Alan Lebow Awards 2013

(West Palm Beach, FL – February 25, 2013) The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts hosted the fourth annual Alan Lebow Award for Excellence in Shakespearean Performance, featuring selected Title One High School students, at a special reception in the Khoury Family Dance Rehearsal Hall on January 25.

The awards were presented by Kids’ Dreams, Inc. in memory of the late Alan Lebow because “he was very passionate and knowledgeable about Shakespeare,” according to his widow, attorney Patricia Lebow.

“He had studied so hard that he was able to recite many soliloquies and countless portions of Shakespearean plays and the works of other great writers such as Kipling and Keats,” she said. “I can tell the students in this audience from experience that no matter what career path you may choose in life, the ability to recite poetry and speak clearly will always serve you well.”

From a competition with 51 applicants, the 10 winners of the 2013 Alan Lebow Award for Excellence in Shakespearean Performance were:

Top Winners – $1,000 each

Bella Letourneau, a sophomore at Atlantic Community High School in Delray Beach
Yamari Hanslip, a junior at Palm Beach Gardens Community High School, who was a Distinguished Participant last year

Honorable Mention – $500 each

Rood Emmanuel, a junior at Inlet Grove Community High School in West Palm Beach, who received Honorable Mention in both 2011 and 2012
Johnson Sinophat, a senior at Palm Beach Lakes Community High School, who was a Top Winner in both 2011 and 2012
David Nitz, a senior from Lake Worth Community High School
Azia Curry-Jonsson, a sophomore from Lake Worth Community High School

Distinguished Participants – $250 each

Jonah Cabada-Costlloe, a senior at Boynton Beach Community High School
Melissa Gonzalez, a senior at Boynton Beach Community High School
Tatyana Renald, a senior at Inlet Grove Community High School, who was a Distinguished Participant in 2012
Allison Smith, a senior at Inlet Grove Community High School

Both of the Top Winners and the four Honorable Mention recipients were invited to perform their Shakespearean selections at the reception. In addition to the cash prizes, the 11 winners received tickets to a performance of The Taming of the Shrew by the Aquila Theatre Company in the Marshall E. Rinker, Sr. Playhouse.

The judges for the fourth annual Alan Lebow Award for Excellence in Shakespearean Performance were actor, director and theatre educator Beverly Blanchette, actor and theatre educator Ken Kay and Laura Wayth, an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University.

Presenters at the awards ceremony included Patricia Lebow, Co-Founder, President and Director of Kids’ Dreams, Inc., and Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.