LES MISERABLES Among The Awarded At The 25th Annual Helen Hayes Awards

At last night’s 25th annual Helen Hayes Awards ceremony saluting excellence in Washington, DC area theater, Signature Theatre took home the leading number of honors for the evening, receiving 39 nominations and ultimately ten awards for its theatrical work in 2008.  The black-tie event took place at The Warner Theatre in Washington, DC.

The company’s innovative production of Les Misérables received six awards including that of Outstanding Resident Musical.  Les Miz’s other accolades in the resident musical category included:

Outstanding Director to Signature’s Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer,

Outstanding Musical Direction to Jon Kalbfleisch,

Outstanding Supporting Actor to Christopher Bloch,

Outstanding Supporting Actress to Sherri L. Edelen, and

The Canadian Embassy Award for Outstanding Ensemble.

In other Signature productions, resident musical honors were given to:

Chita Rivera for Outstanding Lead Actress in The Visit,

David Margulies for Outstanding Lead Actor in The Happy Time,

Angelina Kelly for Outstanding Supporting Actress in Ace (tying with Les Miz’s Sherri L. Edelen), and

Chris Lee for Outstanding Lighting Design for Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Signature’s Managing Director Maggie Boland stated, “We are honored to have been recognized for outstanding work by the Helen Hayes Awards.  This event provides a wonderful opportunity for all of us who work in this great theater town to celebrate together.  We salute our colleagues and are grateful to be named among the best.”

In the 19 years from Signature Theatre’s founding in 1989 through 2008 the company has been nominated for 276 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the professional theater and has been honored with 69 Helen Hayes Awards, including Outstanding Musical in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2005, 2006, and 2008 and Outstanding Play in 1999.

Under the leadership of co-founder and Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Maggie Boland, Signature is a non-profit professional theater company dedicated to producing contemporary musicals and plays, reinventing classic musicals, and developing new work. To date, Signature has presented over 25 world premiere productions and is renowned for combining Broadway-quality productions with intimate playing spaces.  In addition to the finest talent from the DC metropolitan area and New York, Signature has been a home to such theater luminaries as John Kander and Fred Ebb, Cameron Mackintosh, Terrence McNally, and the company’s signature, Stephen Sondheim. 

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