At an event February 1 in the Helen Hayes Gallery of the National Theatre in Washington, DC, theatreWashington announced the nominees for the 2016 Helen Hayes Awards, which recognize excellence in professional theater throughout the Washington metropolitan area.

The 236 nominations, drawn from 79 productions at 35 theaters, encompass 47 categories, divided into two halves: "Hayes" productions, with a majority of cast members covered by an Equity contract, and "Helen" productions, with less than 51 percent of the cast covered by an Equity contract.

Theaters with the largest number of nominations are the Shakespeare Theatre Company (Hayes), 26 nominations for 10 productions; Arena Stage (Hayes), 24 nominations for five productions; Signature Theatre (Hayes), 18 nominations for five productions; Constellation Theatre Company (Helen), 16 nominations for three productions; and GALA Hispanic Theatre (Helen), 14 nominations for two productions.

Productions with the most nominations are Avenue Q, Constellation Theatre Company, with 14; Salomé, Shakespeare Theatre Company, and West Side Story, Signature Theatre, 10 each; Dear Evan Hansen, Arena Stage, and Yerma, GALA Hispanic Theatre, nine each; IMPOSSIBLE! A Happenstance Circus (Helen), Happenstance Theater, eight; and The Blood Quilt, Arena, and Man of La Mancha, Shakespeare Theatre Company, seven each.

The date and venue for this year's Helen Hayes Award gala celebration will be announced shortly. The complete list of nominees can be found at www.theatreWashington.org.