Outstanding Resident Musical
Annie, Olney Theatre Center
Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company
Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage
Hairspray, Toby's Dinner Theatre
The Light in the Piazza, Arena Stage
Little Shop of Horrors, Ford's Theatre
Oklahoma!, Arena Stage
Sweeney Todd, Signature Theatre

Outstanding Resident Play
Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
Hamlet, Folger Theatre
Henry VIII, Folger Theatre
The Master and Margarita, Synetic Theater
New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza, Theater J
Orestes, A Tragic Romp, Folger Theatre
Othello, Synetic Theater
Superior Donuts, The Studio Theatre