Cate Blanchett, Stacy Keach, Christiane Noll, Estelle Parsons, et al. Receive Helen Hayes Award Nominations

Nominations for the 2010 Helen Hayes Awards, honoring the best in Washington, D.C.-area theater, have been announced. The awards will be presented in a ceremony at The Warner Theatre and JW Marriott Hotel, on Monday, April 5.

The Kennedy Center led the field with a total of 21 nominations. Its production of Ragtime, which recently concluded a Broadway run, received six nominations, including for Outstanding Resident Musical, director Marcia Milgrom Dodge, musical director James Moore, costume designer Santo Loquasto, and actors Quentin Earl Darrington and Christiane Noll. The theater also presented two tours that garnered multiple nods: August: Osage County for Outstanding Non-Resident Production and actors Shannon Cochran, Libby George, Paul Vincent O’Connor, Estelle Parsons, and Angelica Torn; and A Streetcar Named Desire for Outstanding Non-Resident Production and actors Cate Blanchett, Joel Edgerton, Morgan David Jones, Mandy McElhinney, Robin McLeavy, and Tim Richards.

Among the acting nominees were also Jim Brochu (Zero Hour), E. Faye Butler (Crowns), John Dossett (Giant), Will Gartshore (Show Boat), Edward Gero (King Lear), Valerie Harper (Looped), Stacy Keach (King Lear), Tonya Pinkins (Black Pearl Sings!), Ashley Robinson (Giant), James Sugg (Hell Meets Henry Halfway), and Holly Twyford, who was triple-nominated for her performances in Arcadia, The Little Dog Laughed, and Lost in Yonkers.

Notable nominations also included Maurice Hines for his choreography of Cool Papa’s Party, Robert Falls for his direction of King Lear, and Lisa Peterson for her direction of The Quality of Life.

For a full list of nominations, visit www.helenhayes.org.