How It All Began

In 1983, Broadway producer Bonnie Nelson Schwartz was on a flight from Chicago – a city that enjoys a reputation as one of the most exciting theatre towns in the nation. The city’s Joseph Jefferson Awards honoring local theatre, had just been presented. As the plane left O’Hare, Schwartz pondered the state of theatre in Washington, D.C. where she lived.

Although the number of D.C. theatres was small – only about a dozen in the early 1980s – the quality and the talent pool was exceptional. “I was impressed with the way the Jefferson Awards had galvanized Chicago theatre and wondered what could be done to strengthen and cultivate live theatre in Washington” remembers Schwartz.

The idea of Washington’s own theatre Awards program – a signature event that would promote the concept of Washington as a theatre town – sprang from these ruminations.

In time, the Awards would, in fact, bring significant regional, national, and even international attention to the remarkable work on Washington’s stages; it would generate a sense of kinship to its hometown artists; and it would serve as a model to other theatre Awards programs. But in 1983, to gain the level of attention Washington theatre warranted, the concept required the imprimatur of someone of considerable substance; a namesake and guide who would be meaningful to Washington theatre professionals as well as audiences. The choice was clear.

Helen Hayes was a native Washingtonian. At the age of five, she’d seen her first play from the balcony of The National Theatre. Even then, she’d known there was no other place for her than on the stage. One year later, Helen Hayes made her professional debut in Washington with the Columbia Players. She went on to New York where she became a major child star of her day, blossomed as a Broadway ingénue, and, for the remainder of her long and productive life, was heralded as The First Lady of the American Theatre.

Along with her producing partner, the late Arthur Cantor, Bonnie Nelson Schwartz arranged a meeting at Miss Hayes’ home in Nyack, New York. Schwartz recalls the day they met the legendary actress: “Helen was a five-foot tall, 83-year-young dynamo. We noticed she was wearing a small pin, bearing the letters N-O. She explained it was a gift from a friend to remind her to say ‘no’ to all the requests that were being made of her.” Despite the pin, they made their appeal. “Helen was beaming,” Schwartz remembers.” She just said ‘I’m sorry I don’t have a pin that says YES because I’d be wearing it right now.’” Helen Hayes made it clear however, that she would not want to simply lend her name – she wanted an active role; to dig in and get her hands dirty, just as she did in her beloved garden. Her enthusiasm was overwhelming from the start and Helen Hayes’ passion for her namesake Awards never waned. She remained a dedicated collaborator until her death in 1993.

That momentous day in Nyack, Helen Hayes was presented with the idea for an organization established to celebrate, honor, and promote the Washington professional theatre community and thereby, the community as a whole. The work of the organization would be a living legacy to the standards of excellence she embodied.

Schwartz presented the idea to Washington Post Theatre critic Emeritus, Richard Coe, a friend of Miss Hayes, who agreed to become the first Chairman of the Helen Hayes Awards Board of Directors. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Schwartz enlisted the support of several Washington, DC theatre professionals - among them, Betti Brown, a former colleague from their days at the American Film Institute, who would become the organization’s Founding Executive Director. In short order, a core group of people who believed passionately in the importance and potential of theatre in Washington joined them to rally around the initiative and devote their time and talent to create an enduring endeavor. “It was essential to have theatre-makers create the framework,” Betti Brown recalls. “Right from the start, there was a this-is-worth-doing feeling to it.”

The group came together with a common goal: to create an organization to promote Washington professional theatre, a service not offered by any other. Howard Shalwitz, Artistic Director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company was a vital member of that initial board. He says “there were waves of growth in the theatre community that had occurred to that point, but nothing that was taking it to the next level.”

Cultural Alliance founder Peter Jablow, now President and CEO of the Levine School of Music, also was a part of that group. He saw the creation of an Awards program as a way finally to both honor and provide recognition to Washington theatre artists. “There were only a dozen or so theatres in town and it was very difficult to keep talent in D.C,” Jablow remembers. “The Awards could help bring well-deserved recognition to artists and we believed we could help stem the tide of departing talent.”

Betti Brown concurs “If we had one hope and vision it was about theatre professionals making our community better - artists making a living doing what they love in a community where they had established roots - not about being noticed so they could leave. “This conviction to attract and keep talent was central to the organization’s earliest objectives and made way for the organization’s ultimate goal - to create a new profile for Washington as a theatre town.

The concept of an Awards program designed to bring focus to Washington as a theatre town would only work if the trophies handed out were the results of a meaningful evaluation process. Howard Shalwitz, along with fellow founding board member John Neville Andrews, assumed the responsibility of researching other Awards models then in existence. Unable to identify a system that reflected the distinctive nature of Washington theatre, the two took on the challenge of creating one. Their method was adopted and - with continued oversight and modification by the Helen Hayes Awards Rules Committee - their system served the organization for many years.

With modest initial backing from the Billy Rose Foundation, an adjudication process in place, and great leadership at the helm, the new organization was unveiled at a press reception in the Helen Hayes Gallery at the National Theatre in May, 1984. Miss Hayes toasted the program and joked ”Here I am, not an actress, but an award.”