HELEN HAYES AWARDS Nominations on DC Theatre Scene

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 9:30am

Here are this year's Helen Hayes Nominations and pictures I took at National Theatre, where the nominations were announced.
Helen Hayes Nominations Announces on DC Theatre Scene

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 9:36am

N2N got 4 acting noms and best non-resident musical nom. Yay.

[iamdangoodman]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 9:46am

Hey, DC folks-- what does non-resident mean? When I look at the nominations list I would have thought Next to Normal would have more. I didn't see the rest of those shows, but no nomination for set design? And why are Jen and Aaron in the same category? That's weird. Do they mean it's non-resident because there are no DC actors?

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 9:52am

The non-resident categories recognize touring works or works that originated out of town. Next to Normal (this specific production of it - the design, etc) originated at 2nd Stage in NYC - by contrast, for example, the productions of Grey Gardens and Les Mis were completely new.. incarnations of those productions.

[MeMeMeee]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 10:07am

These nominations are a bunch of crap...it's so obvious that these nominations are heavily biased. For example, out of the 100's of performances seen and judged this past year, Signature is the only theatre that offered noteworthy Supporting Actresses??? REALLY?

Not true....

[iamdangoodman]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 10:29am

But it's not true that this production originated at Second Stage, is it? It's so different they must have had to start again and rehearse the thing-- they even had new actors, one a principal. It feels kinda cheesy to say it was a touring musical. Every time I saw it in previews Michael Grief was there, and the writers, and I don't imagine you'll see Grief on the road with Rent much, will you?

Who makes that call? Feels like a way to get that Les Miz production a lot of awards or something-- by moving Next to Normal out of its category.

I guess this is the kind of stuff that goes on at the Tony's all the time, too, so what am I surprised about? If they call Dividing the Estate a new play, for instance, it will be just as political and inappropriate.

Ah well. I guess the pros don't sweat this small stuff, but I would have loved to see Jen AND Aaron in their proper places, AND the designers in there at all.

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 11:10am

They didn't say it was a touring musical, they just said it was a non-resident production. The set design, the direction, etc came from the 2nd Stage production. I know there were changes but the production itself did not come together in DC. That is the distinction they are making. If they had started over on the production - scrapping the set design, the concept, etc - perhaps hiring a local director - then I think it could have been considered resident.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the way they split the nominations - it allows purely local work a separate sort of scale. It is a local award...

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 11:52am

I have been attending the Helen Hayes awards for 2 decades, and they are totally unpredictable. Last year, Studio Theatre's "Reefer Madness" beat out Signature's "Witches of Eastwick," which was clearly favored. Two years ago, after sweeping all the major awards early in the evening, Signature's "Assassins" lost to Studio Theatre's "Caroline, Or Change." And there have been other shockers at the Helen Hayes Awards, too many to name here. All the Signature productions that graced their stages this year were beautifully done, with exceptional performances and incredible set design. The nominations were well deserved and I was so happy to see my favorite local musical stars nominated, including Tracy Olivera and Felicia Curry and Sherri Edelen and Chris Block nominated for Les Miz. Their performances, for me, made that production sizzle. And let's look at "Rooms" which every critic and theatregoer I know who saw it - loved. It has a good chance of winning, although "Les Miz" is clearly the favorite. I was surprised that "Next to Normal," which was reconceived at Arena Stage was put in the Non-Resident category. For me, I'm ecstatic that it was, because it has a great chance of winning. Who knows what will happen at that Awards Ceremony. I'll be there.
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[jordangirl]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 11:54am

My confusion is that technically Ace originated elsewhere. Yes they did a lot of re-writing, but it was NOT a new production. So how did it count as "resident"?

[iamdangoodman]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 12:18pm

Right on re: Ace, jg. And also, wasn't The Visit the same as the Chicago production? The one people keep hoping will find a home here?

And it's also weird to see Frank Galati, Ann Reinking, and Scott Schwarz nominated in something that says "resident production category" but to say that Michael Grief was not. I'll bet he was in DC a lot longer than any of those guys.

Maybe it's just what Hockeynut is saying, that they wanted to award both Les Miz and Next to Normal and they couldn't do that without moving one of them. In the end, it's true, it's a local award. Do whatcha feel. Let's get N2N open by Tony time and see what shakes out from that.

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 12:24pm

I think it is fine to separate the resident from the non-resident. On the Ace question, with the exception of most of the leads there were many local resident actors and production team members. I think that may be how they put it in that category.

Good for N2N on its awards. And yes, it was non-resident so the whining about Les Mis (which was one of the worst productions at Signature ever in my opinion) is meaningless.

I am also very happy for Synetic which in my opinion is the most consistently great and innovative company in town.

Finally, I see a lot of DC theatre. In fact most everything. While some of the nominations (like every year) leave me questioning what the committee saw, I have to ask. For those of you complaining, did you actually see all or most of the nominees?

As others have pointed out, it is a local award.

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 12:27pm

You are right, Ace was a new production. I'm pretty sure Stafford Arima directed the other productions of Ace - and it was Eric Schaeffer in DC - and it had a different choreographer and design team as well in DC. Making it eligible.

[iamdangoodman]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 12:37pm

Didn't mean to be a whiner. Just confused, is all. And I've not seen any of those other shows, nor do I have any sense of whether they were smart nominations or not. I'm only asking to understand what, for me, was a surprise: not seeing a Best Director or Best Set and, unless I've missed it, finding no category at all where Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey could have been recognized.

Whatever. It was a great run and I was the richer for it (though not when I look at my credit card bill!). So, thanks, Arena Stage and DC for making a non-resident audience member feel at home at your non-resident production.

And KC, I hope the awards break exactly the way you want 'em to. From the Washington Post article it sounds like they results are already known?

[mikem]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 2:49pm

Here are the official rules:

________
Effective January 1, 1987, the two types of categories will be "Resident" and "Non-Resident".
In general, if the original intention, as of opening night, is that the production is developed, produced and contracted for Washington, D.C. and is intended to be presented only in the Washington area, it is then considered a resident production. All other productions will be considered non-resident.
_______________


There are only 4 non-resident categories (and N2N was nominated in all four): Production, Leading Actor, Leading Actress, Supporting Performer.

I personally think that, according to that definition, N2N should have been considered to be a Resident Production, but obviously the Helen Hayes people disagree with me.

[changinandhow]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 6:18pm

Next to Normal had already been developed, produced, contracted, and presented in NY and most of the advertising boasted that it was "direct from a successful run at Second Stage Theatre in New York." Its run at Arena was somewhat of a pre-Broadway engagement, which clearly means they intended, if possible, to move the production elsewhere after the run. Both of those contradict what you just copied and pasted, so that argument makes little sense.

Updated On: 2/10/09 at 06:18 PM

[jordangirl]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 6:29pm

Effective January 1, 1987, the two types of categories will be "Resident" and "Non-Resident".
In general, if the original intention, as of opening night, is that the production is developed, produced and contracted for Washington, D.C. and is intended to be presented only in the Washington area, it is then considered a resident production. All other productions will be considered non-resident.

Of course by that, with Signature billing Ace as "Broadway Bound" it clearly was NOT intended to only be presented in only the DC area, so...

Edited to add: I really couldn't care less about whether Ace gets anything. I just find it amusing/interesting.

Oh well. It's all confusing.

Updated On: 2/10/09 at 06:29 PM

[changinandhow]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 11:45pm

Ace had a local director, etc at Signature I believe, while Next to Normal's creative team came with them from NY.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 11:52pm

I'm so thrilled for all of the Next to Normal cast! As well as Becky Gulsvig, I saw her as Elle in Buffalo and she was fantastic.

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 2/15/09 at 5:20pm

IMO, "The Visit" should sweep and win in every category for which it's nominated. If nothing else, though, there's no justice if it doesn't take best musical, lead actress, and lead actor.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 2/15/09 at 5:56pm

Was WEST SIDE STORY snubbed or not eligible?