Sanchez To Receive Abbott Award At Carbonells
Each year at the Carbonell Awards, someone is honored for his or her long-term, significant contributions to the arts in South Florida. At the 37th annual Carbonell ceremony, the evening’s highest honor — the George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts — will be presented to Mario Ernesto Sánchez. The founder of Miami’s Teatro Avante came to the United States from Cuba on a Pedro Pan flight when he was 15. After launching his Spanish-language company in 1979, Sánchez took on a large-scale annual challenge in 1985: the International Hispanic Theatre Festival. In July, he’ll oversee the 28th edition of the festival at in the Carnival Studio Theater at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and Teatro Prometeo. Sánchez has emphasized inclusion by presenting his shows with English supertitles and sometimes choosing productions that are more movement-driven than language-based. Serious Spanish-language theater in South Florida is on the rise — and Sánchez’s festival, company and unwavering passion for his art form have plenty to do with that.
