34th Carbonell Awards Ceremony Photos
For photos from the 34th Annual Carbonell Awards Ceremony, please visit:
34th Annual Carbonell Award Winners Announced
Honoring South Florida’s finest shows, performances and career achievement
COMBINED (plays & musicals)
Best New Work (award to author): Peter Colley, Robert Creighton and Christopher McGovern, Cagney, Florida Stage
Best Ensemble Production: Farragut North, GableStage
PLAYS
Best Production of a Play (award to producing organization): Speed-the-Plow, GableStage
Best Director/Play: Joseph Adler, Speed-the-Plow, GableStage
Best Actor/Play: Paul Tei , Speed-the-Plow, GableStage
Best Actress/Play: Barbara Bradshaw, Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them, Mosaic Theatre
Best Supporting Actor/Play: Gregg Weiner, Farragut North, GableStage
Best Supporting Actress/Play: Elena Maria Garcia, Summer Shorts: Signature Shorts, City Theatre
MUSICALS
Best Production of a Musical: Les Misérables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Best Director/Musical: David Arisco, Les Misérables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Best Actor/Musical: Brad Oscar, Barnum, Maltz Jupiter Theatre
Best Actress/Musical: Holly Shunkey, Vices: A Love Story, Caldwell Theatre Company
Best Supporting Actor/Musical: Gary Marachek, Les Misérables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Best Supporting Actress/Musical: Gwen Hollander, Les Misérables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Musical Direction/Musical: Eric Alsford, Les Misérables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Choreography/Musical: AC Ciulla, Vices: A Love Story, Caldwell Theatre Company
DESIGN (plays & musicals)
Best Scenic Design: Sean McClelland, Les Misérables, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Best Lighting Design: John Manzelli, Macon City: A Comic Book Play, The Naked Stage
Best Costume Design: Brian O’Keefe, A Doll’s House, Palm Beach Dramaworks
Best Sound Design: Matt Corey, Broadsword, Mad Cat Theatre Company
The George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts: Florida Grand Opera General Director and CEO Robert M. Heuer who is celebrating his 25th anniversary with the company. Under Mr. Heuer’s leadership, FGO has mounted over 90 mainstage productions, including 25 operas never previously seen in South Florida. Although Florida Grand Opera has the 11th largest budget for an American opera company, it has the 7th largest opera audience. This award is for significant contributions to the artistic and cultural development of the region.
The Bill Von Maurer Award for Theatrical Excellence: GableStage, which was founded in 1979 as
the Florida Shakespeare Theatre, has grown to become a major cultural institution of South for its year-round programming and educational theater programs. By emphasizing nontraditional casting and employing the best of its local creative force, GableStage challenges its multicultural audience with innovative productions that entertain as well as confront today’s issues and ideas. Established in 2006 and named for the late theater writer and journalist for the Miami News and South Florida Sun Sentinel, this award is given to the theater company that exemplifies excellence for the totality of its programming: productions, educational outreach, developmental programs and audiences served.
Preparations are Underway for April 12, 2010 Award Ceremony
The Carbonell Awards, Inc. Board of Directors met March 9 to prepare for the April 12, 2010 Carbonell Awards Ceremony to be held at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
The must-see award ceremony will feature performances from each of the productions nominated for Best Musical.
The following sponsorships of award categories by Carbonell Awards Show sponsors have been announced:
Actors Equity Association - Best Actress In a Play
Rita and Jerome Cohen - Best Actress in A Musical
Jay Harris - Best Production of a Play
Michael and Ellen Peyton - Best Sound Design
Savannah Whaley - Best Scenic Design
The annual Carbonell Awards ceremony is designed to raise scholarships for students in the tri-county area to study at accredited colleges and universities for careers in the visual and performing arts, and in journalism. In 2009, $1,500 was given to each of the following educational institutions for Carbonell Award scholarships: Department of Theater at FIU in Miami, Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences at Nova Southeastern University and the theater program at Lynn University in Palm Beach.
Tickets are $25 with $20 tickets available for groups of 10 or more. Tickets are available through the Broward Center’s box office by calling 954-462-0222 or visiting www.browardcenter.org.
It was also announced at the board meeting that, due to constraints on their time, Jay Harris and Savannah Whaley would be leaving the Board following the award ceremony although both would make themselves available to consult with the Board during the transition period as needed.
Carbonell Award Nominations Announced
34th annual theater awards honor the region’s finest shows and performances
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - 2009 could go down as the year of the musical with seven of the top 10 nominated shows edging out the edgier dramas for the 34th annual Carbonell Awards nominations celebrating the best shows and performances in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Les Miserables at Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables led the pack with a dozen nominations. Broadsword at Miami’s Mad Cat Theatre Company and Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them at Plantation’s Mosaic Theatre tied with five nods each as the most recognized plays for the annual honors to be held on Monday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the Amaturo Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale.
South Florida’s answer to the Tony Awards and a highlight of each arts season, the Carbonell Awards pay tribute to the very best theatrical productions on local stages and features the area’s top entertainers and theater insiders as they step out from behind their roles in an unforgettable behind-the-scenes celebration.
Nominations encompass the entire length of South Florida with 13 companies receiving nods and 33 of the 75 eligible shows that opened in 2009 being recognized.
With 13, Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre was the most nominated local company as nominations were distributed among the tri-county area with 38 for Palm Beach, 37 for Miami-Dade and 25 for Broward.
Actor Gregg Weiner and sound designer Matt Corey are tied for the most individual nominations with three each, yet Weiner could be the night’s big winner if he takes home a fourth honor as a cast member of Broadsword or GableStage’s Farragut North which have both been nominated for Best Ensemble.
Double nominees, not including Best Ensemble nominations, include director Joe Adler, choreographer Chrissi Ardito, actor Todd Allen Durkin, music director Helen Gregory, set designer Sean McClelland and lighting designer Jeff Quinn as well as Paul Tei who is nominated in acting and directing categories. Robert Creighton and Christopher McGovern also have two nominations each for Cagney at Florida Stage in Manalapan as Best Actor in a Musical and musical direction, respectively, as well as for creating the musical which is nominated in the Best New Work category.
Amy London returns to direct the gala award production following last year’s critically-acclaimed show. The annual awards ceremony raises scholarships for South Florida arts students. Along with New York’s Drama Desk and Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Awards, the Carbonell Awards are among the nation’s senior regional arts awards and predate others including Washington, D.C.’s Helen Hayes and Philadelphia’s Barrymore Awards.
Tickets are $25 with $20 tickets available for groups of 10 or more. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 19 through the Broward Center’s box office by calling 954-462-0222 or visiting www.browardcenter.org.
Opportunities to sponsor an award category and appear on stage to announce the winner are available beginning at $1,000. Email swhaley@carbonellawards.org for more information.
The Broward Center is located at 201 S.W. 5th Ave. in Fort Lauderdale.