Playbill News: Tenor, Tin Pan Alley, Wicked, Pillowman, Cradle of Man Are 2007 Carbonell Winners

Tenor, Tin Pan Alley, Wicked, Pillowman, Cradle of Man Are 2007 Carbonell Winners

By Kenneth Jones
April 9, 2007

Resident South Florida stagings of Melanie Marnich's Cradle of Man, the comedy Lend Me a Tenor, Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman and the musical The Tin Pan Alley Rag won 2007 Carbonell Awards April 9.

At a Fort Lauderdale ceremony celebrating excellence in the professional theatre community, Florida Stage's Cradle of Man won Best New Work, and the theatre itself, now in its 20th season devoted to contemporary plays, received first Bill Von Maurer Award for Theatrical Excellence.

GableStage's The Pillowman won as Best Production of a Play, Caldwell Theatre Company's Lend Me a Tenor was named Best Ensemble Production, and Maltz Jupiter Theatre's musical meeting of Scott Joplin and Irving Berlin, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, was named Best Production of a Musical. Seen regionally, the show has long yearned for a New York City life.

Jiri Zizka was named Best Director of a Musical for Tin Pan Alley Rag, and Brad Ellis won for the show's musical direction.

In the Non-Resident division, representing touring or independent productions, the following shows or showfolk were named winners of 2007 Carbonells:

Best Production: Wicked, Broadway Across America

Best Director: Joe Mantello, Wicked
Broadway Across America

Choreography/Musical: Twyla Tharp, Movin' Out, Broadway Across America

Best Actor: Mark Nelson, I Am My Own Wife, The Cleveland Playhouse

Best Actress: Stephanie J. Block, Wicked (in the role of Elphaba)

Best Supporting Actor: David Garrison, Wicked (in the role of the Wizard)

Best Supporting Actress: Gwen Hollander, Little Women (in the role of Amy), Broadway Across America

Best Scenic Design: Eugene Lee, Wicked

Best Lighting Design: Kenneth Posner, Wicked

Best Costume Design: Susan Hilferty, Wicked

Here are the resident nominees and winners (seen in bold type with an asterisk) of the 2007 Carbonell Awards:

COMBINED (Plays and Musicals)

Best New Work (Play or Musical)
Ivonne Azurdia and Paul Tei, Terminal Baggage, Mad Cat Theatre Company
Catherine Bush, Just A Kiss, New Theatre
David Caudle, The Sunken Living Room, New Theatre and Southern Rep
*Melanie Marnich, Cradle of Man, Florida Stage
Michael McKeever, The Impressionists, Caldwell Theatre Company

Best Ensemble Production (Play or Musical)
Dealer's Choice, Mosaic Theatre
*Lend Me a Tenor, Caldwell Theatre Company
Opus, Florida Stage
Summer Shorts, City Theatre
Terminal Baggage, Mad Cat Theatre Company

PLAYS

Best Production of a Play
Dealer's Choice, Mosaic Theatre
Lend Me a Tenor, Caldwell Theatre Company
Opus, Florida Stage
*The Pillowman, GableStage
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Palm Beach Dramaworks

Best Director/Play
*Joseph Adler, The Pillowman, GableStage
William Hayes, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Palm Beach Dramaworks
Paul Tei, Dealer's Choice, Mosaic Theatre
Louis Tyrrell, Opus, Florida Stage
Joe Warik, Lend Me a Tenor, Caldwell Theatre Company

Best Actor/Play
*Antonio Amadeo, The Pillowman, GableStage
Ken Clement, Address Unknown, GableStage
Ken Clement, Rabbit Hole, Mosaic Theatre
Avi Hoffman, Address Unknown, GableStage
Gordon McConnell, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Palm Beach Dramaworks

Best Actress/Play
Kameshia Duncan, Intimate Apparel, GableStage
Sandra Ives, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Inside Out Theatre Company
Jennifer Mendenhall, Cradle of Man, Florida Stage
Wendy Michaels, Rabbit Hole, Mosaic Theatre
*Lisa Morgan, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Palm Beach Dramaworks

Best Supporting Actor/Play
Todd Allen Durkin, Dealer's Choice, Mosaic Theatre
Erik Fabregat, Terminal Baggage, Mad Cat Theatre Company
*Peter Haig, The Price, Palm Beach Dramaworks
Clint Hooper, Lincolnesque, New Theatre
David Perez-Ribada, The Pillowman, GableStage

Best Supporting Actress/Play
Lela Elam, Intimate Apparel, GableStage
Patti Gardner, The Price, Palm Beach Dramaworks
Margery Lowe, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Palm Beach Dramaworks
*Connie SaLoutos, Lend Me A Tenor, Caldwell Theatre Company
Stacy Schwartz, Lincolnesque, New Theatre

MUSICALS

Best Production of a Musical
Beyond the Rainbow, Florida Stage
Ella, Florida Stage
Five Course Love, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
The Full Monty, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
*The Tin Pan Alley Rag, Maltz Jupiter Theatre

Best Director/Musical
David Arisco, The Full Monty, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Michael Larsen, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, New Vista Theatre Company
Ron Peluso, Beyond the Rainbow, Florida Stage
Rob Ruggiero, Ella, Florida Stage
*Jiri Zizka, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, Maltz Jupiter Theatre

Best Actor/Musical
Fred Berman, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, Maltz Jupiter Theatre
Terrell Hardcastle, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Avi Hoffman, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, New Vista Theatre Company
*Tally Sessions, The Full Monty, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Alton Fitzgerald White, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, Maltz Jupiter Theatre

Best Actress/Musical
Jody Briskey, Beyond the Rainbow, Florida Stage
Janet Dacal, Five Course Love, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
*Tina Fabrique, Ella, Florida Stage
Norah Long, Beyond the Rainbow, Florida Stage
Tia Speros, Guys and Dolls, Maltz Jupiter Theatre

Best Supporting Actor/Musical
Oscar Cheda, Five Course Love, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Brian M. Golub, The Full Monty, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Gary Marachek, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, New Vista Theatre Company
Richard Ruiz, Guys and Dolls, Maltz Jupiter Theatre
*Reggie Whitehead, The Full Monty, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

Best Supporting Actress/Musical
Irene Adjan, The Full Monty, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Maribeth Graham, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, New Vista Theatre Company
Stacy Schwartz, The Full Monty, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
*Lourelene Snedeker, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Idara Victor, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, Maltz Jupiter Theatre

Musical Direction/Musical
Eric Alsford, The Full Monty, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
*Brad Ellis, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, Maltz Jupiter Theatre
Sherman Frank, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, New Vista Theatre Company
Danny Holgate, Ella, Florida Stage
Kevin Wallace, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

Choreography/Musical
Chrissi Ardito, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
George Faison, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, Maltz Jupiter Theatre
Barbara Flaten, The Full Monty, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
*Ron Hutchins, Five Guys Named Moe, Stage Door Theatre
Daniel Pelzig, Guys and Dolls, Maltz Jupiter Theatre

DESIGN (Plays and Musicals)

Best Scenic Design
Tim Bennett, Lend Me a Tenor, Caldwell Theatre Company
*Richard Crowell, Splitting Infinity, Florida Stage
David P. Gordon, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, Maltz Jupiter Theatre
Robert Hooker and Jim Gibbons, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Sol Theatre Project
Sean McClelland, Dealer's Choice, Mosaic Theatre

Best Lighting Design
*Richard Crowell, Splitting Infinity, Florida Stage
John D. Hall, The Pillowman, GableStage
Suzanne M. Jones, Cradle of Man, Florida Stage
Eric Nelson, Fahrenheit 451, GableStage
Patrick Tennent, The Full Monty, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

Best Costume Design
*Erin Amico, Intimate Apparel, GableStage
Vickie Esposito, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, Maltz Jupiter Theatre
Mary Lynne Izzo, Five Course Love, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre
Meredith Lasher, Summer Shorts, City Theatre
Ellis Tillman, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre

Best Sound Design
Carl Casella and T. Richard Fitzgerald, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, Maltz Jupiter Theatre
*Matt Corey, The Pillowman, GableStage
Matt Corey, Fahrenheit 451, GableStage
Ryan Rumery, Cradle of Man, Florida Stage
Marc Scott, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Sol Theatre Project

SPECIAL AWARDS

The Bill Hindman Award and Ruth Foreman Award are not given this year. This is the first year the Bill Von Maurer Award for Theatrical Excellence and the Fred Diekmann Emerging Artist Award are being bestowed.

The George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts: Michael Spring, director of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs. "Spring has been responsible for establishing policies and programs that have helped build Miami-Dade County's cultural community into a $538 million annual industry comprised of more than 1,000 non-profit cultural groups and thousands of individual artists."

The Howard Kleinberg Award: New World School of the Arts. "Celebrating its 20th anniversary, New World School of the Arts develops talented students in the areas of dance, music, theatre and visual arts from the ninth grade in high school through a Bachelor of Fine Arts or Bachelor in Music college degree at its campus in downtown Miami. This award is given in special recognition for contributions to the health and development of the arts in South Florida."

The Bill Von Maurer Award for Theatrical Excellence: Florida Stage. "Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Florida Stage is a not-for-profit professional theatre producing contemporary works by both established and emerging playwrights in its 250-seat space in Manalapan (Palm Beach County). Established in 2006 and named for the late theatre writer and journalist for the Miami News and South Florida Sun Sentinel, this award will now be given each year to the theatre company that exemplifies excellence for the totality of its programming: productions, educational outreach, developmental programs and audiences served.

Fred Diekmann Emerging Artist Award: Kameshia Duncan. "A nominee for Best Actress in a Play this year for her role in Intimate Apparel at GableStage, Duncan made her South Florida debut in City Theatre's Summer Shorts 2005 and has since appeared in supporting and leading roles with GableStage, Florida Stage, M Ensemble, Ground Up and Rising, MadCat Theatre Company, The Playground Theater, Creative Arts Enterprise and Florida Historical Performance Company. This award was established in 2006 and named for the late philanthropist, producer and journalist Fred Diekmann who co-produced South Florida Curtain Up Awards from 1996 to 2005."

The ceremony for the 31st annual awards was held 7:30 PM at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts' Amaturo Theatre in Fort Lauderdale. It was produced by Jean Ann Ryan Productions, directed and choreographed by Jean Ann Ryan, with the Peter Graves Orchestra. Bruce Adler hosted.

South Florida's theatre and arts honors are named after sculptor Manuel Carbonell, designer and donor of the statuettes "signifying the region's finest shows, performances and career achievement."

For information, visit www.carbonellawards.org or www.browardcenter.org.