Arts & Entertainment
Stage accolades
Out theater pros in several disciplines win big at Hayes Awards


Cedric Neal at the 2013 Helen Hayes Awards. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
“I came to Signature [Theatre] to do ‘Dreamgirls’ and met my dream guy,” said an ecstatic Cedric Neal as he accepted the Helen Hayes Award for outstanding supporting actor in a resident musical for playing fallen music idol Jimmy Early in the company’s take on the Motown-inspired musical. Filled with love and gratitude, but not too serious, describe both Neal’s boyfriend-acknowledging speech and the mood of this year’s ceremony held Monday night at the Warner Theatre.
Presented by theatreWashington, the Helen Hayes Awards have been doled out annually to reward excellence in Washington-area professional theater since 1984. Throughout 2012, 54 theaters produced 201 (150 plays and 51 musicals) productions that met eligibility requirements in the January-through-December judging cycle. From these shows, a pool of 48 volunteer judges selected the evening’s nominees and winners.
Monday’s ceremony was hosted by the familiar mellifluous tones of unseen announcer Robert Aubry Davis and changing pairs of presenters including gay theater professionals like actor Frank Britton, set designer Tony Cisek, sassy choreographer Maurice Hines and young Helen Hayes Award-winning actor Matthew DeLorenzo. Throughout the evening, six top notch local artists (including Delorenzo and Joshua Morgan — also gay) performed musical numbers — cute original songs as well as familiar tunes picked from the five nominated resident musical productions.

Serge Seiden (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The evening got off to a quick start with Serge Seiden, who is gay, receiving outstanding director for a resident musical for MetroStage’s “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.”
Bobby Smith won outstanding actor in a resident musical for his brilliant work in “Brel.” “I’m sorry I didn’t wear my tux,” said Smith (also gay). He also joked about martinis and old age medications (though he’s hardly old) before getting serious and thanking MetoStage’s artistic director Carolyn Griffin for holding the title role for him while he recuperated from hip replacement surgery. Smith’s leading lady Natascia Diaz deservedly received outstanding actress for her gorgeous, heartfelt performance in “Brel,” winning a competitive category that included big-voiced Nova Y. Payton who memorably played Effie in Signature’s “Dreamgirls.”
But despite “Brel’s” big wins, in the end “Dreamgirls” took outstanding resident musical. And after not winning any of its many nominations, the Folger Theatre’s Wild West-set “The Taming of the Shrew” rather unexpectedly won outstanding resident play.
The most nominated musical of the night — Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s “The Color Purple” — took home just one award: Theresa Cunningham won outstanding supporting actress in a resident musical. She thanked Toby’s for the role and for teaching her the challenges of waiting tables. Before leaving the stage, she urged audience members to always tip well. Cunningham tied with Priscilla Cuellar for her work in Toby’s “Legally Blonde.” The dinner theater’s rowdy supporters ensured that these two recipients received the loudest and longest applause of the evening.
Young New York-based playwright Paul Downs Colaizzo, a big proponent of same-sex marriage, won outstanding new work for “Really, Really,” his play about the selfish ways of young people. Colaizzo wasn’t on hand to pick up his award.
Victor Shargai, theatreWashington’s chairman, along with talented local actor Naomi Jacobson (whom Shargai said makes him laugh, cry and sometimes consider changing his sexual orientation), presented the Helen Hayes Tribute to Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. Typically, the tribute has been awarded to big theater names like Tommy Tune, Edward Albee and Jerry Herman in recognition of exceptional achievement, but this year was different. Accepting on behalf of the actors’ union were AEA President Nicholas Wyman and Oscar-winning movie star and longtime AEA member Ellen Burstyn.
The John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company (named for Shargai’s late partner, an avid supporter of D.C. theater) went to Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue, a terrific rock/vaudeville infused musical troupe. Capital Fringe, D.C.’s amazing unjuried, self-producing, open access arts festival received the Washington Post Award for innovative leadership.
Awards are great, but it’s the ongoing work that really makes the D.C. theater community hum. So, like Monday’s event reiterated in word and lyric — “go see a show!”
A complete list of winners is here.

The 2025 Baltimore Pride Parade was held on Saturday, June 14.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)








































































You’ve done your share of marching.
You’re determined to wring every rainbow-hued thing out of this month. The last of the parties hasn’t arrived yet, neither have the biggest celebrations and you’re primed but – OK, you need a minute. So pull up a chair, take a deep breath, and read these great books on gay history, movies, and more.
You probably don’t need to be told that harassment and discrimination was a daily occurrence for gay people in the past (as now!), but “American Scare: Florida’s Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives” by Robert W. Fieseler (Dutton, $34) tells a story that runs deeper than you may know. Here, you’ll read a historical expose with documented, newly released evidence of a systemic effort to ruin the lives of two groups of people that were perceived as a threat to a legislature full of white men.
Prepared to be shocked, that’s all you need to know.
You’ll also want to read the story inside “The Many Passions of Michael Hardwick: Sex and the Supreme Court in the Age of AIDS” by Martin Padgett (W.W. Norton & Company, $31.99), which sounds like a novel, but it’s not. It’s the story of one man’s fight for a basic right as the AIDS crisis swirls in and out of American gay life and law. Hint: this book isn’t just old history, and it’s not just for gay men.
Maybe you’re ready for some fun and who doesn’t like a movie? You know you do, so you’ll want “Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness” by Michael Koresky (Bloomsbury, $29.99). It’s a great look at the Hays Code and what it allowed audiences to see, but it’s also about the classics that sneaked beneath the code. There are actors, of course, in here, but also directors, writers, and other Hollywood characters you may recognize. Grab the popcorn and settle in.
If you have kids in your life, they’ll want to know more about Pride and you’ll want to look for “Pride: Celebrations & Festivals” by Eric Huang, illustrated by Amy Phelps (Quarto, $14.99), a story of inclusion that ends in a nice fat section of history and explanation, great for kids ages seven-to-fourteen. Also find “Are You a Friend of Dorothy? The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped Shape” by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Levi Hastings (Simon & Schuster, $19.99), a lively book about a not-often-told secret for kids ages six-to-ten; and “Papa’s Coming Home” by Chasten Buttigieg, illustrated by Dan Taylor (Philomel, $19.99), a sweet family tale for kids ages three-to-five.
Finally, here’s a tween book that you can enjoy, too: “Queer Heroes” by Arabelle Sicardi, illustrated by Sarah Tanat-Jones (Wide Eyed, $14.99), a series of quick-to-read biographies of people you should know about.
Want more Pride books? Then ask your favorite bookseller or librarian for more, because there are so many more things to read. Really, the possibilities are almost endless, so march on in.
Music & Concerts
Indigo Girls coming to Capital One Hall
Stars take center stage alongside Fairfax Symphony

Capital One Center will host “The Indigo Girls with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra” on Thursday, June 19 and Friday, June 20 at 8 p.m. at Capital One Hall.
The Grammy Award-winning folk and pop stars will take center stage alongside the Fairfax Symphony, conducted by Jason Seber. The concerts feature orchestrations of iconic hits such as “Power of Two,” “Get Out The Map,” “Least Complicated,” “Ghost,” “Kid Fears,” “Galileo,” “Closer to Fine,” and many more.
Tickets are available on Ticketmaster or in person at Capital One Hall the nights of the concerts.