THE 28th HELEN HAYES AWARDS: A Starry Night in DC

It was a starry Monday night at DC's Warner Theatre. Members of the local theater community came out from DC, Maryland and Virginia to celebrate the best and the brightest from last season. The evening was sprinkled with area favorites, a politician or two and even a respected film star.

The night was hosted by the very entertaining Felicia Curry and Holly Twyford and it was filled with emotional speeches, comic riffs and some very creative song parodies. The song, "S#*T Theater People Say" was extremely clever, as was most of the extra material.

Local politicians, Representative Jim Moran, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC Councilman Jack Evans and Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett all served as presenters. Chris Matthews of MSNBC and Nina Totenberg of NPR also handed out awards.

Synetic Theatre led the night with six wins and Signature Theatre had a good night as well.  The Virginia theater took home five awards for its production of Hairspray – including the award for Outstanding Resident Musical and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Resident Musical for Carolyn Cole.

Still, the Helen Hayes committee seemed to spread the wealth this year. Aaron Posner won the award for Outstanding Director of a Resident Play for his take on Cyrano and John Vreeke was awarded Outstanding Director of a Non-Resident Play for A Bright New Boise. Arena Stage captured the Outstanding Resident Play for Ruined.

Broadway's Euan Morton won Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical for Parade and it was not unforeseen that Cate Blanchett's performance Uncle Vanya would earn her an Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play award.

However, this was the year of unexpected wins. So convinced that they would lose, several awardees told their significant others not to even bother to come. Such was the case for Michael Baron, who was named Outstanding Director of a Resident Musical for his work on A Year with Frog and Toad.

One of several highlights of the evening came in the form of the Helen Hayes Tribute. Sponsored by JayLee Mead, the honor was bestowed upon actor, Kevin Spacey. The tribute began with a video that featured an introduction by Fmr. President Bill Clinton and it went on to describe Mr. Spacey's successful career. Once he took the stage, Mr. Spacey gave a humorous and heartfelt speech but not before he asked for the house lights to be brought up so he could see the audience. During his speech, Mr. Spacey conveyed his need to give back, to support the next generation of actors and in a rather strongly worded way, he urged the audience to follow their dreams.

As in years past, the Helen Hayes Awards brought the theater community together and it proved that DC is not just a political town. It is a theater town too.

A full list of nominations and awards can be found at www.theatrewashington.org .

Photo Credit: Tracy Danoff