Carbonells Reschedule a Week for Jan McArt Celebration

The 45th annual Carbonell Awards gala has been moved a week to Nov. 7 so as not to conflict with a Celebration of Life scheduled to honor the late South Florida theater legend Jan McArt slated for Nov. 14.

The nicknamed “theater prom,” which honors excellence in regional theater, will be held at 7:30 Monday Nov. 7 at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center.  (Read the full earlier announcement story at https://tinyurl.com/256d86rt)

A celebration for McArt, who died in January 2021, had been slated earlier but was rescheduled in the throes of Covid. Several local theater artist had sought the change for the Carbonells because some of McArt’s friends and colleagues are flying in for her celebration.

Jeff Kiltie, board president of the Carbonell Awards, wrote, “Widely hailed as the ‘First Lady of Florida’s Musical Theater,’ Jan’s career ranged from opera, Broadway, concerts and TV before she established Jan McArt’s Royal Palm Dinner Theatre and Jan’s Rooftop Cabaret Theatre. Not only was she an early recipient of the Carbonell’s prestigious George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts, Jan received the Carbonell Best Actress Award for her performance in Nightclub Confidential, and her various productions garnered an astounding 278 different Carbonell Award nominations.”

McArt’s daughter, Debbie Lahr Lawlor, wrote, “My mom was so proud of her Carbonell Awards and nominations. I am beyond grateful for the generosity of spirit that moved the Carbonell Board of Directors to reschedule their awards date. We look forward to celebrating my mother’s incredible journey together with her theater family.”

Jan McArt’s Celebration of Life will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 14, at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University, where she was Director of Theatre Arts Program Development and produced Libby Dodson’s Live at Lynn Theatre Season, the Live at Lynn American Songbook series, the Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Cabaret at Lincoln Center Comes to Live at Lynn series, Elaine’s Annual Musical Treat, and Jan McArt’s New Play Readings.

For more information, email tickets@lynn.edu or call (561) 237-9000.

“The Carbonell Awards ceremony on November 7 at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center will be our first live, in-person event since April 2019,” says Kiltie. “Everybody’s favorite ‘Theater Prom’ is back—and we’re looking forward to a truly joyous celebration at our new and larger location so that more friends, fans, family members, and theater lovers can join us.”

Several hundred actors, musicians, performers, writers, directors, technicians, producers, reviewers, designers, specialty artists, and diehard theater fans are expected to attend the glittery, entertainment-packed event that is South Florida’s version of Broadway’s Tony Awards.

The 2022 Jack Zink Scholarship winners, event sponsorship information, and how to purchase tickets to the Carbonell Awards Ceremony 2022 will be announced soon. The list of this season’s Carbonell nominations and special award recipients will be announced at the conclusion of this season’s evaluation period at the end of September.

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