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Josh Howland, left, as “Danny” and Bess Winebarger as “Sandy,” in
Jerry’s Habima Theatre’s production of “Grease: The School Version.”
is named for. (“Habima” is Hebrew for
“the stage.”)
Their first show was Shakespearean,
sort of. The group staged a 15-minute
version of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Sil
verman remembers that it sold out. She
also remembers that when she saw that
first show, she knew the
theater company would
be around a while.
“I knew we were here
to stay just because of
what it did for the actors,”
she said.
Those actors, she said,
“blossomed.” She could
see them changing with
each show. People who
had been shy or with
drawn suddenly opened
up to people around
them. “They went from
coming in not able to say
a word and their heads
down to, all of a sudden,
confident,” she said.
Even in the first play,
the difference was easy
to spot, she said. Sud
denly, these actors were
studying and declaiming
Shakespearean dialogue.
“That’s what absolute
ly floored us,” Silverman
said. “Here, these kids
had trouble speaking reg
ular English and here they
were learning paragraphs
and songs in ‘English
English.’ And they were
fabulous.
“That first night, we
were crying through our
eyes and smiling with our
mouths. We saw children
with disabilities as not
having any disabilities.
They had abilities and they performed
like they were on Broadway.”
Mark Benator acted in that first
play. He’s had a role in each perfor
mance since, he said. “I’ve had a lot of
great roles over the years,” he said. The
Dunwoody 52-year-old reels off part af
ter part he’s played: the rascally Kenick-
ie in “Grease”; the butcher
in “Fiddler on the Roof”;
a gambler in “Guys
and Dolls.” He’s play
ing Coach Calhoun in
“Grease: The School Ver
sion,”
“Twenty years ago, I
never thought I’d be in
volved in anything like
this,” he said.
He’s so proud of the
theater group that he reg
ularly helps raise money
for it, he said. “It’s great.
The people there are real
ly nice. You meet a lot of
different people,” he said.
And the actors have
gotten to know one an
other. “You see a lot of
old friends,” he said. “Our
cast is usually 40 to 45
people.”
At her home in Sandy
Springs, Silverman keeps a
special memento made to
honor her work with Jer
ry’s Habima Theatre. It
was made for her by par
ticipants in the arts pro
gram at the MJCCA. It’s
a suitcase decorated with
photos and playbills from
many of the company’s
performances.
“This is what I’m so
proud of,” she said, point
ing to a row of photos of
actors. “Look at the smiles
on these kids.”
JOE EARLE
Saba Silverman with
her commemorative
suitcase decorated with
photos and playbills.
JOE EARLE
Mark Benator, 52, has
performed in many
plays over the years.
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