The Helen Hayes noms: A quick take

So the nominations are out. Tboy was on deadline and missed the press conference, but now he's glancing at the list.

Some early reactions:

1) Christopher Gallu must be peeing on himself.

2) Apparently Spamalot was the only tour with a supporting cast. (And here Tboy thought he remembered a fairly amusing Vera Charles. Nevermind, that was a resident show. But see the comments.)

3) Wow. A 17-year-old girl and a featherweight Mark Twain musical whooped Robert Brustein's butt. And Ariel Dorfman's, too.

4) Dan Conway: Stop that high-fiving. Kronzer's looking peevish.

5) If you haven't stopped to appreciate just how versatile a character actor J. Fred Shiffman is, check the supporting-actor noms. A disturbingly convincing Nazi and a hilariously snippy headwaiter, back-to-back. (And right now he's rockin' the geeky-boyfriend thing at Woolly.)

6) Maia de Santi got robbed. So did Alma Cuervo.

7) Judges: You seriously wasted two lead-actress/musical slots on 3 Mo' Divas? That's just sad. The Mark Twain thing was thin, but at least there were actual characters. And doesn't Tboy remember a passable Eliza Doolittle this year? She wasn't as strong a singer as the Divas, I grant you, but then this ain't the damn Grammys. And if a revue is what turns your crank, there was a strongly sung Jacques Brel.

8) Surely the new "Outstanding Ensemble" category was created for pure-symbiosis performers like the co-stars of In the Continuum. Alas, because their production was a book-in, they're forced to compete against each other in the leading-actress category. What, only home-grown productions are capable of a strong sense of ensemble?

9) Alternatively, perhaps an Ensemble nomination for the cast of Enemy of the People, all of whom seem to have been nominated individually, would have been worth considering. Hey, it might have freed up some of those supporting-actor slots. For, say, Scott Parkinson's scorchingly good messenger in The Persians. Just a thought.

10) Nothing for Crestfall? Nothing for Boston Marriage? Oy.

Update, Tuesday midday: Wee Jane's story is here. Also: Be sure and check the comments for news about the new-play category.

Comments

[stanley]

nothing for fat pig?

[theaterboy]

Good catch. Debelack was robbed.

[RonnieRuff]

A very interesting comment on Bob Anthony's site, of 56 companies more or less 10 get all the awards.

I am sure it did not meet some of the requirements but 'Throat' comes to mind as a production that was as good as almost anything I attended.

Did I miss any mention of WSC?

Fat Pig was a huge success, what? not a single award?

I agree with 'Boston Marriage' Just how is it possible that this show was left out of every category?

I guess the question is: are the nominees truly representative of the best performances in DC this past season?

[hockeynut]

What crazy nominations!

Fo me the man who writes about musicals and interviews musical actors, where was Felicia Curry for Two Queens One Castle? Max Talmsman for Caroline, Or Change? What does a kid have to do to get a Helen Hayes nomination? And Harriet Harris in Mame? And Dan Conway in Nevermore? Glad to see Matthew Schleigh getting a nomination for Buddy. He's going to be a star.
And to Kate Debelack-you gave the best performance this year. Period. Joel

[stanley]

Debelack was definitely robbed.

[still alert]

It surely seems that the judges attend certain Higher Profile Theatres with the expectation that these performances, designs, etc., MUST be good, and thus they snag all those noms. I’m thinking of that shaky lip-sync-laden Midsummer, which yielded fab performances from Burden and Norris, but Cosham? Yes, that venerable actor is always strong, but was his eye-blink turn as the butler/mechanical outstanding enough to eclipse so many other supporting performances elsewhere this year?

Couldn't agree more that a certain Very Charles was overlooked, but unless I’m wrong, her performance would have been considered a local one, rather than a touring one. Regardless, that Mame was a much stronger production once the kinks were worked out, but I wonder if judges read the early reviews, then attend the shows with pre-conceived opinions (“...this show seems good, but how could it be, if The Post found it lacking?”)

And maybe T-Boy can clear this up: how does a play qualify for the MacArthur New Play award? Carpenter's The Faculty Room had a full production at Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana in 2003...how does it now qualify as a world premiere at Woolly?

[theaterboy]

Whoops: You're right about the Mame being a resident production. Tboy forgets, having been trained in the other direction for so long, that the Kennedy Center does the occasional bit of original programming now.

Though there is possibly some gray area. Tboy recalls that there was an awful lot of talk about Mame going to New York -- and the rules sez:

"a. 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."

Either way: The ladies in the supporting batch are a nice mixed lot, so it's less of a crime. Still, they might have blown that category up to include Harriet Harris. If you're gonna nominate eight directors, why not six supporting actresses?

As for new plays, there's this language (emphasis mine):

"b. If a play has been presented previously, it may still be regarded as a new play if the previous productions were essentially "workshop productions," were part of a festival of "plays-in-progress," or were presented for a very limited audience with little or no compensation to the performers or other artists."

Now, last I checked, the Humana folk don't think of their productions as workshops or their plays as works-in-progress. But I also remember a conversation with Shalwitz that involved talk of revisions to the end of Faculty Room. I suspect the argument would be that it was revised heavily enough to qualify as a new work.

Late-breaking detail: I hear that the nom for Faculty Room was a mixup. (It happens ... ) Look for it to be dropped, most likely, from the MacArthur lineup.

[AudreyKate]

I find 9 PARTS OF DESIRE even more confusing, frankly. How is that a resident play? It came here on tour, with the same performer, director, and all the same designers remounting the New York production. I don't get it.

[AudreyKate]

And not to pick on Arena, but how does 3 MO DIVAS qualify for "a" above? Wasn't it conceived as a tour? Or is that more of a "joint production" thing?

Wow, I sound Helen-Hayes-crotchety this morning. Sorry! I love that new Ensemble category! Woo!

[Blake Robison]

TBoy - Thanks for your kind mention of the fine actress, Alma Cuervo, from Round House's production of MIDWIVES. Alma was deemed ineligible by the HH folks when she left midway through the run to join the national tour of WICKED, since she appeared in 13 performances (as opposed to the required 16). Rules are rules, I guess. Unfortunately, the equally fine Mary Beth Wise (who took over the role) made fewer than 16 appearances, too. Both actresses are worthy of serious praise.

[Novathespian]

I think sometimes the way the judges hand out nominations and awards that they should just drop them off in the lobby as they enter the theater.

Where the hell is Susan Lynsky's nomination???