Helen Hayes nominations reaction post

Washington had a really solid theater year (if we, um, completely ignore everything that happened with the management of the Kennedy Center, which certainly cast a dark shadow over the city). The Helen Hayes nominations were recently announced and honestly, I have no idea how I'd vote in some of the categories.

If you're unfamiliar, the Helen Hayes Awards are for DC-area theaters and are divided into categories based on the number of Equity members involved in the production; the Hayes awards are for productions with more Equity members and Helen awards are for those with fewer. There are also some separate categories for resident and non-resident productions, so touring productions can get nominated but aren't always up against local productions. Interestingly, the acting categories are:

• Outstanding Performer, Non-Resident Production
• Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical 
• Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Play
• Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical
• Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play
• Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical
• Outstanding Ensemble in a Play 

and then the overall production awards are:

• Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences
• Outstanding Non-Resident Production
• Outstanding Production - Musical
• Outstanding Production - Play

The nominees for ensemble in a musical (Hayes) are Damn Yankees (Arena), Guys and Dolls (Shakespeare), In the Heights (Signature), Sister Act (Ford's), and The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical (Signature). Outstanding production of a musical (Hayes) nominees are Damn Yankees, Fiddler on the Roof (Signature), Guys and Dolls, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Signature), Play On! (Signature), and The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical. I was fortunate enough to have seen all of these productions.

(Also, shout-out to Ford's for its nominations for not just Sister Act, but also The American Five, which was fantastic and also got a bunch of nominations. Other shows I saw that got nominated for outstanding production and/or performers: Kunene and the King [Shakepeare], Merry Wives [Shakespeare], Waitress [Olney] and What the Constitution Means to Me [Round House], plus the touring production of Some Like It Hot. I'm surprised that Parade, which went through the Kennedy Center, didn't get any awards; perhaps an unofficial ineligibility? I wouldn't have been surprised at nominations for for Frankenstein [Shakespeare], Uncle Vanya [Shakespeare], or Schmigadoon [touring at the Kennedy Center], all of which were also great.)

I do appreciate that there are separate categories for outstanding ensemble and outstanding production, because there are certainly some shows I've seen in the past where I've loved the cast but wouldn't be able to give the show itself an award. I think my award for Best Ensemble would be In the Heights, but Best Production is probably Fiddler. Clearly, Signature had an amazing year.

I loved Guys & Dolls and thought that Sister Act was super fun, and found Hunter S. Thompson both really enjoyable and thought-provoking. Damn Yankees was an absolute delight and Hedwig was really well done. But Fiddler absolutely blew me away and In the Heights was also just magical. For me, Fiddler, particularly, was a transformative production; it changed how I saw the show itself. And if a production does that, I want to throw awards at it.