Carbonell Awards Names Mary Damiano Winner Of This Year's Charlie Cinnamon Award

Gary Schweikhart, board president of the Carbonell Awards, South Florida's Theater & Arts Honors, has announced the recipient of the third of seven prestigious Special Awards that will be presented at the Carbonell Awards Ceremony on Monday, November 17, at 7:30 pm at FAU's University Theatre in Boca Raton 33431.

“While we will be honoring in 20 competitive categories specific theatre performances, production elements, and shows presented between September 2024 and August 2025, the Carbonell board of directors has unanimously voted to also bestow the following Special Award,” said Schweikhart.

The Charlie Cinnamon Award honors an individual who contributes significantly to the support of the arts in South Florida and to the Carbonell Awards program.

Mary Damiano is the managing editor of Biscayne Times, theater reviewer for The Palm Beach Daily News, and writer for Miami Artburst, REimagine magazine, and The New Pelican newspaper. She is an award-winning writer, editor, and theater critic who has covered the South Florida arts scene since 2000. She has had more than 3,000 articles published in dozens of publications, including the Miami Times, Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, New Times, South Florida Gay News, She Magazine, The Palm Beach Post, BroadwayWorld.com, and MiamiARTzine.com, of which she is the founding editor, shepherding the online arts magazine through its first 100 issues. Damiano has been a Carbonell judge since 2004. She served as panel coordinator for the Carbonell Awards from 2008 until 2014 and was managing director of the organization from 2014 until 2020. She has also served as vice president of the South Florida Theatre League and vice president of the Oakland Park Art & Culture Board. Mary believes her greatest accomplishment is getting paid to be entertained.

In nominating Damiano for this award for this award, Zoetic Stage Co-founder Stuart Meltzer proposed that she “is long overdue for some recognition for her contributions as an arts journalist and Carbonell judge. Mary's commitment to theatrical journalism has kept her in print for as long as I've been working professionally in this community. Her sense of humor, her heart, her eagerness to celebrate every theatre company, and her love of what she does is an example of longevity and survival.” 

The Charlie Cinnamon Award is named after the legendary press agent who promoted the arts in South Florida for more than six decades

Gary Schweikhart, President

The Carbonell Board of Directors