SEVEN PALM BEACH COUNTY STUDENTS EARN LEBOW AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN SHAKESPEAREAN PERFORMANCE
Photo: (Left to Right) Elize Jadimene, Brittany Gardner, Jepthelee Jordonne, Jasmine Ellis, Marina Gasparini, Majesty Smith, Kandyce Kennedy.
(WEST PALM BEACH, FL) – The Sixth Annual Alan Lebow Award for Excellence in Shakespearean Performance was presented on February 7 in the Kravis Center’s Khoury Family Dance Rehearsal Hall to seven Palm Beach County students from four local high schools.
Created by Kids’ Dreams, Inc., in memory of its co-founder, Alan Lebow, the award honors students from Title I high schools who had performed short selections from William Shakespeare’s works before a panel of distinguished judges.
This year’s Top Winner, earning a $1,500 cash prize, was Jephthelee Jordonne, a junior at Boynton Beach Community High School. Two other Top Winners, Elize Jadimene and Kandyce Kennedy, a senior and junior, respectively, at Boynton Beach Community High School, were awarded $1,000 each.
Honorable Mention awards and $500 each went to Majesty Smith, a senior at Inlet Grove High School, and Brittany Gardner, a senior at Boynton Beach Community High School. Distinguished Participant awards and $250 each went to Marina Gasparini and Jasmine Ellis, both seniors at Royal Palm Beach High School.
“For more than 20 years, the Kravis Center has helped students of all ages fuel their imaginations and expand their lives through comprehensive arts education programs,” CEO Judith Mitchell told the audience. “To date, we have served two million students. Tonight, I am pleased to be here to honor the accomplishments of the 2015 Lebow Award recipients.”
Amanda Lebow, daughter of the award’s namesake and a board member of Kids’ Dreams, spoke to the audience about her father’s love of Shakespeare, and of performance art.
“My dad would quote sonnets at the dinner table, perform soliloquies on family trips, and write all my summer camp letters in iambic pentameter,” she said. “He would be so proud to see that his love of the Bard and passion for the stage is still being carried on today by all of you amazing students.”
The students performed their selections during an audition workshop on December 13. They were evaluated and scored by the judges in five categories of performance, which included concentration, emotional commitment, energy, evidence of understanding and overall performance.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor presented the awards, followed by performances by the top five winners. After the ceremony, all the students who had participated in the workshop were invited to attend a performance of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, produced by Aquila Theatre Company, in the Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse.
The Alan Lebow Award for Excellence is intended to assist students attending Palm Beach County Title I high schools students while honoring Lebow, a man whose passion in life involved theatre, film, art and literature always with an overriding touch of kindness for all those he met on his journey through life.
Lebow was active in the philanthropic community as an early supporter and Founder of the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. He and his wife, Patricia, endowed the Lebow Family Scholarship at the University of Richmond, Mt. Sinai Medical Center as Founder and established Kids’ Dreams, Inc. a public charity whose mission is to provide Palm Beach County youth an opportunity to participate in the culture of the community in conjunction with mentoring from law enforcement. Visit kidsdreams.org for more info on the Lebow Award for Excellence.
Established as a leading force in the social fabric of the community, the Kravis Center’s many outreach programs are as broad and varied as the community itself. For more information on education programming at the Kravis Center, please call the Kravis Center Education Department at 561-651-4251 or visit kravis.org/education.