GableStage top nominee for Carbonells

Capping a season of artistic success, critical acclaim and turn-away crowds, GableStage leads all South Florida theaters with 22 nominations for the 25th annual Carbonell Awards.

The intimate theater in Coral Gables' Biltmore Hotel has flourished in its second season under Producing Artistic Director Joseph Adler, who snagged three nominations as best director of a play for his work on the theater's productions of Popcorn, Killer Joe and Closer, all of which are up for best production of a play during the 1999-2000 season.

The Carbonell Awards, named for sculptor Manuel Carbonell, who provides the bronze awards, are awarded annually to actors, directors, producers, playwrights and designers for work done in South Florida during the previous theater season. This year's winners will be announced Nov. 13.

Two other Miami-Dade County theaters captured a total of 34 nominations, mainly on the strength of their musicals. Miami's Coconut Grove Playhouse received 18 nominations, the majority for its productions of a revised Finian's Rainbow, a Latin-flavored Song & Dance and the Encore Room production of Harry Chapin's America. Actors' Playhouse in Coral Gables got 16 nominations, a dozen of them for its production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the most-nominated show in this year's race.

City Theatre received seven nominations for its popular Summer Shorts and Winter Shorts festivals of brief plays, and Coral Gables' New Theatre got a combined five nominations for Mario Diament's The Book of Ruth and Richard Janaro's adaptation of The House of the Seven Gables.

Broward County theaters received more attention from voters this year with the Broward Stage Door Theatre getting three nods and the Hollywood Boulevard Theatre, the Hollywood Playhouse and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts receiving one nomination each.

Manalapan's Florida Stage received six of its nine nominations this season for its production of God's Man in Texas. Boca Raton's Royal Palm Festival Dinner Theatre got eight nominations, five for its revival of Bells Are Ringing, and Boca Raton's Caldwell Theatre Company got two nominations each for A Delicate Balance and its record-breaking production of Over the River and Through the Woods, currently playing a return engagement at the theater.

The Carbonell Awards, will be presented in a ceremony at the Colony Theater, 1040 Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach. Open to the public, the event helps fund scholarships to arts and arts journalism students.