Monday was a big night for the Washington performing arts community — and for quite a few Catalogue non-profits! Yesterday marked the 27th Annual Helen Hayes Awards, which recognized “156 theatre artists, ensembles, and productions nominated in 26 categories,” as well as three special awards. And we would like to send Catalogue cheers to:

- Adventure Theatre for Outstanding Production (Theatre for Young Audiences) for If You Give a Pig a Pancake.

- Synetic Theatre for Outstanding Costume Design, Director, and Ensemble for Othello and Outstanding Lighting Design for The Master and Margarita.

- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company for Outstanding Director and Resident Play for Clybourne Park, which will return to the Woolly stage this summer.

As the Washington Post reported late yesterday evening:

The ceremony looked sharp as ever, with a live orchestra onstage and plenty of glitzy singer-dancers peppering the evening with song parodies [...]

The conscientiously inclusive awards [...] considered 196 eligible professional productions that were evaluated by a rotating pool of 60 judges, eight of whom attend any given show. The ballots used for nominating also determine winners — shows you normally can’t see anymore, since the awards cover events that opened during the previous calendar year. But in a neat reversal of form, the hit productions of Oklahoma! and Clybourne Park will both reopen this summer.