Jennifer L. Nelson Will Receive The Helen Hayes Tribute

At the 35th annual Helen Hayes Awards on Monday, May 13 at The Anthem, actress, director, playwright, leader, and professor Jennifer L. Nelson will receive the 2019 Helen Hayes Tribute. Nelson has dedicated her artistic life to increasing access and inclusion of traditionally marginalized theatre artists largely in the Washington area region, and was a Helen Hayes Award recipient for her original play Torn from the Headlines, which received the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play in 1997.

Amy Austin, President & CEO of theatreWashington, says "Jennifer Nelson is a true leader in the industry who has had immense influence in shaping the theatre community in the Washington region. She has led as an artistic director and teacher who believes in the transformational force of theatre to change the world."

Nelson began her professional career as an actress in Washington, DC in 1972 with the Living Stage Theatre Company, a theatre for social change founded in 1966 by Robert Alexander, with whom she collaborated over the course of 26 years. The company's mission was to transform individuals and communities through creative empowerment and was in residence at Arena Stage. During this period, she also assisted director Glenda Dickerson in New York and spent a year in-residence at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles during the development of Tony Kushner's Angels in America.

Jennifer went on to serve as the Producing Artistic Director of the African Continuum Theatre Company (ACTCo) for 11 years, where she directed more than 20 full productions and readings. With African Continuum Theatre Company, Nelson produced the first hip hop theatre festival in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center, The Hip Hop Nightmares of Jujube Brown, featuring actors Psalmayene24 and Toni Blackman. The show went on to the New York Hip Hop Theatre Festival and the National Black Theatre Festival.

Nelson currently serves as Artistic and Legacy Project Advisor at Ford's Theatre. She has directed productions at Round House Theatre Company, Theater J, Theater of the First Amendment, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and more. Recent productions include Stick Fly at the University of Virginia Charlottesville, The Gospel of Colonus for WSC Avant Bard, and Milk Like Sugar for Mosaic Theater Company of DC, where she also served two years as resident director.

Nelson has taught and/or directed at Georgetown University, George Mason University, American University, The George Washington University, University of Maryland College Park, and Virginia Commonwealth College. In addition to her work as a teacher and artist, she has served as President of the League of Washington Theatres and on the Board of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG).

About the Helen Hayes Tribute
The prestigious Helen Hayes Tribute annually recognizes distinguished theatre professionals who exemplify great commitment to the professional theatre in the Washington region. Recent recipients of the Helen Hayes Tribute include Nancy Robinette (2018) and Ted Van Griethuysen (2017).

About the 2019 Helen Hayes Awards
The 35th Annual Helen Hayes Awards will take place on Monday, May 13, 2019 at The Anthem, the cultural center of Southwest D.C.'s District Wharf, with a celebratory party to follow. Esteemed Washington theatre artists Felicia Curry, 2018 Helen Hayes Award recipient for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play - Helen Production, and Rick Hammerly, 2018 Helen Hayes Award recipient for Outstanding Direction in a Play - Helen Production, will host an evening showcasing the vibrant and diverse community of professional theatre artists in the Washington region. There are 250 Helen Hayes Award nominations-selected from 208 eligible productions in 2018. Tickets for the event are $100 for reserved seating and $275 for Artist Supporter premium seating, which includes an invitation to the pre-ceremony Nominee & Patron Reception. Reduced-priced tickets are available to artists and administrators in the community at an industry rate, subsidized by Artist Supporter tickets. All tickets are now available for purchase through the theatreWashington website.

Named for actor Helen Hayes - a Washington native, activist, and legendary First Lady of the American Theatre - the Helen Hayes Awards has honored excellence in professional theatre throughout the Washington region for more than three decades. Nominations are grouped in "Helen" or "Hayes" cohorts, depending on the number of Equity members involved in the production. Over the course of 2018, 40 judges evaluated 2,866 individual pieces of work, including acting, directing, choreography, and design. Productions considered in 2018 included 51 musicals, 157 plays, and 54 world premieres. A full list of this year's 250 nominations can be found at:
http://theatrewashington.org/content/2019-helen-hayes-awards-nominations.

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