Theater
Helen Hayes nominees announced
Winners for local theater to be announced April 25 in Washington

The Helen Hayes Award nominees for regional theater were announced Monday. Winners will be announced at a ceremony April 25.
Outstanding Choreography, Resident Production | ||
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Diane Coburn Bruning, Improbable Frequency, Solas Nua | |
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Ben Cunis, King Arthur, Synetic Theater | |
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Parker Esse, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage | |
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Maurice Hines, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage | |
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Irina Tsikurishvili, King Arthur, Synetic Theater | |
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Irina Tsikurishvili, Othello, Synetic Theater |
Outstanding Costume Design, Resident Production | ||
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Mara Blumenfeld, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Murell Horton, The Liar, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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William Ivey Long, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre | |
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Reggie Ray, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage | |
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Anastasia Ryurikov Simes, Othello, Synetic Theater |
Outstanding Director, Resident Musical | ||
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Toby Orenstein, Hairspray, Toby’s Dinner Theatre | |
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Eric Schaeffer, Chess, Signature Theatre | |
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Molly Smith, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage | |
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Molly Smith, The Light in the Piazza, Arena Stage | |
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Mary Zimmerman, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company |
Outstanding Director, Resident Play | ||
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Kasi Campbell, Travels With My Aunt, Rep Stage | |
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Joseph Haj, Hamlet, Folger Theatre | |
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Robert Richmond, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre | |
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Howard Shalwitz, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | |
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Paata Tsikurishvili, Othello, Synetic Theater | |
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Paata Tsikurishvili, The Master and Margarita, Synetic Theater |
Outstanding Lead Actor, Non-Resident Production | ||
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Steel Burkhardt, Hair, The Kennedy Center | |
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Brent Michael DiRoma, Avenue Q, The Broadway Musical, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood, The Kennedy Center | |
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Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins, The Kennedy Center | |
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David Pittsinger, South Pacific, The Kennedy Center |
Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Musical | ||
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Maurice Hines, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage | |
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Marc Kudisch, Sycamore Trees, Signature Theatre | |
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Geoff Packard, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Nicholas Rodriguez, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage | |
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Bobby Smith, Annie, Olney Theatre Center | |
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Cody Williams, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage |
Outstanding Lead Actress, Non-Resident Production | ||
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Carmen Cusack, South Pacific, The Kennedy Center | |
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Jaqueline Grabois, Avenue Q, The Broadway Musical, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Caroline Sheen, Mary Poppins, The Kennedy Center | |
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Kacie Sheik, Hair, The Kennedy Center | |
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Caren Lyn Tackett, Hair, The Kennedy Center |
Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Musical | ||
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E. Faye Butler, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage | |
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Eleasha Gamble, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage | |
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Carrie A. Johnson, Annie, Olney Theatre Center | |
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Lauren Molina, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Jill Paice, Chess, Signature Theatre | |
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Hollis Resnik, The Light in the Piazza, Arena Stage |
Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play | ||
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Lise Bruneau, Mikveh, Theater J | |
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Naomi Jacobson, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre | |
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Sarah Marshall, Mikveh, Theater J | |
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Jennifer Mendenhall, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | |
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Erika Rose, In Darfur, Theater J | |
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Holly Twyford, Orestes, A Tragic Romp, Folger Theatre |
Outstanding Lighting Design, Resident Production | ||
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Colin K. Bills, Antony and Cleopatra, Synetic Theater | |
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Colin K. Bills, The Master and Margarita, Synetic Theater | |
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Dan Covey, On the Verge or The Geography of Yearning, Rep Stage | |
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T.J. Gerckens, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Klyph Stanford, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre | |
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Justin Townsend, Hamlet, Folger Theatre |
Outstanding Musical Direction, Resident Production | ||
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George Fulginiti-Shakar, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage | |
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Jon Kalbfleisch, Sunset Boulevard, Signature Theatre | |
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Fred Lassen, Sycamore Trees, Signature Theatre | |
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Konstantine Lortkipandze, Othello, Synetic Theater | |
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Doug Peck, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Paul Sportelli, The Light in the Piazza, Arena Stage | |
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James Sugg, Orestes, A Tragic Romp, Folger Theatre |
Outstanding Set Design, Resident Production | ||
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Tony Cisek, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre | |
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Simon Higlett, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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James Kronzer, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | |
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Eugene Lee, Oklahoma!, Arena Stage | |
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Derek McLane, The Lisbon Traviata, The Kennedy Center | |
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Daniel Ostling, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company |
Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production | ||
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Anthony Cochrane, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre | |
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Irakli Kavsadze, Othello, Synetic Theater | |
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Konstantine Lortkipandze, Othello, Synetic Theater | |
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Matthew M. Nielson, Hamlet, Folger Theatre | |
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Matt Otto, Johnny Meister and the Stitch, Solas Nua | |
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Tom Teasley, The Ramayana, Constellation Theatre Company |
Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Musical | ||
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Ed Dixon, Sunset Boulevard, Signature Theatre | |
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James Konicek, Annie, Olney Theatre Center | |
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Jeremy Kushnier, Chess, Signature Theatre | |
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John Manzari, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage | |
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Leo Manzari, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage | |
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Jesse J. Perez, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Larry Yando, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company |
Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Play | ||
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Louis Butelli, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre | |
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Adam Green, The Liar, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Michael Tolaydo, New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza, Theater J | |
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Ted van Griethuysen, All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Paxton Whitehead, All’s Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare Theatre Company |
Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Musical | ||
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MaryLee Adams, Hairspray, Toby’s Dinner Theatre | |
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Lauren ‘Coco’ Cohn, Glimpses of the Moon, MetroStage | |
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Jesaira Glover, Hairspray, Toby’s Dinner Theatre | |
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Marva Hicks, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage | |
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Hollis Resnik, Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Jenna Sokolowski, Annie, Olney Theatre Center |
Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play | ||
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Colleen Delany, Pirates! A Boy at Sea, Imagination Stage | |
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Naomi Jacobson, Richard II, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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MacKenzie Meehan, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Studio Theatre | |
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Phylicia Rashad, every tongue confess, Arena Stage | |
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Dawn Ursula, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company |
Outstanding Supporting Performer, Non-Resident Production | ||
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Ellen Harvey, Mary Poppins, The Kennedy Center | |
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Jodi Kimura, South Pacific, The Kennedy Center | |
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Marc Kudisch, Golden Age, The Kennedy Center | |
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Josh Lamon, Hair, The Kennedy Center | |
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Hoon Lee, Golden Age, The Kennedy Center |
The Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play or Musical | ||
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every tongue confess, Marcus Gardley Arena Stage | |
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Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), music by, Zina Goldrich The Kennedy Center Family Theater | |
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Sycamore Trees, book, music & lyrics by, Ricky Ian Gordon Signature Theatre | |
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Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), book & lyrics by, Marcy Heisler The Kennedy Center Family Theater | |
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The Liar, David Ives Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, musical arrangements by, Deborah Wicks La Puma The Kennedy Center Family Theater | ||
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Sycamore Trees, book by, Nina Mankin Signature Theatre | |
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Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, music by, Michael Silversher The Kennedy Center Family Theater | |
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Pirates! A Boy at Sea, Charles Way Imagination Stage | |
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Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, script & lyrics by, Mo Willems The Kennedy Center Family Theater |
The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play | ||
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Philip Fletcher, Othello, Synetic Theater | |
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John Glover, The Lisbon Traviata, The Kennedy Center | |
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Graham Michael Hamilton, Hamlet, Folger Theatre | |
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Mitchell Hébert, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | |
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Bill Largess, The Foreigner, The Bay Theatre Company, Inc. | |
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Alex Mills, Othello, Synetic Theater | |
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Cody Nickell, Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | |
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Ian Merrill Peakes, Henry VIII, Folger Theatre | |
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Johnny Ramey, Superior Donuts, The Studio Theatre | |
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Alexander Strain, New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza, Theater J |
Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Musical | ||
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Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Hairspray, Toby’s Dinner Theatre | |
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If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Adventure Theatre | |
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Oklahoma!, Arena Stage | |
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Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), The Kennedy Center Family Theater | |
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Sycamore Trees, Signature Theatre |
Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play | ||
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American Buffalo, The Studio Theatre | |
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Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | |
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Henry VIII, Folger Theatre | |
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Orestes, A Tragic Romp, Folger Theatre | |
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Othello, Synetic Theater | |
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Travels With My Aunt, Rep Stage |
Outstanding Non-Resident Production | ||
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Avenue Q, The Broadway Musical, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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The Last Cargo Cult, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | |
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Mary Poppins, The Kennedy Center | |
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South Pacific, The Kennedy Center | |
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Thurgood, The Kennedy Center |
Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences | ||
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If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Adventure Theatre | |
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Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, The Kennedy Center Family Theater | |
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The Nutcracker, The Puppet Co. | |
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Pirates! A Boy at Sea, Imagination Stage | |
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Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred), The Kennedy Center Family Theater | |
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The Red Balloon, Adventure Theatre |
Outstanding Resident Musical | ||
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Annie, Olney Theatre Center | |
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Candide, Shakespeare Theatre Company | |
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Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies, Arena Stage | |
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Hairspray, Toby’s Dinner Theatre | |
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The Light in the Piazza, Arena Stage | |
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Little Shop of Horrors, Ford’s Theatre | |
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Oklahoma!, Arena Stage | |
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Sweeney Todd, Signature Theatre |
Outstanding Resident Play | ||
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Clybourne Park, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | |
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Hamlet, Folger Theatre | |
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Henry VIII, Folger Theatre | |
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The Master and Margarita, Synetic Theater | |
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New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch De Spinoza, Theater J | |
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Orestes, A Tragic Romp, Folger Theatre | |
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Othello, Synetic Theater | |
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Superior Donuts, The Studio Theatre |
Theater
A trip ‘through media, memory to examine cultural imperialism’
Ashil Lee on Woolly’s ‘Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt’

‘Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live & active cultures!)’
Through June 1
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
641 D St., N.W.
Tickets start at $55
Woollymammoth.net
New York City-based artist Ashil Lee, 31, acts and directs. When you enter their name in a search engine, you’re first likely to find “Korean American trans nonbinary child of immigrants.”
Currently they’re playing in Woolly Mammoth Theatre’s world premiere production of Julia Izumi’s “Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt (with live & active cultures!),” a trip “through media and memory to examine cultural imperialism, ‘healthy’ consumption, and why we make art.”
The play isn’t exactly a biopic of innovative Japanese filmmaker Kurosawa (1910-1998), says Lee.
“It’s more of a jumping off point for our own emotional journeys, which is parallel to how he’s inspired other filmmakers,” they continue. “While you may not have seen his ground-breaking samurai films, you’ve undoubtedly seen lots of movies and TV directly inspired by his work.”
Recently, I called Lee at their temporary Woolly-provided Penn Quarter digs just a block from the theater. Smart and warmly engaging, they were enthusiastic to share what brings them to D.C.
WASHINGTON BLADE: How did you find your way into this interestingly titled play?
ASHIL LEE: My part, Actor Two, was originally written for a female actor. When playwright and cast member Julia [Izumi] asked me if I was open to auditioning for the role, I agreed and subsequently booked the part.
Julia and I know each other from working in New York [“The Nosebleed” at The Lincoln Center Theatre] where she was associate director and an understudy, and I was an actor. She learned the part, but never went on stage, so our experience was limited to the rehearsal room
Now I get to act with Julia with people watching.
BLADE: Actor Two sounds pretty wide open.
LEE: And that’s what so great about it. A name like Actor Two that means you’re going to play a lot of different roles which is true in this case. More specifically, I play Stage Hand, myself, and an older version of Kurosawa.
BLADE: You play the iconic filmmaker’s filmmaker?
LEE: All of the cast play Kurosawa at different stages in his life. Similar to varied cultural strains of yogurt, we call them the different strains of Kurosawa.
The play includes other characters too: Heigo, Kurosawa’s older brother and childhood influence: and a famous fetishizer who proves a problematic guest, someone we love to hate.
BLADE: Are you a Kurosawa fan?
LEE: Actually, I’ve never seen a Kurosawa film. And since one of my characters hasn’t seen any of his work either, I thought I’d hold off seeing any. This is a play that’s equally appealing to both those who know a lot about Kurasawa and those who’ve never heard of him.
BLADE: Changing gears. Were your parents disappointed that you didn’t take a conventional career path?
LEE: I’m fortunate that my mother is an artist. She has seen the value of artistry and has encouraged me to go into the arts. To some extent, I think she lives vicariously through the way I do art as a job. Still, my parents haven’t entirely shaken that immigrant success driven mentality. They believe “you can be an artist but you have to be the best.” Whatever the best means.
BLADE: And how are they with your gender?
LEE: My parents know that I’m nonbinary and they’ve been understanding, however I haven’t talked much about the transmasc part of it; I’m letting them take their time on that.
BLADE: As a kid in Lafayette, Kentucky, you played bugs (Glow-Worm, Cricket, and Charlotte). What do you like playing now?
LEE: I especially like parts where you play yourself and get to put on different characters. If I could only be in that kind of play for the rest of my life, I’d be more than satisfied. That’s my jam.
As a trans performer it’s such a gift. I’m able to show up completely as myself and then step into different characters without quieting myself. It feels like a gift. I think about it in relation to my gender but also my race.
BLADE: You’re current gig in a sentence?
LEE: It’s awonderful mishmash, a theatrical playground that takes you to a lot of different places in a short amount of time and leaves you thinking about your own life.
Theater
Theatre Prometheus spreads queer joy with ‘Galatea’
Two girls dressed as boys who find love despite the odds

‘Galatea’
Through May 10
Theatre Prometheus
Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center
7995 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, Md.
$27
Theatreprometheus.org
In a timely move, Theatre Prometheus thought it would be a beneficial thing to spread a little queer joy. And since the company’s mission includes engaging audiences and artists in queer and feminist art, there was nothing to stop them.
Co-artistic directors Tracey Erbacher and Lauren Patton Villegas, both queer, agree they’ve found that joy in John Lyly’s “Galatea,” an Elizabethan-era comedy about Galatea and Phillida, two girls dressed as boys who find love despite some rather slim odds.
Now playing at Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center on the Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus, the upbeat offering is a mix of contemporary and period, and strives to make audiences happy. Galatea’s cast includes Amber Coleman and Cate Ginsberg as the besotted pair.
Erbacher, also the production’s director, adds “queer joy is something that I prioritized in casting actors and interviewing production people. I asked them what it means to them, and resoundingly the reply — from both them and the play — is that queer joy is the freedom to be yourself without having to think about it.
“Galatea” was first brought to Prometheus’s attention by Caitlin Partridge, the company’s literary director. Erbacher recalls, “she strongly suggested I read this very queer play. I read it and fell absolutely in love. And because it’s a comedy — I really like directing comedy — I knew that I could lean into that while not neglecting its universal themes of young love.”
Villegas, who’s not ordinarily drawn to the classics, was also instantly smitten with Galatea.
“Usually with classics, the language doesn’t jump out at me the way modern works do,” she says. “But not so with ‘Galatea.’ The first time I heard it read aloud, I found it easy to follow and entirely accessible in the best way.”
Whether Lyly deliberately wrote a queer play isn’t known. What’s definitely known is the play was written with an all-boy performing troupe in mind; that’s partly why there are so many young female roles, the parts 10-year-old boys were playing at the time.
There’s not a lot known about Lyly’s personal life, mostly because he wasn’t wildly famous. What’s known about the times is that there wasn’t a concept of “gay,” but there were sodomy laws regarding homosexual activity in England geared toward men having sex with men; it was all very phallocentric, Erbacher says.
She categorically adds, “Women’s sexuality wasn’t considered in the equation. In fact, it was often asked whether women were even capable of having sex with other women. It just was not part of the conversation. If there wasn’t a dick involved it didn’t count.
“Perhaps that’s how the playwright got around it. If there were two male characters in the play he could not have done it.”
Prometheus has done adaptations of ancient myths and some classics, but in this case it’s very faithful to the original text. Other than some cuts winnowing the work down to 90 minutes, “Galatea” is pretty much exactly as Lyly wrote it.
And that includes, “girls dressed as boys who fall in love thinking girls are boys,” says Erbacher. “And then they start to clock things: ‘I think he is as I am.’ And then they don’t care if the object of their affection is a boy or a girl, the quintessential bisexual iconic line.”
And without spoiling a thing, the director teases, “the ending is even queerer than the rest of the play.”
Erbacher and Villegas have worked together since Prometheus’s inception 11 years ago. More recently, they became co-artistic directors, splitting the work in myriad ways. It’s a good fit: They share values but not identical artistic sensibilities allow them to exchange objective feedback.
In past seasons, the collaborative pair have produced an all-women production of “Macbeth” and a queered take on [gay] “Cymbeline,” recreating it as a lesbian love story. And when roles aren’t specifically defined male or female, they take the best actor for the part.
With Galatea, Prometheus lightens the current mood. Erbacher says, “the hard stuff is important but exhausting. We deserve a queer rom-com, a romantic sweeping story that’s not focused on how hard it is to be queer, but rather the joy of it.”
Theater
Timely comedy ‘Fake It’ focuses on Native American themes
Arena Stage production features two out actors

‘Fake It Until You Make It’
Through May 4
Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St., S.W.
Tickets start at $59
Arenastage.org
A farce requires teamwork. And Larissa FastHorse’s “Fake It Until You Make It” now at Arena Stage is no exception.
The timely comedy focuses on Native American nonprofits fractiously housed in a shared space. Friction rises when rivals River (Amy Brenneman), a white woman operating in the Indigenous world, goes up against the more authentic Wynona (Shyla Lefner) to win a lucrative Native-funded grant.
While Brenneman (best known for TV’s Judging Amy) is undeniably a big draw, it takes a group collaboration to hit marks, land jokes, and pull off the well-executed physical comedy including all those carefully timed door slams.
As members of the six-person “Fake It” cast, Brandon Delsid and Eric Stanton Betts, both out actors of partly indigenous ancestry, contribute to the mayhem. Respectively, Delsid and Betts play Krys and Mark, a pair of two-spirited Native Americans who meet farcically cute and enjoy one of the play’s more satisfying arcs.
For Krys, every attractive man is a potential next fling, but when Mark, handsome and relatively reserved, arrives on the scene, it’s something entirely different.
Both onstage and sometimes off, Betts plays the straight man to Delsid’s waggishness. But when it comes down to real life business, the friends are on the same page: not only are the L.A.-based, up-and-coming actors intensely serious about their film and stage careers, but they’re also particularly engaged in the themes of Indigenous People found in “Fake It.”
On a recent Wednesday following a matinee and an audience talkback, they were ready for a phone interview.
In establishing whose voice was whose, Delsid clarified with “I’m the one who sounds a little like a Valley girl.”
WASHINGTON BLADE: Brandon, you’ve been with the show since its early work-shopping days in 2022 and through its debut in Los Angeles and now Washington. Have things evolved?
BRANDON DELSID: Definitely. I’ve grown up in the last couple of years and so has my character; it’s hard to know where I end and Kry begins. There’s been a real melding.
Eric and I are both queer, and to get to play these roles that are so human, imperfect, sexy, and interesting is really joyful.
As queer artists you don’t always get the chance to do work like this. So many stories are queer trauma, which is incredibly important, but it’s liberating to feel joy and ride it off into the sunset, which, without revealing too much, is kind of what we get to do.
BLADE: There’s some race shifting in “Fake It” particularly with regard to “pretendian” (a pejorative term describing a person who has falsely claimed Indigenous status).
ERIC STANTON BETTS: The last few years I’ve been on a journey with my cultural identity and place in the world. I’m a mixed BIPOC artist, my dad is Black and Native American by way of the Cherokee tribe and my mom is white.
Since 2020, I’ve tried to figure out where I belong in this cultural history that I haven’t had a tie to throughout my life; it’s gratifying to find my way back to my indigeneity and be welcomed.
In the play, race shifting is introduced through farce. But it’s never in a disrespectful way; it’s never mocked or done in a way to take away from others. The playwright parallels race shifting with gender fluidity.
DELSID: But in life, there are people posing as Indigenous, actively taking grants, and the play goes there, we don’t hold back. Larissa, our playwright, has made it clear that she’s not trying to figure it out for us. With that in mind, we hope people leave the theater interested and curious to learn more.
BLADE: Mark arrives kind of the middle of some crazy drama, bringing along a jolt of romance.
BETTS: Yeah, when I show up, we’re all sort of shot out of a cannon, struggling to keep up with the initial lie.
DESLID: A very gay cannon.
BLADE: What’s up next for you two?
BETTS: Both Brandon and I are up for the same part in a TV pilot, so one of us may be getting some very good news. I also have a Tyler Perry film coming out soon [he plays a model, not an unfamiliar gig for Betts].
DELSID: Coming up, I have a recurring part on HBO’s “The Rehearsal,” and a supporting part in “June and John,” a Luc Besson film. But doing “Fake It Until You Make It” in L.A. and now D.C. has been a special time in our lives. It’s 23/7 togetherness. There’s that hour for sleep.
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