The Winners of the 38th Annual Carbonell Awards Are Announced

On Monday night, March 31, at the 38th annual Carbonell Awards, when the statuettes were all handed out, the musical numbers had concluded and the audience had left the Broward Center for the Performing Arts to attend the after-party, two things could not be denied: South Florida is home to a rich, vibrant theatrical community packed with talent; and it was a good night to be Island City Stage.

The company, which performs in a small venue in a warehouse district in the heart of Fort Lauderdale, accomplished quite a feat, winning the award in each of the six categories for which it was nominated. Island City Stage's production of Dan Clancy's play The Timekeepers, about two men who form an unlikely bond in a concentration camp, took home the Carbonell Award for Best Production of a Play; Best Director, Michael Leeds; Best Actor, Michael McKeever; Best Scenic Design, Michael McClain; Best Sound Design, David Hart; and Best Lighting Design, Preston Bircher.

In the other play categories, Zoetic Stage was a big winner. Fear Up Harsh was honored with two awards, Best New Work for Christopher Demos Brown and Best Actress, Play, for Karen Stephens. All New People was also honored with two awards; Todd Allen Durkin won for Best Supporting Actor, Play, and the production was also honored with the Best Ensemble award.

Palm Beach Dramaworks was honored for two of its productions. Brian O'Keefe won Best Costume Design for The Lion in Winter, while Angie Radosh took home the won Best Supporting Actress, Play, for her performance in Exit the King. This is Radosh's third consecutive Carbonell Award; in 2011 she won in this category for Stuff at Caldwell Theatre Company and last year she won Best Supporting Actress, Musical, for her role in Cabaret at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre.

In the musical categories, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre won awards for two of its productions: In the Heights took the award for Best Musical, Nick Duckart won Best Actor, Musical, and Emmanuel Schvartzman, who was nominated for two awards, won Best Musical Direction. The other Actors' Playhouse show honored was Ruthless!; Amy Miller Brennan won Best Actress, Musical, and Gabriel Zenone won Best Supporting Actor, Musical. Lourelene Snedeker won Best Supporting Actress, Musical, for The Sound of Music at The Wick.

In its first year of eligibility, Slow Burn Theatre Company was nominated for 10 Carbonell Awards, all for Next to Normal. The company's sole award went to Patrick Fitzwater for Best Director, Musical. The Maltz Jupiter Theatre, which made a clean sweep of every musical category last year, garnered one award, Denis Jones for Best Choreography for Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Miami-Dade County theaters won 9 awards; Broward County theaters won 6, while Palm Beach County theaters won 5 awards. (A full listing of the award winners follows.)

Along with honoring excellence in theater, a highlight of the annual Carbonell Awards ceremony is recognizing those who have made significant contributions to the arts.

The prestigious George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, awarded to an individual (or team) who has contributed significantly to the artistic and cultural development of the region, was presented to Patrick Dupre Quigley, founder and producing artistic director of Seraphic Fire. Quigley founded choral group Seraphic Fire in 2002 and in the past dozen years the group has become an international sensation, performing around the world and earning two Grammy Award nominations.

The Ruth Foreman Award, which recognizes significant contributions to South Florida theater development by an individual or group, was awarded to GableStage in Coral Gables, playwright and Miami native Tarell Alvin McCraney, Stratford-on-Avon's Royal Shakespeare Company, and New York's Public Theater for their collaboration on Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. McCraney, who is playwright in residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company, directed and penned this new adaptation, which is set in Haiti. The production was first mounted in London, then traveled to GableStage, where it drew paying audiences to Miami Beach's Colony Theatre and also was performed free of charge for thousands of Miami-Dade public schoolchildren before playing New York's Public Theater. The collaboration was a monumental undertaking, which brought renewed attention to the growing South Florida theatre scene and illustrates the high caliber of work that can be achieved by creating unique partnerships between international arts organizations.

Established in 2000, the Bill Hindman Award is named after pioneer South Florida actor Bill Hindman and recognizes significant, long-term contributions to the region's cultural life and onstage career achievement by performing artists based in South Florida. Don McArt was honored posthumously with the Bill Hindman Award. Jan McArt, dubbed the First Lady of Florida Theatre, accepted the award at the March 31 ceremony for her late brother.

The Carbonell Awards also awarded $1,000 scholarships to three South Florida students pursuing careers in theater or journalism: Eliana Meyerowitz (Palm Beach County) who attends Boca Raton Community High School; Taryn Noble (Broward County) who attends Western High School; and Gabrielle Perez (Miami Dade County) who attends of Coral Reef High School.

This year's ceremony was generously supported by leadership gifts from South Florida Cultural Consortium, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Additional supporters include Actors' Equity Association, Dr. Margaret and Mike Eidson, Rita and Jerry Cohen, Kerry and Scott Shiller, South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center, Mary Ellen and Michael Peyton, Tony Finstrom, Neil Goldberg Dream Foundation & Cirque Dreams, Broadway Across America, Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, and the South Florida Theatre League.

About the Carbonell Awards

The Carbonell Awards fosters the artistic growth of professional theater in South Florida by celebrating the diversity of our theater artists, providing educational scholarships, and building audience appreciation and civic pride by highlighting achievements of our theater community. Over 25 professional theater companies in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties participate in the awards process every year. Each season volunteer panelists and judges choose nominees and recipients from hundreds of shows produced on area stages. The Carbonell Awards also celebrate the accomplishments of our artistic leaders by presenting 'Special Awards' and support the next generation of artists and journalists by awarding scholarships. 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 Awards. The Carbonell Awards are named after Manuel Carbonell, an internationally-renowned sculptor, who in 1976 designed the original solid bronze and marble award, the signature trophy that is given to Carbonell Award winners.

Below is a complete list of this year's Carbonell Award winners, followed by a breakdown of the awards by county, theater and production.

Carbonell Award Winners, 2013

Best New Work/Play or Musical

Fear Up Harsh, Christopher Demos Brown, Zoetic Stage

Best Production of a Play

The Timekeepers, Island City Stage

Best Director/Play

Michael Leeds, The Timekeepers, Island City Stage

Best Actor/Play

Michael McKeever, The Timekeepers, Island City Stage

Best Actress/Play

Karen Stephens, Fear Up Harsh, Zoetic Stage

Best Supporting Actor/Play

Todd Allen Durkin, All New People, Zoetic Stage

Best Supporting Actress/Play

Angie Radosh, Exit the King, Palm Beach Dramaworks

Best Production of a Musical

In the Heights, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

Best Director/Musical

Patrick Fitzwater, Next to Normal, Slow Burn Theatre Company

Best Actor/Musical

Nick Duckart, In the Heights, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

Best Actress/Musical

Amy Miller Brennan, Ruthless!, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

Best Supporting Actor/Musical

Gabriel Zenone, Ruthless!, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

Best Supporting Actress/Musical

Lourelene Snedeker, The Sound of Music, The Wick

Best Musical Direction

Emmanuel Schvartzman, In the Heights, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

Best Choreography

Denis Jones, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Maltz Jupiter Theatre

Best Scenic Design/Play or Musical

Michael McClain, The Timekeepers, Island City Stage

Best Lighting Design/Play or Musical

Preston Bircher, The Timekeepers, Island City Stage

Best Costume Design/Play or Musical

Brian O'Keefe, The Lion in Winter, Palm Beach Dramaworks

Best Sound Design/Play or Musical

David Hart, The Timekeepers, Island City Stage

Best Ensemble Production/Play or Musical

All New People, Zoetic Stage

Awards by County

9 Miami-Dade

6 Broward

5 Palm Beach

Awards by Theater

6 Island City Stage

5 Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

4 Zoetic Stage

2 Palm Beach Dramaworks

1 Maltz Jupiter Theatre

1 Slow Burn Theatre Company

1 The Wick

Awards by Production

6 The Timekeepers, Island City Stage

3 In the Heights, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

2 All New People, Zoetic Stage

2 Fear Up Harsh, Zoetic Stage

2 Ruthless!, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

1 Exit the King, Palm Beach Dramaworks

1 The Lion in Winter, Palm Beach Dramaworks

1 Next to Normal, Slow Burn Theatre Company

1 The Sound of Music, The Wick

1 Thoroughly Modern Millie, Maltz Jupiter Theatre

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