SA actors’ stage tribute to 9/11 heroes
SOUTH African actors are to play leading roles in a Broadway stage production honouring US heroes of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York.
Previous productions of 110 Stories featured Hollywood stars Samuel L Jackson, Katie Holmes and Susan Sarandon.
This time it will be produced and performed by Cape Town’s Stelio Savante, narrated by Sal Masekela — son of Hugh Masekela — and directed by Rudolf Buitendach.
Savante, who performed in the hit TV show Ugly Betty and the movie A Million Colours, said he lobbied Hollywood agencies for a “very different” show this year to highlight the role of African-American heroes in 9/11 and promote the talent of fellow South Africans.
Dedicated to Operation Gratitude, a charity sponsored by US first lady Michelle Obama, the play pays tribute to the unsung heroes of the terror attack and includes an account of actress Kathleen Turner’s efforts to help on the day.
Savante has also cast Sydney Tamiia Poitier, daughter of actor Sidney Poitier.
“I wanted to provide it with a very strong African-American flavour and culture, because I was sick of seeing black actors only portray homeless people. Why not have them portray police officers, white-collar roles, ordinary unsung heroes?”
All three South Africans have personal connections to 9/11.
Masekela, a TV presenter in the US whose sports commentaries included the World Cup in South Africa, lost friends in the World Trade Center.
“I think it’s very special that South Africans are playing such a meaningful role in 110 Stories this year,” he said. “Stelio and Rudolf both have so much respect here in the US and are so talented that it’s an honour to be working with them on this iconic presentation.”
Savante said he wanted Masekela “and no one else” to narrate the
play.
When he failed to contact him through his agents, he pursued him on social media. “He hit me up on Twitter,” said Masekela.
“When I saw it in my timeline and read the names of who was involved, I hit him right back and said I was in.”
Buitendach took photographs from the top of theWorld Trade Center four days before the attack.
“I was one of the lucky ones. I still remember sharing a joke with the lift operator on the way down.
“His face flashed before me in the days following the tragedy,” he said.
A full-time movie trailer editor, he directed his first feature film last year.
Titled Where the Road Runs Out, it is a human rights story filmed in Equatorial Guinea.
“What inspires me most about the play is that it is nonpolitical and shows the human spirit as a shining beacon in times of adversity and highlights how good can triumph over evil.”
Savante performed in previous productions of 110 Stories with James Gandolfini, the star of The Sopranos who died this year. He said South African expatriates had been “fantastic” in supporting previous charitable events and he hoped they would come forward to contribute to Operation Gratitude, which distributes care packages to soldiers and first responders.
This year, the play has moved from Broadway to Los Angeles.
It will be staged next week on the 12th anniversary of 9/11.