(Boca Raton, FL – October 7, 2025) The 48^th annual Carbonell Awards, South Florida’s Theater & Arts Honors, will be hosting a glittery ceremony at FAU’s University Theatre in Boca Raton on Monday, November 17, at 7:30 pm. This will be the first Carbonell Awards Ceremony to be held in Palm Beach County since 1997.

Among the specific Palm Beach County connections to the upcoming awards ceremony:

·        It is being produced by Andrew Kato, the longtime Producing Artistic Director/CEO at the Maltz Jupiter Theater, who served as Creative Consultant & Coordinating Producer on Broadway’s Tony Awards® for 13 years.

·        It will present eight Special Awards, including the prestigious George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts to William Hayes & Sue Ellen Beryl, co-founders of Palm Beach Dramaworks, which recently celebrated its 25^th anniversary of producing Theatre to Think About.

·        It will present the first Jan McArt Award. Named after the “First Lady of South Florida Theater” who helmed several local theaters including the popular Royal Palm Dinner Theatre in Mizner Park, this new Special Award recognizes significant achievement by a small theatre.

·        It will present the Bill Hindman Award to actor/educator Beverly Blanchette, the longtime Dean of Theatre at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, and one of three Jack Zink Memorial Scholarships will be given to recent Dreyfoos graduate Alexa Isabel Lasanta.

At this year’s ceremony, awards will be presented in 20 competitive categories for the 2024-2025 theater season. Collectively, 129 nominations are distributed among 36 professional productions at 19 different theaters in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties.

Among the Palm Beach County theaters, Maltz Jupiter Theatre earned 24 nominations, including two for Outstanding Production, Play (The Lehman Trilogy and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and one for Outstanding Production, Musical (Once). Theatre Lab at FAU in Boca Raton garnered seven nominations, including two for Outstanding New Work (The Impossible Task of Today by Jeff Bower and The Last Yiddish Speaker by Deborah Zoe Laufer). Palm Beach Dramaworks is a finalist in three categories, including Outstanding New Work (Dangerous Instruments by Gina Montet), and The Wick Theatre picked up two nominations.

Hundreds of actors, musicians, performers, writers, directors, back-stage technicians, producers, reviewers, designers, specialty artists, and diehard theater fans are expected to attend South Florida’s version of Broadway’s Tony Awards®. Tickets for the ceremony and after party are only $45 and will go on public sale on October 16 at FAUevents.com, or by contacting the FAU Box Office at 561-297-6124.

Palm Beach County sponsors of the 48^th annual Carbonell Awards include the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County; Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival presented by MorseLife Health System; Florida Power & Light; Kravis Center for the Performing Arts; Legends Radio; Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel, PLLC; Mark Traverso & Conor Walton; and The Wick Theatre & Costume Museum.

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 nearly half a century, the Carbonell family has donated more than $250,000 in awards. For more information, please visit www.carbonellawards.org.

Attached Images:

1.   Vaishnavi Sharma and Iain Batchelor, both nominated for Carbonell Awards for their performances in The Impossible Task of Today at FAU’s Theatre Lab in Boca Raton. The play by Jeff Bower is a finalist for Outstanding New Work.

2.   William Hayes & Sue Ellen Beryl, co-founders of Palm Beach Dramaworks, are receiving the prestigious George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts.

(Photo Credit: Curtis Brown Photography)

3.   Beverly Blanchette, recipient of this year’s Bill Hindman Award.

(Photo Credit: Tom Schmucki)

Media Contact:

Gary Schweikhart

Carbonell Board President

561.756.4298 / [email protected]