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Theatre artists and productions nominated for The 27th Annual Helen Hayes Awards were announced this evening at a press conference hosted by The National Theatre in its Helen Hayes Gallery.
The Helen Hayes Awards is among the area's chief community builders, helping to strengthen our region by building one of its most powerful assets: the professional theatre. Helen Hayes nominee and recipient credentials advance the profile of artists and companies as they pursue artistic opportunities and reference these credentials in their bios in thousands of playbills annually; as a result, Washington is recognized nationally and internationally as a theatre town.
Out of Washington's 75 professional theatres, 51 theatres (the number that actually produced something for awards consideration) produced 196 productions that met eligibility requirements during the January 1 - December 31, 2010 judging cycle. From these shows, 156 artists, ensembles and productions from 21 theatres were nominated in 26 categories.
Sixty judges, selected by a panel of area artistic directors, cast 23,288 scores in consideration of 2725 pieces of work (performances, designs, productions, directions etc). From that work, 1,476 were acting performances alone.
The full list of nominees is as follows:
Outstanding Choreography, Resident Production Diane Coburn Bruning, Improbable Frequency, Solas Nua Ben Cunis, King Arthur, Synetic Theater Parker Esse, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage Maurice Hines, Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage Irina Tsikurishvili, King Arthur, Synetic Theater Irina Tsikurishvili, Othello, Synetic Theater
Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play American Buffalo, The Studio Theatre Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Henry VIII, Folger Theatre Orestes, A Tragic Romp, Folger Theatre Othello, Synetic Theater Travels With My Aunt, Rep Stage
Outstanding Non-Resident Production Avenue Q, The Broadway Musical, Shakespeare Theatre Company The Last Cargo Cult, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Mary Poppins, The Kennedy Center South Pacific, The Kennedy Center Thurgood, The Kennedy Center 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 TheatreOutstanding 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 TheatreThe John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company No Rules Theatre Company (Award Recipient) Factory 449: a theatre collective (Award Recipient)