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Brévo Theatre, the African-American-centric company which scored a major success this season with the musical The Color Purple, has been named the second recipient of the Carbonell Awards’ Jan McArt Award honoring” Outstanding Achievement by a Small Theater.”
The Pompano Beach-based company also gained widespread notice in 2025 by co-producing Fat Ham in productions alongside GableStage and Island City Stage.
The group was founded in 2019 by Terrence “TM” Pride, producing artistic director and co-founder, and Zaylin Yates, the CEO and founding managing director Zaylin Yates.
The Carbonell announcement stated, “The dynamic theater is committed to amplifying underrepresented voices and sparking cultural dialogue through fearless, socially conscious storytelling, and is renowned for its Broadway-caliber productions and original premieres…. The theater creates transformative work that reflects, challenges, and elevates local diverse communities, such as its holiday tradition Black Nativity.”
Additionally, the theatre’s signature program, Young, Gifted & Brave provides free in-school residencies and a summer conservatory for high school students across three public high schools reaching students in under-resourced communities where access to sequential, high-quality theater training is otherwise limited.
The recognition is named after the groundbreaking theater pioneer, producer, director and actress who died in 2021.
The award is one of nine special awards to be presented at the 49th annual ceremony Nov. 16 at FAU’s University Theatre in Boca Raton.
The others are being announced here one a week.
All the 2026 Special Award recipients were nominated by members of South Florida’s theater community with the Carbonell Board of Directors making the final selection.
