HELEN HAYES AWARDS Nominations on DC Theatre Scene

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

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.

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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.

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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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.

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.

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Here are the official rules:

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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.
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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.

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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.

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

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.

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Was WEST SIDE STORY snubbed or not eligible?