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Burnham, Day, Dumas, Gartshore, Nixon, et al. Win Helen Hayes Awards

Julia Nixon in Caroline, or Change (© Scott Suchman)

It was a night of homecomings and upsets at the 23rd Annual Helen Hayes Awards, held at Washington D.C.'s Warner Theatre on Monday night, as several smaller-scale productions bested high profile shows to take top honors in the resident, or locally produced, categories.

Folger Theatre's unusual adaptation of Measure for Measure was named Outstanding Play and Studio Theatre's production of Caroline, or Change, was awarded the Outstanding Musical prize. In the non-resident category, the intimate and compelling drama In the Continuum, staged at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, was awarded Outstanding Production, beating out a number of lavish touring productions, including Monty Python's Spamalot and The Light in the Piazza.

This year's host was Jason Kravits, a D.C.-area native who got his start at Bethesda's Round House Theatre and who is now appearing on Broadway in The Drowsy Chaperone. In between music and dance numbers, song parodies and tributes, 24 Awards for Outstanding Achievement were presented.

The boisterous audience had the rare experience of seeing award presenters Sir Derek Jacobi and Lynn Redgrave one moment, and Kathie Lee Gifford the next. The former TV daytime diva, who grew up in the Washington area, was back in town for the opening this weekend of her musical Saving Aimee at Signature Theatre.

It was a good night for Signature, whose last-minute re-mounting of the Stephen Sondheim musical Assassins last fall won the most awards with top honors in four resident categories. Joe Calarco won Outstanding Director and Will Gartshore won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical; Donna Migliaccio, an eight-time nominee, finally took home a trophy by winning Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical; and Andy Brownstein won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Musical.

Measure for Measure, which was staged with inventive use of large puppets, also gave director Aaron Posner an award for Outstanding Director, an honor he shared with Shakespeare Theatre Company's Michael Kahn for his Beatles-inspired production of Love's Labors Lost. "I think I'd like to thank John, Paul, George, and Ringo," Kahn quipped. The latter show's costume designer, Tony Award winner Catherine Zuber, also took home a Hayes Award for her work.

Acting honors went to Julia Nixon for Caroline, or Change, David Burnham for The Light in the Piazza, Dania Gurira for In the Continuum, Johanna Day for Arena Stage's The Rainmaker, and Jeff Dumas for Spamalot, among others.

Tony Award-winning actress Frances Sternhagen, who got her start at the old Arena Stage in 1953, gave what amounted to a keynote address after receiving "The Helen Hayes Tribute" for her long career. Elegantly clad in a violet, floor-length gown and a flowing crimson shawl, Sternhagen rose from the audience seats to receive her award. In informal remarks, she recalled the early days of live theater in D.C. "Arena was in an old burlesque house on New York Avenue back then," she said. "And if you were in a scene and had another entrance on the other side of the stage, you had to go outside around the block. And if it was raining, the stage manager had to accompany you with an umbrella."

This year's show was book-ended by Marvin Hamlisch, who opened it by playing piano for a production number of his song "I Hope I Get It" from A Chorus Line. The show closed with "One" from the same show, as Hamlisch was last seen exiting the stage in a kick-line of leggy dancers.

For a complete list of nominees and winners, visit www.helenhayes.org/sub/nr.cfm.

 

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