Carbonell Awards Reveal Four New Judges For 2024-2025 Theatre Season

The Carbonell Awards have announced four new judges. They will bring the total number of Carbonell judges to 46, including 18 in Broward County, 11 in Miami-Dade, and 17 in Palm Beach County. Collectively, they will see and evaluate nearly 100 different productions at more than 30 professional theaters. The current theater season runs between September 1, 2024, and August 31, 2025.

The four new Carbonell judges are:

Charles Baran (Palm Aire) is an actor, singer, comedian, published author and Senior Writer and Brand Ambassador for South Florida's OutClique Magazine. His debut mystery novel set in Wilton Manor and titled Rhoda Rage and the Goldfish Letter was recently released. As an actor he has appeared in such New York productions as Aunt Jack at Theatre for the New City, and The Cradle Will Rock at Theatre 80 St. Marks in the East Village, plus in Peter and the Starcatcher at Winnipesaukee Playhouse in New Hampshire, The Fantasticks at Pennsylvania's Allenberry Playhouse,  and in Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella at the Wick Theater in Boca Raton. In 2023 he played writer Truman Capote in Jay Allen Pressman's Tru at Empire Stage in Fort Lauderdale. His comedic music videos Home and Pelican have garnered thousands of views on YouTube, and he's the winner of the 2015 NYC MAC Cabaret Award for Best Male Debut for his one man show Recipes for Disaster!

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.

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.

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.

They will join the current team of distinguished Carbonell judges:

From Broward County:

Jerry Abella (Wilton Manors) has been an actor, playwright, and arts journalist, and has served as a volunteer at both the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and Island City Stage.

Noah Cuellar (Fort Lauderdale) 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 theater scene. 

Donna Horkey (Davie) 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.

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) is Treasurer of the Board of the South Florida Theatre League, and 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 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.

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.

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).

From Miami-Dade County:

Al Alschuler (Miami) served sequentially on the Boards of Directors of the Players Repertory Company and of its successors (Players State Theatre and Coconut Grove Playhouse )as well as the New Theatre, City Theatre and short-lived Skyline Theatre Company. A 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.

Christine Dolen, Judge Emeritus (Davie) was theater critic for the Miami Herald 1979-2015 and continued to cover culture from 2016-2024 for ArtburstMiami.com. Her stories and reviews also have appeared in the SunSentinel, New Times, Inspicio, and other publications. In 2011, she was named one of a dozen of the country's most influential theater critics by American Theatre Magazine. Dolen is a recipient of a Silver Palm Award, the South Florida Theatre League's Remy Award, and the Carbonell's prestigious George Abbott Award in both 2001 and 2023.

Nancy Duerr (Miami) is an actor, spokesperson, TV host, and voice over artist who works TV, film, commercial, and theater 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 a student at the New World School of the Arts in the Visual Arts division for Art & Technology. She formerly worked for the Theater Division, where she coordinated meetings and travel and assisted visiting guest artists.

Marjorie O'Neill-Butler (Miami Beach) has previously served as a Carbonell judge for six years and twice co-directed the annual awards ceremony. In addition, she has worked as a playwright and theater critic, and is currently a member of the Dramatists Guild, AEA and SAG-AFTRA. 

Ileana Oroza (Miami Beach), who, after a career as a lecturer at the University of Miami's School of Communication 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.

Ellen Rusconi (Miami) has spent more than 20 years working both on Broadway and Off-Broadway for both nonprofit and commercial theaters. In addition, she is the former Producing Director of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Foundation. 

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.

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.

From 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 Theater 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 theater 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. 

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.

Elizabeth Dashiell (Jupiter) is both Carbonell Coordinator and a judge, as were her predecessors Kent Chambers-Wilson and Mary Damiano. A longtime theater insider, 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, continues to be a board member of the Palm Beach County Attractions Committee, and is an adjudicator for The Pathfinder Awards/Theater.

Hap Erstein (West Palm Beach) was theater critic for The Palm Beach Post 1994-2008 and was previously theater critic for The Washington Times 1982-1994, where he won many awards and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism. For many years, he was a judge for the Helen Hayes Awards, and continues to review theater and writes related features for Palm Beach ArtsPaper, an online and print magazine. In 2022, he received the Carbonell's prestigious Charlie Cinnamon Award.

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 theater productions at the Karamu Theatre in Cleveland, the Red Barn Theater in Woodstock, NY, and the Alliance/AUC Players in Atlanta.

 Jeremy Quinn (Boynton Beach) returned to South Florida in 2016 after working in and around NYC for 22 years, including having served as Producing Artistic Director of the White Plains Performing Arts Center (2011-2016) where he produced and directed several NY regional premieres. He has acted in or directed over 300 theatrical productions including On and Off Broadway and three National Tours. Quinn is a member of the prestigious Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, was Director and Associate Director of the Broadway/Off-Broadway Theatre World Awards 2007-2016, Associate Producer for Broadway for a New America, Founder and Producing Artistic Director of the Island City Theatre Project, Founder and President of The NY Actors' Alliance, and former member of AEA and SAG.

Linda Shorrock (Boynton Beach) Is a South Florida resident who works both professionally and in higher education in costuming for theaters 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.

About The Carbonell Awards

The Carbonell Awards fosters the artistic growth of professional theater in South Florida by celebrating the excellence and diversity of our theater artists, providing scholarships, and building audience appreciation and civic pride by highlighting achievements of our theater community. More than 30 professional theater companies in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties participate in the awards process every year. The Carbonell Awards also celebrate the accomplishments of local artistic leaders by presenting various Special Awards.

Along with New York's Drama Desk and Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Awards, the Carbonell Awards are among the nation's oldest regional arts awards and predate others, including Washington, D.C.'s Helen Hayes Awards. The Carbonell Awards are named after the internationally renowned sculptor Manuel Carbonell, who designed the signature solid bronze and marble award given annually to Carbonell Award winners. Over the last 47 years, the Carbonell family has donated more than $250,000 in awards. For more information, please visit www.carbonellawards.org.

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