2012 RECOMMENDATION PANEL:
Al Alschuler
A freelance journalist specializing in interior design, architecture and travel, Al Alschuler is a past president of both the South Florida International Press Club and the Interior Design Guild of South Florida. For three decades he has actively supported local theatre, having successively served on the Boards of Directors of the Players Repertory Theatre (and as the founding chairman of its fledgling Conservatory at the Coconut Grove Playhouse), New Theatre, Skyline Theatre Company and City Theatre. Avid theatergoers, he and his partner continue to share an unabashed appreciation for creative stagecraft and production values.
J.W. Arnold
Bio coming soon . . .
Andie Arthur
Bio coming soon . . .
Kay Brady
Bio coming soon . . .
Thomas J. Bruckner
Thomas J. Bruckner has been teaching theater at Boynton Beach Community High School since the school’s opening eight years ago. He is a playwright and has been a member of the Dramatist Guild for over twenty years. Bruckner has produced a number of his original plays with his students. It is a process which encourages student input and inspires young writers while creating material which is meaningful and socially relevant to today’s young adults. He is a passionate and outspoken teacher activist on arts education and public education issues as a whole.
Ellen Davis
Currently an adjunct teacher/director at Miami-Dade College, Ellen Davis has been a Carbonell panelist for many years. She also has been a teacher at the New World School of the Arts and an active director at professional theaters throughout South Florida during her professional career.
Nancy Gillen Doyle
The former Director of Group Sales for Broadway Across America at the company’s Fort Lauderdale headquarters, Nancy Gillen Doyle is experienced in sales, marketing and promotions and is an avid theatergoer and arts patron.
Alvin Entin
Alvin Entin is the chairman of the board of the Pembroke Pines Theatre of the Performing Arts, arguably South Florida’s largest and most successful community theater program at present. He is also a successful trial attorney with over 30 years experience, currently of Entin & Della Fera PA. Entin also performs in community theater, and was instrumental in the formation of an association of community theaters in South Florida. His other avocation is boxing, and he was appointed twice to the Florida Boxing Commission and served as its Chairman for two years. He resigned from the Commission in 2006 to become outside Counsel to Seminole Warriors Boxing.
Jason Evan Fisher
Bio coming soon . . .
Donna Horkey
Donna L. Horkey, MS, PHR, has been a theater lover since she was 7 years old when she made her stage debut in her sister’s high school production of Saroyan’s “The Time of Your Life.” She went on to leading lady roles in many musicals through college, tried her hand at stage managing, handling props, doing make-up, and directing, and even did a two-month summer stock run of “Godspell” all over the Southeast. When the “real world” hit, Donna pursued a career in Human Resources, and has had her own management consulting practice since 1988, specializing in executive coaching, training, and investigating sexual harassment and employment discrimination nationwide. She served as adjunct faculty in the graduate business school at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) for 5 years, and has been President of the HR Association of Broward County, the Florida State HR Council, the Eckerd College Alumni Association, and the Sunrise Pops Orchestra. Donna is an ardent admirer of people who earn their living in the challenging world of theater and makes the effort to support live theatre by seeing as much of it as possible!
Marylne Marzi Kaplan
Marzi Kaplan served, for 23 years, on the UM School of Law adjunct faculty. With a J.D. and an M.A. in English, she taught Law, Language, and Literature, focusing on drama (from Antigone to Inherit the Wind) and First Amendment freedoms of press, speech, expression. Kaplan was a language columnist for The Florida Bar News and is a Hollywood Poet Laureate. Over the decades, she has served on many cultural-arts Boards, e.g., WPBT-TV (Channel 2); Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF); and Miami Book Fair International (MBFI). Her essays and reviews appear in various newspapers and journals.
Mark Keller
Mark Keller is president of Keller Monash Productions, and executive vice president of The Event Management Group. He coproduces a Broadway Cabaret Series featuring stars from the Broadway and International Cabaret worlds with The Crest Theatre in Delray Beach. Having recently completed producing special events for The Orange Bowl as well as for The Coca Cola Company, he is also working on two shows on their way to Broadway: The Great Game and Sportin’ Life. Keller began his career in the theatre as a stage manager in New York and is a proud member of The Actors Equity Association.
Jill Kratish
Jill Kratish has worked for the Broward Center for the Performing Arts since its opening in 1991. After first serving as a stage technician, she joined the Production department and later moved into the Programming department. Currently the Director of Programming, she focuses on all of the family, educational, Broadway and Off-Broadway programming for the Broward Center and its affiliate venues. A native of South Florida, Kratish is on the board of the Theater League of South Florida, is the President of the Florida Professional Presenters Consortium, the Co-Chair of the Touring Committee of the Broadway Green Alliance, and is a Tony Voter. She holds a B.A. in theater from the University of Florida.
Paul Levine
Paul Levine is a film reviewer and columnist for Around Town newspaper and president of Famous Faces Entertainment and Special Events Company, with divisions including a SAG franchised talent agency. Prior to establishing his own firm, he was a branch manager with United Artists and sales representative for Warner Brothers.
Peter Librach
Bio coming soon . . .
Myrna Loman
Bio coming soon . . .
Matt May
Matt relocated to South Florida in 2003 from New York, where he served as the Interim Company Manager for Second Stage Theatre, the Tour Manager for the 2002 Camp Broadway summer program, and the Company Manager for the 2001 national tour of Crazy For You. He spent time at the Daryl Roth Theatre, and Writers and Artists and The Gage Group talent agencies. May worked in theatre administration at New World School of the Arts for two school years before spending the 2005-2006 season as the Director of Education for Broadway Across America throughout Florida. An independent theater and event producer and director, he has, and continues to present throughout South Florida and New York.
Karen Poindexter
An independent theater and film producer, Karen Poindexter previously served as producer and/or associate producer with the Clematis Street Theatre at The Cuillo Centre, Hirschfeld Theatre [Miami Beach], Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre as well as with national and international theater/film productions.
Tom Regnier
Bio coming soon . . .
Jennifer Sierra-Grobbelaar
Jennifer Sierra-Grobbelaar is the Marketing and Media Relations Director for Cirque Dreams where she also serves as Company Manager on various national tours. Prior to Cirque Productions, Jenn was with Broadway Across America for over 13 years in various capacities including Subscription Ticketing Manager, Venue Operations Manager for
Parker Playhouse, Education Liaison with Florida Theatrical Association as well as Public Relations & Marketing Operations Director for events throughout the state of Florida.
John Chase Soliday
John Soliday is a Carbonell Award-nominated theater director, long time member of the Society of Stage Directors and associate professor of theatre and motion pictures at the University of Miami. He chairs the National Communication Association’s “Theatre, Film and New Multi-Media Division.” He teaches graduate and undergraduate theatre and motion picture/video directing, acting, screenwriting, theory and history. He is Director of the 20 year old Czech National Film School’s English Film, Photography and New-Multi Media Program in Prague. Dr. Soliday served as UM’s School of Communication director of graduate studies for seven years developing and supervising the school’s M.A., M.F.A. and Ph.D. programs in motion pictures, journalism, public relations and communication studies. A longtime Carbonell panelist, he has been a member of several national companies including the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre. He is also a former member of Actor’s Equity. Six of the more than 70 professional productions he has directed have set box office records for the producing theatres.
Terrie Temkin
Dr. Terrie Temkin, a renowned board governance consultant, is a principal of the international firm CoreStrategies for Nonprofits, Inc. For 20 years she has focused extensively on strengthening the arts and culture community. An avid theater, dance and jazz fan, she is often seen in the audience not only locally, but in any community in which she is working. Moreover, she has dedicated her volunteer time to furthering the arts. Recently, she participated in the development of the cultural plan CreativeBroward 2020. She was recognized by ArtServe as the 1999 Business Volunteer for the Arts. And, upon first moving to Southeast Florida, she was very involved in Arts and Business Council – Miami. Known to many for the “On Nonprofits“ column she has written for over a decade, Terrie has also written four books, has chapters in four others and is currently editing an anthology on governance. Her articles are found in publications the world over. In addition, Terrie teaches nonprofit governance at Florida Atlantic University.
R. Kent Wilson
Kent Wilson holds a B.A. in Psychology/Forensic Psychology from Southern New Hampshire University and has worked in corporate America as a project manager and division manager in the software industry yet he has a varied theatrical background that includes many aspects of performance, stage production, administration, support, and critical review. His experience includes positions as assistant director, stage manager, sound designer/technician, dramaturg, script doctor and actor in dramas, comedies, musicals, comedy improvisation, and Shakespeare. He served as president of the Southeastern Arts, Media, and Education (SAME) Project. SAME produced over 70 plays, original film, and video works, including ‘Promise of Life’, a documentary on people living with AIDS, and the organization published Amethyst, a semi-annual journal of creative writing and visual arts. Kent also served as a free-lance theater reviewer providing articles that were published in Atlanta weekly newspapers and magazines. He has served as a board member for The Public Theatre of South Florida, a Theater Ambassador for the National New Play Network, and continues to utilize his skill sets in service to an assortment of local production companies.
Michael Yawney
Bio coming soon . . .
2012 JUDGING PANEL:
Iris Acker
A working actress in theater & films & television, Iris Acker has produced, hosted and promoted theater on her T.V. show On Stage with Iris Acker for 21 years, currently on BECON T.V. in Miami Broward & Palm Beach County. Acker was the first Actors Equity Liaison for Florida and initiated The Equity Casting Hotline, which is now an Equity National feature. She also brought the half-price theater ticket concept to South Florida, originally titled “Ticket Madness.” Acker directed the Carbonell Award show for several years and has been nominated for Carbonells as well. She currently serves on the board of directors of The Florida International Press Club.
Mary Damiano
Mary Damiano is currently editor of the biweekly e-zine MiamiArtZine.com, published by the Miami Beach Arts Trust. She is also the theatre critic for the Miami SunPost and freelance writer/theatre critic for the Sun-Sentinel. A former associate editor of She magazine, Damiano has also written for the The Express and The Independent and served as a radio entertainment commentator.
Cheryl Dunn Bychek
An accomplished actress involved with the development of the Theatre Club of the Palm Beaches, which led to the current Florida Stage, Cheryl Dunn Bychek also became involved in theatrical public relations and marketing until shifting to a real-life family role. She has remained involved in regional arts activities, particularly as a member of the Carbonell Awards voting panels for many years.
Christine Dolen
The Miami Herald theater critic since 1979, Christine Dolen was a member of the Pulitzer Prize drama jury in 1997, a Journalism Fellow at Stanford University in 1984-85, a Senior Fellow in the National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University in 1999, and the recipient of the George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts in 2001. She previously covered arts and entertainment for the Columbus Dispatch (Ohio) and the Detroit Free Press. She is the daughter of Carbonell and Abbott Award-winning performer, the late Bill Hindman.
Hap Erstein
Hap Erstein was the Pulitzer Prize-nominated theater critic for the Washington Times and a member of the voting panel of the Helen Hayes Awards and most recently served as theater and film critic for the Palm Beach Post. He has been a long time member of the Carbonell Awards panel, and drama critics circle chairman and officer in the former South Florida Critics Circle. He currently writes about the arts for the Stuart News, blogs and reviews theater and film for the Palm Beach ArtsPaper (www.pbartspaper.com) and talks on films on WJNO radio, 1290-AM.
Tony Finstrom
Tony Finstrom has worked in journalism in New York at “After Dark Magazine” and at “The Soho Weekly News.” He studied playwrighting at New York’s Circle Repertory Company, at Primary Stages, and at Long Island’s Bay Street Theatre. He has worked at Circle Rep, Bay Street Theatre, Reckless Theatre Company (NYC), Playwrights’ Theatre of East Hampton (Long Island), the Oddfellows Playhouse (of the Hamptons) and, in Florida, at Brian C. Smith’s Off Broadway Theatre and The Public Theatre of South Florida, serving as Box Office, House and Company Manager, and in various other capaticites. He is an award winning playwright who founded his own theater company in Fort Lauderdale, “Footlights Inc,” and is the chairman and co-founder of South Florida’s Silver Palm Theatre Awards. The Theatre League of South Florida awarded him their 2006 Remy Award for outstanding service to the local theatre community, and a 2008 Silver Palm Award for his outstanding contribution to the 2008 South Florida Theatre Festival. The Mosaic Theatre named him a recipient of the Jack Zink Spirit Award for 2011, having “demonstrated excellence in the areas of leadership, creativity, commitment and passion for the arts.” He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the South Florida International Press Club, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
Bill Hirschman
Bill Hirschman is founder, editor, and chief critic of Florida Theater On Stage, a professional website of news and reviews. He was the founding critic of the former South Florida Theater Review which led to his work earning the best criticism award from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sunshine State Awards. He has been a critic for the Sun Sentinel since 1998. His work has also appeared in the Miami Herald, American Theatre, Variety, The Sondheim Review, and, later this season, the Best Plays Yearbook. He is also a member of the executive committee of the American Theatre Critics Association and chairman of its New Plays Committee, responsible for selecting recipients of the ATCA/Steinberg and Osborn new play awards, with cash prizes totaling $25,000.
Ron Levitt
Editor/theatre critic of Florida Media News and theater critic for ENV Magazine, Ron Levitt is also a contributor to the Huffington Post and various national and syndicated state media. He is president of the South Florida International Press Club; past secretary of the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and is a free lance writer and theater critic/columnist for a number of publications. Levitt served as Florida Assistant Secretary of State, overseeing Florida/s art and cultural affairs. A former United Press Staff Correspondent, he also founded Levitt Public Relations Group, which was one of the largest p. r. firms in Florida. He has served as president of the Dade Cultural Alliance, vice chairman of the Miami-Dade Cultural Affairs Council, Florida and Southeastern Chairman of the Public Relations Society of America and as president of both the French-American and European-American chambers of commerce. He also was vice president and is current adviser to the Theatre league of South Florida and is on the advisory board of WLRN Public Radio /Television, on the Executive Committee of the University of Miami Citizens Board, and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association. A Carbonell judge for the past seven years, Levitt also has taught creative writing at the University of Miami. He is a decorated former U.S.Naval Journalist, and was editor of the Marianas Eagle, a weekly newspaper named the best service publication by the Department of Defense.
Michael Peyton
Michael Peyton is the Senior Corporate Marketing Representative for WLRN Public Radio & Television. He plays a major role in the regional marketing of the theater community. In association with the Theatre League of South Florida, he developed and administers (with WLRN) www.culturalconnection.org, the same day half price ticket program. Peyton also founded the South Florida Theatre Festival. An avid arts patron and philanthropist, he sits on the advisory boards of The Arts and Business Council of Miami and Arts Park, City of Hollywood and is a board member of PRADO, Public Radio Association of Development Officers.
John Thomason
John Thomason is the entertainment editor and chief critic and reporter with Forum Publishing weekly newspapers, a subsidiary of the Sun-Sentinel. A regular contributor to City Link Metro Mix and the Detroit Metro Times, Thomason has also written extensively for the Orlando Weekly.
Betsy Weisman
A Carbonell Awards panelist for several years, Betsy Weisman is accounting manager of the Broward Performing Arts Foundation, Inc. and has extensive experience at the Broward Center in the marketing, public relations and other administrative operations.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES:
Scott Shiller, President
Executive Vice President, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts; Miami
Jan Goodheart, Vice President
Vice President of External Affairs, Broward Center for the Performing Arts; Ft. Lauderdale
Donald R. Walters, Esq., Secretary & Treasurer
Johnson & Walters P.A.; Coral Springs
Jerome J. Cohen
Attorney, Business Entrepreneur, Civic and Arts Activist, Philanthropist; Miami
Eric B. Fliss
Managing Director, South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center; Miami
Ricardo J. Gonzalez III
Director, Beaux Arts Gallery, Manuel Carbonell & Family; Miami
Jody Leshinsky
Community Development Director, Broward Cultural Division; Ft. Lauderdale
Jan Rodusky
Director of Grants, Palm Beach County Cultural Council; Palm Beach