Helen Hayes Award

In 1983, together with producing partner Arthur Cantor and Washington Post critic emeritus Richard L. Coe, Broadway producer Bonnie Nelson Schwartz presented a plan for strengthening and cultivating theatre in her home city, Washington, D.C., to the first lady of the American theatre and native Washingtonian, Helen Hayes, who embraced the idea. The Washington Theatre Awards Society was founded to recognize and encourage excellence in professional theatre in the Washington region through the presentation of the Helen Hayes Awards. The organization launched education and communication programs. The early success of the Helen Hayes Awards suggested that the organization do business under the name of its most visible program. Eventually, at the input of the theatre community and a wide range of stakeholders, the organization aimed to become more robust, and adopted the name "theatreWashington" to better reflect the breadth and geographic scope of its realigned activities. ==Awards categories==

With 183 theaters in the larger Washington metropolitan area, the city is second only to New York for the number of productions each year. The awards for acting, directing, design, choreography, productions, and more include: • Helen Categories • Outstanding Play • Outstanding Director of a Play • Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play • Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Play • Outstanding Ensemble in a Play • Outstanding Choreography in a Play • Outstanding Musical • Outstanding Director of a Musical • Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical • Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical • Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical • Outstanding Choreography in a Musical • Outstanding Musical Direction • Outstanding Costume Design • Outstanding Lighting Design • Outstanding Set Design • Outstanding Sound Design • Outstanding Media/Projection Design • Hayes Categories • Outstanding Play • Outstanding Director of a Play • Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play • Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Play • Outstanding Ensemble in a Play • Outstanding Choreography in a Play • Outstanding Musical • Outstanding Director of a Musical • Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical • Outstanding Supporting Performer in a Musical • Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical • Outstanding Choreography in a Musical • Outstanding Musical Direction • Outstanding Costume Design • Outstanding Lighting Design • Outstanding Set Design • Outstanding Sound Design • Outstanding Media/Projection Design • Additional Categories • Outstanding Visiting Production • Outstanding Performer, Visiting Production • Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences • The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play or Musical • Outstanding Original Play or Musical Adaptation • The John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre • The Helen Hayes Tribute ==Nominee and recipient selection==

• 40 judges across five panels, specifically endorsed for the purpose by a panel of Washington-area artistic directors, are dispatched to see each eligible production. • Each judge evaluates each artist's work in the production on a 0–10 graded point scale in each of applicable categories. Ballots must be submitted within 24 hours of the judge's attendance. • Judges have no idea as to the Awards status of any work they have seen and scored until the public does, i.e., when the nominees (and then the recipients) are announced. • At the conclusion of the 12-month judging cycle (January–December), the scores from the eight judges who saw each production are tabulated by an independent analysis firm. • In all, about 22,000 scores are analyzed annually, using standardized and widely accepted statistical models. • The productions, designs, and performances receiving the top-five final scores in each category become the nominees. In the case of tie votes, a tie-breaking system is used, and if the tie still cannot be broken, the number of nominees is simply increased. • Following the public announcement of the nominees, the process continues to determine the award recipient in each category. Again, in the case of tie votes, a tie-breaking system is used, and if the tie still cannot be broken, the number of recipients is increased. ==See also==