The Carbonell Awards Announces Winners of This Year’s Jack Zink Memorial Scholarships

South Florida – May 12, 2023 Gary Schweikhart, board president of the Carbonell Awards, South Florida’s Theatre & Arts Honors, today announced the three young winners of the 2023 Jack Zink Memorial Student Scholarships. The selection of recipients is based on talent, experience and demonstrated commitment to the theater, with one winner from each of the three area counties.

“The Jack Zink Memorial Scholarships are awarded to graduating high school seniors who have achieved a minimum 2.5 GPA and are intending to enroll in college to pursue a degree in theater or journalism. Each of the three winners will receive $2,000 when they have enrolled in college,” said Javier Siut, a member of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, who co-chairs the Carbonell’s Scholarship Committee along with longtime Carbonell Judge Nancy Cohen.

Diane Danyang Li – Broward County

A senior at American Heritage School in Plantation, Diane Danyang Li has been studying music since she was 5, when her mother discovered her interpreting Katy Perry. After taking classes in vocal, piano, violin, and dance (ballet and jazz), she started performing in shows at school and at Actors’ Playhouse at Miracle Theatre (Into the Woods, Addams Family, Shrek the Musical). “I dream of becoming a luminary for other aspiring Asian actors by originating new musical stories that tell of the Asian American experience… for future generations of minority actors,” she writes. Diane’s college application has already been accepted at Northwestern University and Florida State.

Emily Moreland – Palm Beach County

A 4.0 student at Florida Atlantic University High School, Emily Moreland began performing professionally at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre (Annie, Through the Looking Glass, Jersey Boys, Gypsy), starred as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at the Lake Worth Playhouse, was in the national touring company of Annie, and was recently named a finalist in spoken and musical theater in the national YoungArts competition. “Being able to bring my passion for theater into the classroom and using it as a space to take risks and become a more human and truthful performer is something that I cherish and hope to continue for the rest of my life as an artist,” she writes. Emily’s college application has already been accepted at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Penn State University, and the University of Oklahoma.

 Addison Doris Stone – Miami-Dade County

With experience in both performance and production designer, Addison Doris Stone attends Coral Reef Senior High School in Palmetto Bay. After roles with Area Stage Company (Aladdin, Fiddler on the Roof, Mary Poppins, Newsies), she expanded her theatrical participation to playwriting, producing, props, and design—sometimes working both on-stage and back-stage for the same shows (The Importance of Being Earnest, The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), she won a Thespians award for scenic design for Animal Farm, and founded Singin’ for Smiles, an outreach program for senior citizens. Addison looks forward to continuing her theatrical training this fall at the University of Michigan.

The annual Carbonell scholarship is named for Jack Zink (1947-2008) who was a major voice in South Florida entertainment coverage for more than three decades. During his long career, he was employed as entertainment editor, columnist, critic and reporter at each of South Florida’s major newspapers—The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, The Miami Herald, The Palm Beach Post & Evening Times, and The Fort Lauderdale News. Mr. Zink was the founder and a past president of the Carbonell Awards, a past president of The American Theatre Critics Association, and during his lifetime was a recipient of both the Sun-Sentinel newspaper’s highest honor, The Fred Pettijohn Award, given annually to the publication’s top reporters, and South Florida’s George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts.

The 46^th annual Carbonell Awards Ceremony will be held on Monday, November 13, at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center, at which all three of this year’s Jack Zink Scholarship recipients will be celebrated.

About The Carbonell Awards

The Carbonell Awards fosters the artistic growth of professional theater in South Florida by celebrating the diversity of our theater artists, providing educational scholarships, and building audience appreciation and civic pride by highlighting achievements of our theater community. More than 20 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 several Special Awards.

Along with New York’s Drama Desk and Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Awards, the Carbonell Awards are among the nation’s senior regional arts awards and predate others, including Washington, D.C.’s Helen Hayes Awards. The Carbonell Awards are named after Manuel Carbonell, an internationally-renowned sculptor, who designed the original solid bronze and marble award in 1976, the signature trophy that is given annually to Carbonell Award winners. Over the last 47 years, the Carbonell family has donated more than $250,000 in awards. For more information, please visit www.carbonellawards.org.