The Carbonell Awards

As we end the year and prepare to enter 2025, the Carbonell Awards Board of Directors would like to briefly review and clarify recent process adjustments and accomplishments.

CHANGES 2024

+ In response to recommendations made by an ad hoc committee (Timothy Mark Davis, Jeff Kiltie, Jill Kratish, Margery Lowe, and Matt Stabile), the Board approved and implemented the following:

• Set the standard number of judges per production at seven.
• Require judges to see at least 16 performances each season, including shows in all three counties.
• Reiterate that of the seven judges assigned to a show, at least one will be a professional critic and will include (whenever possible) judges from all three counties. At no time will the assigned judges all be from the same county as the theater being evaluated.
• Provide judges the opportunity in late August to review and revise their scores on all shows they’ve seen that season prior to final tabulation.
• Change the designation from “nominees” to “finalists”.

+ Hosted a Training Session for Judges emphasizing the critical importance of adhering to the Judging Rubric for each competitive category.

+ Hosted a Zoom meeting with theaters to review changes in the judging process, comp policy, and required protocol for judges.

+ Revised eligibility for Outstanding Music Direction to only include productions that used live musical accompaniment. This eligibility limitation does not apply to the categories of Outstanding Production, Musical or Outstanding Direction, Musical.

CHANGES 2025

We also announced the following changes for next year:

+ For the first time since 1997, the annual awards ceremony will be held in Palm Beach County—at the gorgeous University Theatre on the Boca Raton campus of FAU (November 17, 2025).

+ Addition of a new Special Award: The Jan McArt Award honoring outstanding achievement by a small theatre. Like our other Special Awards, this will be based on nominations from the theatre community with the Carbonell Board of Directors making the final selection.

+ Schedule two special training sessions for Judges on evaluating such competitive categories as choreography, scenic/sound/lighting/costume design, musical direction, and artistic specialty.

HIGHLIGHTS

+ Under the leadership of Carbonell Coordinator Elizabeth Dashiell, 47 Carbonell Judges collectively adjudicated 89 different productions at 30+ professional theaters across three counties during the 2023-2024 season.

+ We added six highly qualified new judges:

• Charles Baran – actor, author, senior writer at OutClique Magazine
• Tom Hantzarides – talk show host and producer, writer, journalist, and founder of GET OUT South Florida LGBTQ+ Media
• Jody Leshinsky – former Carbonell President & currently Life Enrichment Manager at John Knox Village in Pompano Beach
• Jorge Perez – Cuban-born journalist, columnist, and theater reviewer
• Michelle F. Solomon – editor in chief and theater critic/writer for Artburstmiami.com, a program of the Miami Dade County Cultural Affairs department; executive editor/managing editor of the Broward Arts Journalism Alliance (BAJA), a program of the Broward County Cultural Division; and the editor-in-chief and arts-theater writer/critic for miamiartzine.com, a program of the Miami Beach Arts Trust
• Savannah Whaley – former General Manager of the Carbonell Awardswhohas worked as a theater publicist both in NYC and South Florida, most recently for the Broward Center

And we elevated two-time Abbott Award winner Christine Dolen to be the Carbonell Award’s first Judge Emeritus.

+ Under the leadership of Carbonell Vice President Javier Siut and longtime Judge Nancy Cohen, we awarded this year’s three $2,000 Jack Zink Memorial Scholarships to Alexandra Dreszer (Miami-Dade County), Lillian Jones (Palm Beach County), and Morgan Brooke Wilder (Broward County).

+ Under the leadership of Board members Terry Colli and Ellen Wedner, we launched the auxiliary Friends of the Carbonell Awards to assist in fundraising and community outreach.

+ Thanks to the generosity of Marilynn Wick, recipient of this year’s esteemed Ruth Foreman Award, we celebrated our 2024 finalists, judges, and Board members at a splendid Sips & Supper party at The Wick Theatre Museum Club.

+ We produced another fast and fun awards ceremony under the brilliant direction of Michael McKeever, Stuart Meltzer, and Caryl Fantel, including the hilarious opening parody written by Jeni Hacker and a fabulous After Party hosted by Mark Traverso and Conor Walton—with special thanks to Amanda Segur and her talented team at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center. Best of all, we netted enough money through sponsorships, donations, and ticket sales to keep our nonprofit organization operating through 2025.

+ We awarded Carbonell honors in 20 competitive categories to Slow Burn Theatre Company (6), Maltz Jupiter Theatre (5), Miami New Drama (3), Zoetic Stage (3), The Wick Theatre (2), and GableStage (1). In addition to Marilynn Wick, Carbonell Special Awards were presented to Area Stage, Kermit Christman, John Pryor, and Carl Waisanen.

+ We applauded the inspiring and challenging acceptance speech by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz when he received this year’s prestigious George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts.

The Carbonell Awards is always evolving in our ongoing effort to better recognize and reward excellence by members of South Florida’s widespread and very diverse theatrical community—and we welcome your suggestions to make the judging process even more fair and transparent.

Finally, we very much appreciate your ongoing support and wish everyone the happiest of Holidays and many sensational Opening Nights and well-deserved Standing Ovations in 2025.

The Carbonell Awards Board of Directors