THE JUDGING PANEL 2024-2025 SEASON
Broward County
Jerry Abella (Wilton Manors) has been active in theater his entire life, from his early years through college in the Philippines, to his later years working in Washington, D.C. and South Florida. He has been an actor, director, playwright, and arts journalist, and has served as a volunteer at both the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and Island City Stage in Wilton Manors.
Noah Cuellar (Fort Lauderdale) received his theater training in Illinois where he was a former member of the Chicago Latino Theatre Company. Both an actor and director, he has worked at such venues as the Court Theatre, Drury Lane Dinner Theatre, Opera Factory, Remains Theatre, and Stage 11; film/TV credits include Chicago, Losing Isiah, and Above the Law.
Mary Damiano (Oakland Park) is the managing editor of the Biscayne Times, theater reviewer for The Palm Beach Daily News, and writer for The New Pelican newspaper. She is an award-winning writer, editor, and theater critic who has covered the South Florida arts scene since 2000. She has had more than 3,000 articles published in dozens of publications, including the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, New Times, South Florida Gay News, She Magazine, The Palm Beach Post, BroadwayWorld.com, and MiamiARTzine.com, of which she is the founding editor and shepherded the online arts magazine through its first 100 issues. She served as panel coordinator for the Carbonell Awards from 2008 until 2014 and was managing director of the organization from 2014 until 2020. She is currently the vice president of the Art and Culture Board for the City of Oakland Park.
Mark Demeter (Davie) is a Producer/Director for BECON-TV and volunteers for ACT of Davie as a lighting designer. He has directed and produced the popular local TV shows On Stage with Iris Acker and Spotlight on the Arts, both focused on the South Florida theatre scene. Mark has also worked as a producer and editor for a number of online comedy shows with Comedy Flo (comedyflo.net), and is a digital artist.
Donna Horkey (Davie) has been a theater lover since childhood and has performed many roles from actor, props master, and make-up artist to stage manager and director, including a two month stint traveling the south in a summer stock production of Godspell. She and her husband are avid theater goers and supporters. Since 1988, she has had her own management consulting practice specializing in sexual harassment and employment discrimination investigations, training, and expert witness work nationwide.
Mike Jeknavorian (Tamarac) has written for Aetna Insurance, Creative Loafing, FloridaArmenians.com, Hot Spots Magazine, OutClique Magazine, Sarasota Magazine, Tampa Bay Scene Magazine, The Oracle, The University of South Florida, The Woodlands Country Club, and UWire. Acting theater credits include Alice’s Fourth-NYC (Strutters, a Gospel Musical), Alley Theatre (Jekyll and Hyde), Busch Gardens (various productions), CGMC Productions (Out! The Musical; Harvey and Friends, with Harvey Fierstein), Connecticut Cabaret (Barnum; Carousel), and Thomaston Opera House (My Fair Lady). Other theater credits include Busch Gardens (assistant stage manager), Hartford Stage Company (wardrobe assistant), Roundabout Theater Company (dresser), and Stage Works (costume designer).
Jerry K. Jensen (Hallandale) has served on the Board of the South Florida Theatre League and is the former Executive Director of the Wichita Center for the Arts. He has extensive experience both on-stage and backstage as a director, production stage manager, producer, and tech designer.
Larry Jurrist (Hollywood) was a teacher in Dade County Public Schools for 36 years and was International Baccalaureate Coordinator at North Miami Senior High School for 11 years. He is a linguist and speaks Spanish, Hebrew, and French in addition to English. He has performed in numerous South Florida theatrical venues over the past 35 years and also serves as a screener for the South Florida LGBT Film Festival.
Jeff Kiltie (Wilton Manors) is the General Manager of Aventura Arts & Cultural Center. A stage manager, producer and member of Actors’ Equity Association, he has more than 30 years of experience in all aspects of the performing arts industry and previously served as President of the Carbonell Awards Board of Directors.
Jill Kratish (Fort Lauderdale) is the Director of Programming for the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and has extensive experience in the areas of Production and Programming. Her focus at BCPA is on programming a season of Broadway and Off-Broadway performances, concerts, comedy, family and educational performances, as well as special events for the Broward Center and its affiliate venues. A native of South Florida, Kratish served eight years as President of the Florida Professional Presenters Consortium, is a Broadway League member and a Tony Voter. Jill is a proud recipient of a Silver Palm Award for Outstanding Contribution to South Florida Theater. She holds a B.A. in theater from the University of Florida.
Jody Leshinsky (Lauderhill) is a longtime former officer (President, Secretary) and board member of the Carbonell Awards. Currently she is Life Enrichment Manager at John Knox Village of Florida and was formerly cultural venues programming manager for the Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs Department. She has nearly 40 years of arts administration experience in South Florida, including three decades at the Broward Cultural Division.
Marcy Ruderhausen (Hollywood)) is a classically trained actor who spent over 15 years working in the South Florida theatre community as well as in film, voice overs and commercial work. She has spent the last 25 years working as a media spokesperson, and an established brand strategist, promoting the whisky industry. She is, in fact, a Master of Whisky and Keeper of the Quaich.
Lynne Schaefer (Tamarac) has many years of experience working as Production Manager/Assistant Stage Manager for numerous shows at Zoetic Stage (I Am My Own Wife, Moscow, The Santaland Diaries, Frankenstein), and prior to that worked fulltime on various Broadway productions (Working, Da, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), and in video production/script development for Sony/BMI for Billy Joel, Kiss, The Gypsy Kings, and Fresh Prince. She has also worked in the international nonprofit sector developing and supporting cultural and educational programs.
Greg Schuh (Tamarac) is an actor, director, teacher, dance and choreographer who has worked from California to New York, including directing shows for Playwrights Center of San Francisco, California Conservatory Theatre and the Palo Alto Players. He holds an MFA Degree in Acting from the University of Connecticut and attended the Lincoln Center Theatre’s Directors Lab-West.
David Simson (Pompano Beach) is a veteran director with a passion for theater. He has directed multiple musicals (Chicago, Pippin, West Side Story), plus plays like Endgame, The Shadow Box, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at Lake Worth Playhouse’s black box theater, A Class Act at the Mizner Cultural Arts Center, and the sold-out Casa Valentina at Empire Stage. Most recently, he directed two productions at Empire Stage: The Dead Boy and The Temperamentals.
Gilda Steiger (Hallandale Beach) is a communication and marketing professional with over 20 years of experience in multi-media marketing for hospitality and hotel clients. A life-long lover of theater, she has served as executive assistant to author and playwright Norman Shabel since 2021, responsible for producing his six plays, including A Class Act and Marty’s Back in Town, and publishing eight mystery novels.
Ali Tallman (Pembroke Pines) is a director, movement coach/director, dramaturg, and playwright. She is currently the Resident Dramaturg at GableStage. She serves on the review board of Florida Intimacy Professionals and the board of Swing Out, South Florida, where she is also a dance instructor. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia (BA in Theatre). She was a member of the Association of Mental Health Coordinators’ 2022 Artistic Mental Health Practitioner Training cohort. In addition to the roles already listed, Tallman has extensive experience as an actor, producer, movement artist, designer, and as Founding Artistic Director of &Sons Theatre (Santa Fe, NM).
Savannah Whaley (Lauderhill) began her career in New York City where she worked for Broadway and off-Broadway producers, Second Stage Theater, INTAR Hispanic American Arts Center, Theatre Row and the Big Apple Circus. In her more than three decades as an arts publicist in South Florida prior to her recent retirement, she managed public relations for The Broward Center for the Performing Arts and its affiliate venues, regional companies and independent producers. In the late 1990s, she wrote the theater column for Miami New Times/New Times Broward Palm Beach. She was a founding board member of the South Florida Theatre League and her previous experience with the Carbonell Awards includes serving as a voter, board member and managing director.
Miami-Dade County
Al Alschuler (Miami) served sequentially on the Boards of Directors of the Players Repertory Company and its successors (Players State Theatre and Coconut Grove Playhouse) as well as the New Theatre, City Theatre and short-lived Skyline Theatre. A free-lance journalist specializing in the arts, travel, interior design, and architecture, he was also an editor and elected president of both the Interior Design Guild and the South Florida International Press Club.
Nancy Doyle Cohen (Miami) currently serves as the Arts, Culture & Education Director at the David Posnack Jewish Community Center in Davie, Florida. Previously, she was the Assistant Director of Museum Operations at the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, where she managed daily operations, including programming, marketing, and membership. Before that, she was the Director of Group Sales for Broadway Across America at its Fort Lauderdale headquarters. She is an avid theatergoer and dedicated arts patron.
Nancy Duerr (Miami) is an actor, spokesperson, TV host, and voice over artist who works TV, film, commercial, and theatre contracts across the country. She has served on National and Local Boards of SAG and SAG-AFTRA for the last 25 years and was a member of the G1 team that merged the two unions.
Isadora Zia Hernandez (Miami Beach) is employed by the New World School of the Arts – Theatre Division, where she coordinates meeting and travel, maintains the division calendar, and assists visiting guest artists.
Wendy Bryan Michaels (Miami) Actress, writer, playwright with 25+ years of experience, won the Carbonell Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1996 for Bluefish Cove and was nominated for Best Actress in 2006 for Rabbit Hole at Mosaic Theatre. She appeared in the films I Love You Phillip Morris with Jim Carrey, Bachelor Party 2 with Harland Williams, and Sex Drive featuring James Marsden; and co-created and starred in the comedy series My Sister Is So Gay, alongside Loni Anderson, Debra Wilson, and Rae Dawn Chong.
Marjorie O’Neill-Butler (Miami Beach) is the Regional Rep for the Dramatists Guild, Florida Region. Her plays have been seen in 37 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Great Britain, Scotland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, India, and South Korea. A published playwright, she has had 71 different plays produced in multiple theatres. Also, an actor, Marj is a proud member of Actors’ Equity and SAG-AFTRA.
Ileana Oroza (Miami Beach), who, after a career as a lecturer at the University of Miami’s School of Communications and at The Miami Herald, where she served as both Arts Editor and Assistant Managing Editor, is now an independent editor with a special focus on cultural issues.
Jorge Perez (Miami) graduated from Journalism at the University of Havana in 1992. For a decade, he worked as a journalist and press photographer, theater columnist and editor in various publications on the island. In 2001 he went into exile in Barcelona, until 2012 when he settled in Miami, where he currently resides. He was editor of CubaNet News and worked for eight years as a correspondent for the EFE agency in Miami. He currently writes his personal blog Sin reservas, querido Bob, where he publishes reviews of theater, music and travel reports. He is the author of the memoir Historias de depiladoras y batidoras americanas (Neo Club Press Ediciones, 2014) and has another book of chronicles from Barcelona, Pasajeros en transito.
Daniel Poveda (Miami) is a marketing coordinator at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, where he supports marketing for Broadway, jazz, family programming, Latin initiatives, and community engagement. Having grown up in South Florida, he brings a strong understanding of the region’s performing arts ecosystem through prior experience with the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and Slow Burn Theatre Company, contributing across education, programming, and audience engagement. Poveda also serves as a digital arts and lifestyle creator focused on South Florida theater, culture, and Latino audiences, and manages social media for the Carbonell Awards, helping amplify the region’s theater community. He holds an MBA and a Bachelor’s degree from Nova Southeastern University.
John Soliday (Miami) is a Carbonell Award nominated “Best Director.” Six of the 75-plus color-blind-cast productions he directed set box office records, including at Miami’s Coconut Grove Playhouse. He directed Broward Center’s first Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Tempest. Dr. Soliday is a University of Miami Associate Professor of Cinema and Theater Arts. He directs UM’s 32-year-old summer program at the Czech National Film School in Prague, Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Dresden, and Salzburg. His alumni work from Broadway to Hollywood, Chicago to Miami, across Asia, Russia, Europe, and the Americas. He is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, past member of Actors Equity; recipient of The Tyrone Guthrie Award, The English-Speaking Union International Award, various acting, directing, speaking, and teaching awards, and the National Communication Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Artistic Scholarship and International Leadership.
Michelle F. Solomon, M.A. (Miami) is editor in chief and theater critic/writer for Artburstmiami.com, a program of the Miami Dade County Cultural Affairs department, and the editor-in-chief and arts-theater writer/critic for miamiartzine.com, a program of the Miami Beach Arts Trust. She began her career as an arts writer and theater critic immediately after her graduation from Emerson College in Boston, where she received her bachelor’s degree in theater performance and mass communication, and later earned a master’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany. She was the first Executive Arts Editor at the Albany Times Union and Assistant Features Editor/Arts Editor at the Detroit Free Press. She worked as an on-air entertainment reporter at the NBC affiliate in Detroit and as Digital Executive Producer at the ABC affiliate in Miami. She is currently assistant professor in the department of communication, media and arts at Nova Southeastern University.
Pauline Winick (Miami Beach) is a leader in the local arts community after serving as Chairman of the Cultural Councils of Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami Beach. She studies the Meisner method, performed in college, and continues to study plays and the technical requirements of stagecraft.
Palm Beach County
Dr. Lhisa Almashy (Lake Worth) is an award-winning educator who spent the last 28 years working with the School District of Palm Beach County, most recently directing the strategic initiative on equity, access and cultural competency. She earned her B.A. in Theatre and History and a Master of Arts degree from the University of San Francisco, and a doctorate in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Almashy founded film and theatre organizations in California and Michigan, worked with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and has even judged high school thespian competitions. A distinguished keynote speaker and panel moderator, she has also facilitated cultural competency and diversity workshops.
Deborah Bigeleisen (West Boca) is an internationally acclaimed artist who in her early career was a textile print designer and founder of her own global design company in NYC. She also served as a voter/judge for the Emmy Awards in several design categories. She began her fine art career upon moving to WPB in 1998. Over the course of her 25-year art career she has had 21 solo shows and has been juried into over 65 group exhibitions. Her paintings are sold through fine art dealers, International Contemporary Art Fairs including Art Hamptons, The Palm Beach Show, and the Shanghai Art Fair, and upscale digital art platforms. They have been widely published in international lifestyle and art magazines including Architectural Digest and Fine Art Collector and have been prominently exhibited in museum exhibitions including The Boca Raton Museum of Art, The Platt/Bornstein Galleries at American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY.
Barbara Bradshaw (Delray Beach), a 17-time Carbonell Award nominee and four-time winner, has been a professional actress for more than 50 years. She also is the recipient of the Carbonell’s Bill Hindman Award (2020), FPTA Lifetime Achievement Award (2019), and Best Actress Award winner for Los Angeles Dramalogue and the Silver Palm Awards.
Cheryl Dunn Bychek (Royal Palm Beach) served as PR/Marketing Director for the BoarsHead Theatre in Lansing, Michigan before filling the same role for the Theatre Club of the Palm Beaches, later promoting road shows at the Duncan Theatre in Lake Worth. She has been with the Carbonells since she was first recruited by Jack Zink in 1994.
Barbara Cheives (West Palm Beach) is President/CEO of Converge & Associates Consulting. Her community engagement clients include the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County (she recently joined their Board) and the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, where she offers training and consulting in workplace communication and race relations, and guides the theatre’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Barbara’s consulting expertise includes law enforcement and public safety, not-for-profit organizations, media, education, and corporations. She served as the first Executive Director of Toward a More Perfect Union in Palm Beach County, a non-profit initiative addressing the critical impact of race and ethnicity in a diverse community, is Past President of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, has been featured in The Palm Beacher as one of “25 Impact Players Defining Palm Beach County,” and is the new chair of the Board of Trustees of St. Mary’s Medical Center.
Elizabeth Dashiell (Jupiter) is both Carbonell Coordinator and a judge, as were her predecessors Kent Chambers-Wilson and Mary Damiano. A longtime theater insider, former professional actor and technician, Dashiell has been Co-Producer of the Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival since 2013 after serving 10 years as the annual event’s PR/Marketing Director. For the last decade, she has also produced the annual indie film festival swede fest palm beach™, managed multiple PR and promotional projects for the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts and Howard Alan Events, and currently serves as Vice President of the Palm Beach County Attractions Committee, and as an adjudicator for The Pathfinder Awards/Theater.
Jason Fisher (West Palm Beach), a former Carbonell panelist (7 years) who has 20 years of theater experience, including as an actor, stage manager, and arts journalist.
Sharon Geltner (Boynton Beach) is an award-winning writer and multimedia communication specialist who covers travel, hospitality, arts and entertainment, Palm Beach society, and more. The author of Charity Bashed, a mystery satire that was a semifinalist in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel contest, and the upcoming historical novel Red, White & Blue Blood, she is a contributing writer/reviewer for both the Broward Arts Journalism Alliance and Palm Beach Arts Paper. The Society of Professional Journalists recently honored Geltner at the Sunshine State Awards for Arts & Culture Commentary & Criticism.
Tom Hantzarides (Delray Beach) is a talk show host and producer, writer, journalist, and founder of GET OUT South Florida LGBTQ+ Media. His radio show and podcasts were heard from Port St. Lucie to Key West, and he is an experienced theater interviewer and reviewer.
Allen H. Jones (West Palm Beach) is a retired Production Designer who has worked on hundreds of TV commercials, films, and plays, and was former Resident Set Designer for The Great American Children’s Theatre, a nationally recognized company associated with the Nederlander Organization.
Mark Keller (Boynton Beach)Mark Keller (Boynton Beach) Producer-Presenter for Broadway/West End-In development: Death Note, Your Lie In April, Damn Yankees, Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil, and 161st Street: A New York Musical. His Broadway investments include War Horse and A Christmas Story The Musical. Keller’s Off-Broadway stage management credits are Company, On A Clear Day, Oh Me Oh My Oh Youmans, Knitters In The Sun, and Count Dracula. He has presented in concert: Lucie Arnaz, Elaine Paige, Chita Rivera, Sutton Foster, Faith Prince, Lorna Luft, Donna McKechnie, Billy Porter, Andre deShields, Linda Eder, Betty Buckley, Jeremy Jordan, Andrea McArdle, Avery Sommers, among others. He is a member of the Actors Equity Association, Society Of Arts & Letters, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and the South Florida Theatre League. He teaches theatre arts to special needs adults at the Broward Center in association with the Exceptional Theatre Company. and is on the Board Of Directors of the Florida Children’s Theatre, now in its 73rd season. He holds a BFA degree in directing from Wayne State University.
Dale King (Greenacres) is an award-winning newspaper reporter and critic in both Rhode Island and Florida. He currently writes for such publications as Palm Beach Arts Paper and South Florida Theatre Magazine.
Christine LeShay (Riviera Beach) began her career in 1993 as stage manager and sound technician for the Quest Theatre & Institute in West Palm Beach, later making her acting debut under the artistic direction of Bhetty Waldron. She is a playwright and owner/artistic director of A.C.T.S. of Life Productions.
Teri Mitze (Boynton Beach) began her producing career at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She was founder and Producer of The Great American Children’s Theatre Company, an Actors’ Equity theatre associated with the Nederlander Organization. Mitze has produced more than 300 national television commercials, was Chief of Staff for the CEO of RKO Pictures and consulted and produced theatre in NYC.
Deborah Nix (Delray Beach) is a retired high school and middle school counselor who encouraged students to enjoy and pursue the arts, as well as an 8-year judge for the “Read Together” program of the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition. As a student at Fisk University in Nashville she performed in plays at the Little Theatre on campus. A lifelong theater student and enthusiast, she has enjoyed theatre productions at the Karamu Theatre in Cleveland, the Red Barn Theater in Woodstock, NY, and the Alliance/AUC Players in Atlanta.
Linda Shorrock (Boynton Beach) Is a South Florida Resident who works both professionally and in higher education in costuming for theatres throughout the US. She is the current costumer for Palm Beach State College, and professionally works as a designer, wardrobe coordinator, and costume technician. Some of her recent shows include Zorba and A Little Night Music at Palm Beach Dramaworks, The Fantasticks and Shout at the Winter Park Playhouse, The Devil’s Music at Arts’ Garage, Company for MNM Productions, and Groundhog Day for Slow Burn Theatre Company. Other recent favorite productions include the critically acclaimed Priscilla, Queen of the Desert for Slow Burn Theatre Company, and the Magellan Gold Award winning show Elyria for Celebrity Cruise Lines. **
Jan Sjostrom (Boca Raton) spent 28 years as cultural editor and theater reviewer for The Palm Beach Daily News before retiring in 2021. She currently is a critic for the online magazine South Florida Theater on Stage, and also is an adjudicator for the Kravis Center’s Dream Awards for high school musicals.
Cheryl Steinthal (Boynton Beach) is Artistic Director / Choreographer for The New Florida Follies; a lifelong dancer, she is a former Rockette at Radio City Music Hall, danced in the Ziegfeld Girls Gala featuring Liza Minnelli, was dance coach to Ann Miller’s understudy in Anything Goes at the Papermill Playhouse, and choreographed shows at the Delray Beach Playhouse and numerous high schools and residential communities in NY, NJ and Florida.
Judges Breakdown by County
Broward County: 16 Judges
Miami/Dade County: 12 Judges
Palm Beach County: 19 Judges
