This year’s Helen Hayes Awards celebrated a diverse group of designers and theatre companies. The awards, which are given to honor theatrical achievement in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, were announced at a gala ceremony at the Kennedy Center on May 5th.
In the set design category, there was a tie between James Kronzer for Shakespeare, Moses, and Joe Papp at the Round House Theatre and Hugh Landwehr for The Little Foxes at the Shakespeare Theatre. Others nominated were Loy Arcenas for True West at Arena Stage; Debra Booth for Hambone at the Studio Theatre; Jos, B. Musameci, Jr., for The Weir at Round House Theatre; and Walt Spangler for The Duchess of Malfi at the Shakespeare Theatre.
There were two winners in the costume design category, but in this case they were co-designers: Jelena Vukmirovic and Marie Schneggenberger for Mississippi Pinocchio at Theatre of the First Amendment. They beat out Alessandra D’Ovidio and Mariana Fernandez for La Verdad Sospechosa at Gala Hispanic Theatre, Deborah M. Dryden for The Misanthrope at Arena Stage, Robert Perdziola for The Duchess of Malfi at the Shakespeare Theatre, and Catherine Zuber, who was nominated twice, for Much Ado About Nothing and The Winter’s Tale, both at the Shakespeare Theatre.
Howell Binkley, whose work is often seen at The Shakespeare Theatre, won in the lighting category, for Sweeney Todd, part of the Kennedy Center’s Stephen Sondheim celebration; he was also nominated for Sunday in the Park With George, also part of the Sondheim festival.. His competition included Amy Appleyard for The Duchess of Malfi at the Shakespeare Theatre, Jonathan Blandin for The Weir at the Round House Theatre, Chris Lee for Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Signature Theatre, Daniel Maclean Wagner for The Gospel According to Fishman at the Signature Theatre.
The Helen Hayes Awards is one of a growing number of organizations that recognizes sound design. Here, Mark Anduss took the prize for Tiny Alice at Washington Shakespeare Company. Among his competitors, Scott Burgess was nominated twice, for Knoyugogh at Little Globe Theatre and Othello at Folger Shakespeare Theatre; David McKeever, nominated for both The After Dinner Jokae and Scotland Road , at Potomac Theatre Project and Olney Theatre Center for the Arts; Paata Tsikurishvili for Host and Guest at Synetic Theatre; and Adam Wernick for The Diaries at Signature Theatre.
For a full list of winners, click here
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