Helen Hayes Awards

HELEN HAYES AWARD - Celebrates 28 years in Washington, D.C. on April 25, 2011

by Verna Kerans

The Helen Hayes Awards in Washington, D.C. were organized in 1983 to honor and promote excellence in theatre. The inauguration of the awards took place at the National Theatre in what has become known as The Helen Hayes Gallery. This gallery is on the second floor of the National Theatre where people gather during intermission for a drink and chatting. There is also a small stage here when small-stage presentations are given. I once met Ian McKellan there when he was on tour and he presented us with a small preview of his show and took questions from the press afterwards. 

The day the Awards were announced, Helen Hayes herself was present and it was quite an exciting event. I got to chat with Ms. Hayes and reminded her about her last stage appearance at The Catholic University at Hartke Theatre. She played the lead in A Long Day’s Journey into Night in 1972. I worked on that show, and during the run, made Ms. Hayes a chocolate cake. I reminded her of the cake and the show during the party after the Awards had been introduced and we had a nice reminiscence. After that show her doctor had advised her not to do any more stage work as the dust was affecting her breathing and lungs.

Appearing with her as the son in Long Day's Journey was Jason Miller who was also in the film The Exorcist and later wrote That Championship Season which, by the way, is on Broadway now.

Much like the Kevin Kline Awards in St. Louis which were used as a prototype, the Helen Hayes Award had its ups and downs in the beginning. I can’t really remember what the discussions were about. As I recall, there was controversy about how all the awards seemed to be going to the bigger more prosperous theatres. But as we know, you can’t make everyone happy all the time.

This year the Helen Hayes Awards celebrate 28 years of excellence. The original idea was to promote theatre. In that, they have certainly succeeded. Since the beginning, more and more theatres have been established and are presenting excellent work.

Over the years, I have seen many changes. The first awards were honored to have Helen Hayes present the awards, and then her son began to present. Unfortunately, we have neither of them to join us this year but the evening promises to be a great “cast party” for the entire community in Washington, D.C.