“The Wiz” leads Helen Hayes noms
The emerald green musical fantasia “The Wiz” at Ford’s Theatre led the way Monday with 13 Helen Hayes Awards nominations, easily leading the field in the annual cavalcade that is greater Washington, D.C.’S theater awards.
Several years ago, the Hayes Awards expanded into “Helen” categories for smaller theaters and “Hayes” categories for big companies (this oversimplifies the rules change, but not by a lot) while keeping everyone together for one big ceremony, this year set for May 13 at the Anthem.
The unity can be a little unwieldy, with 250 nominations in 47 categories.
Here are some key takeaways from Monday’s announcement at the National Theatre:
Director Kent Gash’s production of “The Wiz” last spring at Ford’s Theatre romped among Hayes musicals, with five supporting actors landing nominations. Arena Stage pulled in eight nominations for its revival of the Cole Porter musical “Anything Goes” and seven for the premiere of “Dave,” the musical based on the 1993 Kevin Kline comedy, while the Lerner and Loewe chestnut “Camelot” — a box-office winner for the Shakespeare Theatre Company — got six nominations. Each is up for outstanding musical, along with four-time nominee “Cinderella” from the young audiences company Imagination Stage.
Among Hayes plays, three of the five nominees came from Woolly Mammoth in the year that longtime artistic director Howard Shalwitz retired. Jordan Tannahill’s culture wars fantasy “Botticelli in the Fire,” Branden Jacobs-jenkins’ trauma-and journalism drama “Gloria” and Danai Gurira’s comedy of Zimbabwean immigrants in Minnesota “Familiar” accounted for three of the slots. The others: Arena’s production of Paula Vogel’s “Indecent” and Studio Theatre’s staging of Sarah Delappe’s girls’ soccer drama, “The Wolves” (directed, like “Botticelli,” by Marti Lyons).
On the Helen side, 1st Stage in Tysons Corner picked up outstanding play production nominations for a pair of director Alex Levy’s stagings: Aaron Sorkin’s early-days-of-tv drama “The Farnsworth Invention” and the premiere of Bob Bartlett’s “Swimming With Whales.” 1st Stage landed 22 nominations all told. Only Arena, with 25, nabbed more.
1st Stage also scored big in the musicals category, with the 1960s-set pop musical “Fly by Night” landing nine nominations, second only to “The Wiz.” Keegan Theatre’s “Chicago” was close behind in the Helen race, with eight nominations.
“Fly by Night” director Kathryn Chase Bryer was nominated for that show and, in the Hayes category, for “Cinderella.” Signature Theatre associate artistic director Matthew Gardiner also earned directing noms.