Carbonell Awards Names Elena Maria Garcia as Winner of This Year’s Bill Hindman Award

Gary Schweikhart, board president of the Carbonell Awards, South Florida’s Theater & Arts Honors, today announced the recipient of the seventh of nine Special Awards that will be presented at the 49^th annual Carbonell Awards Ceremony on Monday, November 16, at 7:30 pm at FAU’s University Theatre in Boca Raton 33431.

“While we will be honoring specific people and productions in 20 competitive categories from approximately 100 shows presented between September 2025 and August 2026, the Carbonell board of directors has unanimously voted to also bestow this Special Award,” said Schweikhart.

The Bill Hindman Award 2026

For Onstage Career Achievement by Performing Artists Based in South Florida

Elena Maria Garcia

Associate Professor of Theatre at Barry University Elena Maria Garcia is, according to director Stuart Meltzer, “one of South Florida’s most treasured theatre artists (as well as) one of the most funny and versatile actors here… Her gift is creating characters that speak to generations of audience members through thoughtful and exploratory physical work, tapping into emotional depths that explode with humanity and purpose. Her plays have been hailed as theatrical marvels combatting very serious subjects through humor! Her presence at theaters like City Theatre, Zoetic Stage, Palm Beach Dramaworks and Actors’ Playhouse have made her a staple in theatrical programming.”

An actor, director, playwright, and educator, Elena Maria Garcia’s works include her one-person shows, Do You Speak Mexican?, Cuban Soups When There’s No More Café, and Fuacata! or A Latina’s Guide to Surviving the Universe, among other plays. Not only has she collaborated with solo artists assisting in creating, writing and/or directing, she is one of the founders of the first all-female improv troupe, Big Purse and Matching Shoes. Garcia also created the improv troupe Separate Checks.  During this time, she began working in front of the camera appearing in several national commercials and films. A member of Screen Actors Guild and Actors’ Equity Association, Garcia is a four-time recipient of the Carbonell Award and the Silver Palm Award.

Previous winners of this award include Beverly Blanchette, the former dean of theater at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts (2025); longtime stage manager Carl Waisanen (2024); James Samuel Randolph, theatre professor at New World School of the Arts (2023); actor and Actors’ Equity Association representative Margot Moreland (2022); actors Barbara Bradshaw (2020) and Harriet Oser (2015); and veteran performer Don McArt (2013).

Previously Announced Carbonell Special Awards 2026

+ The George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts

Stuart Meltzer, Founding Artistic Director of Zoetic Stage.

+ The Christine Dolen Award for Outstanding Debut

Ali Tallman, Director of The 39 Steps for New City Players.

+ The Jan McArt Award for Outstanding Small Theatre

Brévo Theatre

+ The Vinnette Carroll Award for Advancing Diversity & Inclusion

Our Fund Foundation

+ The Charlie Cinnamon Award 

Michelle F. Solomon

+ The Ruth Foreman Award 

Margaret M. Ledford

Still to be Announced

+ The Howard Kleinberg Award – September 1

+ The Bill von Maurer Award – September 8

+ 120 Carbonell Award Finalists in 20 Categories – September 15

All the 2026 Special Award recipients were nominated by members of South Florida’s theatre community with the Carbonell Board of Directors making the final selection. The 120 Carbonell Award Finalists will be based on accumulated scores from the nonprofit organization’s pool of nearly 50 experienced and diverse volunteer judges—with seven judges from various counties assigned to each show. During the 2025-2026 season, Carbonell judges evaluated approximately 100 professional productions at more than 30 theatres throughout Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties.

This season’s Carbonell Awards will be presented on November 16 at a glittery ceremony that is South Florida’s version of Broadway’s Tony Awards®. Hundreds of actors, musicians, performers, writers, directors, back-stage technicians, producers, critics, designers, specialty artists, and diehard theater fans are expected to attend. The event is being produced and directed by Andrew Kato, Producing Artistic Director/Chief Executive of the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, with the award-winning Caryl Fantel serving as Music Director and Eloisa M. Ferrer as Coordinating Producer. Tickets for the ceremony and after party are only $45 and will go on public sale in mid-October.

Sponsors of the 49^th Annual Carbonell Awards ceremony and after party include the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts; Aventura Arts & Cultural Center; BroadwayWorld; Broward Center for the Performing Arts; Broward Cultural Division; Carbonell Sculptures Ltd.; Cultural Council for Palm Beach County; Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival presented by MorseLife Health System; Florida Atlantic University Department of Theatre & Dance; Greenspoon Marder LLP; Kravis Center for the Performing Arts; Legends Radio; Lesser, Landy, Smith & Siegel – Florida Injury Lawyers; Miami-Dade County Auditorium, The Dennis C. Moss Center, OutClique Magazine, South Florida Cultural Consortium; South Florida Theatre League, Mark Traverso & Conor Walton, Donald R. Walters, P.A., and The Wick Theatre & Costume Museum.

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.