Dear friends,

Our autumn fundraiser has ended, but Jonah’s friends have asked to continue writing about him. So we’ll keep sharing those writings here. Enjoy!

Billy

Ross Baum remembers …

Ross graduated from Syracuse University in 2012 with a degree in musical theatre. He spent the past year performing with Disney Cruise Line and is now pursuing his MFA at New York University’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program.

I only had the privilege of performing in two shows with Jonah, but I will never forget the many characters he brought to life on the PGT stage, each and everyone distinct, unique, and utterly “Jonah.” From the doctor in Marvin’s Room to the infamous thug in Lucky Stiff to the howling, hippie-life-loving big brother in Hair, and so many others, old and young, good and evil, Jonah portrayed a range of characters in his five years at PGT that most actors could only dream of in a lifetime.

Jonah and Ross
“Hair” (Jun 2008)

Two specific memories come to mind when I think of Jonah. As rebellious high school seniors, as if we didn’t have enough of each other already during Hair tech week, the Class of 2008 would often gather after rehearsal to hang out and enjoy the last of our time together. One particular evening we found ourselves in Anya’s basement, having an outrageous dance party to – of all things – the Hair cast album. As we had been instructed not to get haircuts for the previous six months, I think everyone felt super cool at their ability to throw their extra long hair around. But not Jonah. There he was, in the middle of it all, dancing just as hard as anybody, but not with his hair flowing – he was rocking his signature black-and-white checkered fedora. That, to me, was Jonah in a nutshell – he tackled things with such commitment and ferocity but always in his unique way. He rarely went with the crowd but always found himself in the center of it all. Everybody in our community loved him. And I’m reminded of him every time I return to PGT and walk by the black-and-white checkered wall painted in his honor. It always brings me back to the image of that black-and-white hat bouncing up and down in a sea of long hair.

The second memory is an onstage moment from Hair. At the end of Jonah’s introductory monologue, he exclaimed, “Look at the moon!” and gave a long, loud howl. That was always one of my favorite moments in the show. It was the way he created the picture for the audience, the way he filled the theatre with his voice, the way he inspired the rest of us to join in with him. Since then I’ve been surprised at how many times I actually hear or use the phrase “Look at the moon” in real life. And every time, no matter where I am or who says it, I always smile and think of Jonah.

Ross

P.S. Your donation at jonahmac.org is always welcome! We are ever grateful for your friendship and support.

Dear friends,

Our autumn fundraiser has ended, but Jonah’s friends have asked to continue writing about him. So we’ll keep sharing those writings here. Enjoy!

Billy

Tamara Wolfson remembers …

Tamara Wolfson was a proud member of PGT from Spring 2006 through Spring 2007. Though her time at PGT was too short, she made some of her most treasured friends and memories there. Tamara graduated from American Jewish University in Los Angeles with a B.A. in Jewish Studies. She is currently living in Jerusalem, where she is beginning her Cantorial studies at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music.

“I don’t think we’ll ever forget that dance. We’ll be back for the 20th anniversary and we’ll still be able to do it. But I won’t be able to lift Tamara, because she’ll be taller than me and I’ll be weak.”

I remember giggling when I read the above Facebook comment that Jonah had written back in January of 2007. Though I doubt I’ve gotten taller since that photo was taken in 2007, Jonah certainly was right about one thing: to this day, I remember that dance. I will never forget it.

The Secret Garden was one of my earliest PGT shows, and it was the show that first introduced me to Jonah. I remember when Caren, our choreographer, told us that he and I would be dance partners for the waltz number in the show. Jonah practically skipped across the room towards me, wearing a smile so infectious it made me forget my two left feet. When we learned that he would be lifting me during the waltz, Jonah and I looked at each other a bit incredulously. Then that contagious grin and the glint in his eye made me smile in spite of myself. “No big deal. We got this!” We high-fived to seal the deal.

Tamara and Jonah backstage
“The Secret Garden,” Jan 2007

In the weeks of rehearsals leading up to opening night, Jonah learned to lead and I learned to follow. He guided my steps, supporting me when I needed it, and he rarely let go of my hand. Jonah didn’t drop me, slip up, or even step on my feet. He devoted himself completely to the process, because he wanted a show we could all take pride in. The seriousness and deep wisdom with which he approached each and every character he portrayed, coupled with his insatiable positivity and sense of humor, made it an absolute joy to work with him.

Over the years, it became almost impossible to separate the light and warmth of PGT from the light and warmth emanating from Jonah’s very being; he grew to embody the atmosphere that makes PGT such a catalyst for personal and professional growth. For those of us lucky enough to have performed with Jonah, we feel both his absence and his presence in equal measure whenever we step onto a stage. But his legacy of love will always be waiting in the wings, ready to pick us up and sweep us off our feet whenever we need it – and miss it – the most.

Tamara

P.S. Your donation at jonahmac.org is always welcome! We are ever grateful for your friendship and support.

Dear friends,

Our autumn fundraiser has ended, but Jonah’s friends have asked to continue writing about him. So we’ll keep sharing those writings here. Enjoy!

Billy

Mason Lee remembers …

Mason spent his junior and senior years at PGT, where he performed Guys and Dolls, Zanna Don’t, and Hair (with Jonah). He is currently learning Mandarin, Tai Chi, and pursuing an acting career in his new (indefinite) home base in Taipei, Taiwan.

We were all sitting in a circle. It was a passing thing that I saw before Jeff moved on to the next person, a moment of seeing Jonah. It was the first time I had noticed his smile.

We were an hour and a half away from our last performance of Hair at the New Rochelle Public Library, and Jill and Jeff had us on stage for the customary farewell exchange for all the seniors, where they give a little speech to each senior looking back on the years they have spent there. I was curious, as I had only been a part of the PGT gang for two years, what Jeff and Jill had to say about everyone, what the accrual of a relationship like this from childhood all the way up to senior year was going to be like. Definitely mucho tears. The energy hanging in the air just made you want to cry. Like, no yeah dude, you didn’t know? They gonna make you cry today. Cry city. Like yeah, total weep fest. Your brunch serving of Whole-Weep toast (with jam). And I had been there for a relatively short amount of time, but had found a home in PGT. And with the way that PGT makes you immediately feel like family, it wasn’t very hard to enter into this heavy cloud hanging in the room, the cloud of ugh. I gotta leave this place and these people? Noo noooo whyy whyyy, cruel world. And about halfway through their first speech, I hear the sniffles start coming. By the time they got down to my end of the circle, most people were a mess. And I thought to myself, these speeches are a little cruel to be honest, because they’re like, here, let me remind you how wonderful the last ten odd years of your life have been with us, and that no one you meet in your life will ever give you the amount of understanding, love, and support that we will give you. Now go off into the cruel world of adults and get ready to suffer.

And I remember as a means of maintaining my street cred, and not giving in to whatever that knot in my throat was urging me to do, I started looking down at the floor, began studying this weird hardwood gym-class floor that we had been performing on for the past two weeks, studying the clear laminating gel stuff that coats these wooden planks, and those little gelly bumps that would cluster every few centimeters. Really, a strange floor to pretend to be hippies on.

And then they get to Jonah, somewhere towards the end of the circle. He was sitting cross-legged, elbows resting on his knees, hands dangling off the side of his legs, a little bit of the lazy kid lean to the left, weight pushed into his left knee. And Jill started her speech, and I looked at him, and he was smiling. And not a little self-conscious repressed Mason smirk, but a big fat beaming Jonah smile. And my next thought was, what is wrong with you man?? Have you not been abreast of this heart-wrenching and bittersweet situation thus far?? And Jill and Jeff start their speeches for him, and he is still smiling.

Mason and Jonah in “Hair”
Jun 2008

His eyes did not leave Jill and Jeff, but remained in a soft focus. He seemed to exist in some sort of pocket, away from time, in a way that made it seem like the circle didn’t exist, that we weren’t there. The only thing that existed was this direct line between him and the words that were coming out Jill and Jeff’s mouths. The only distinction to be made was that these words appeared to travel towards him, enter through a tiny hole of this space bubble that enclosed him, and proceeded to fill the air inside, so that he need not focus so hard on their mouths, as it was all contained in this pocket.

I don’t know where this smile came from, or what it was about. It seemed vaguely to start somewhere in his brain, traveling down to the corner of his lips and then pushing upwards and outwards. But looking at him and this happiness that was emanating through him, I could not locate a particular place in his body that it was coming from. It just stood, without any sort of time attached to it, as if it had been there forever and we happened to be witnessing presently. His appearance made it seem like someone unseen was leaning in close and whispering some juicy secret into his ear. Or that he was watching his favorite movie, and the best part was happening in front of his eyes. I think if someone were to poke him he wouldn’t have noticed. And if one had somehow managed to shake him out of his reverie, he might look around and think it odd that we were all crying.

I couldn’t help but think it strange that he would be smiling at such a time. Not that one could not feel happiness, or laugh, or smile, as this moment was in fact a celebration, and there was much to be happy about for all of us. And I believe we all were in fact quite happy to be there. But this experience of saying goodbye always, for me, feels characterized by a sense of dread, a feeling of your heart being pried open because of the love you feel for these people; and in this anticipation of leaving what you feel is such a real place, you sit there and you feel so sad. And you want to cry. And you feel a chapter of your life is closing. So when you see in your line of vision this massive SMILE, emanating joy and satisfaction, it feels contradictory, and in fact a bit offensive to this experience that you yourself are having.

And I can only take a guess as to what was behind this smile. In this one show that I did with him, I only had a handful of conversations with him, so any guess is merely just that, guesswork. Perhaps there were a lot of internal happenings that I could not see. But, simply put, maybe this moment between him and this group of people was a celebration, and nothing else. Perhaps he was simply happy to be with two people he loved, sitting in front of him, giving him really nice compliments. Or maybe he was just a really happy kid. Like, way happier than the rest of us.

Did the future, this new phase of entering college, and the prospect of leaving this home behind, not daunt him? There had to be something that he lacked, some sort of sentimentality about the past that the rest of us possessed during this time, and for that reason he felt no need for sadness or tears. In that case, what was his opinion about the other side of this moment with us? The part about having to leave all these people behind. He must have been aware that this was all going to end. That was why we were all crying. So why did he seem, in an almost oblivious way, to not be tapped in to this sadness that was pervading the room? Did this part just not register with him?

Maybe it was this very sadness coming from his peers that was in fact making him happy; to him it was proof that we were good people, that we had hearts and cared for one another. And that alone was enough to make him smile, and think, cool man, I’m with a good crew. Perhaps he was content enough with the abundance that the moment was providing him, and therefore had no space left in his consciousness for any thoughts of tomorrow or yesterday.

So in my sadness, in this dread I had of departing this place, this time in my life, and these people, and in this feeling that I was drowning in the water, I was, in a way, horribly mistaken. Perhaps this Jonah character, who seemed to be floating on this cloud of bliss above all us criers, and, having somehow purged himself of worry and angst and sadness, had found a way to float, and at this height looking down was privy to inhaling all that wonderful fresh air, feasting on all that delicious fruit, the fruit of company, that this joyous occasion had to offer. So what were we doing suffering at the bottom?

Mason

P.S. Your donation at jonahmac.org is always welcome! We are ever grateful for your friendship and support.

Dear friends,

Our autumn fundraiser has ended, but Jonah’s friends have asked to continue writing about him. So we’ll keep sharing those writings here. Enjoy!

Billy

Sarah Stein remembers …

After graduating from Wesleyan University in May of 2012, Sarah moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she has lived for almost a year and a half. She works as a corporate social responsibility coordinator for a logistics company called Plaza Logística, specializing in education-based projects to fight poverty and unemployment in local communities.

Jonah was hilarious. I don’t remember him doing anything halfway. Whether he was acting in a scene or carrying out some elaborate joke, I always imagine him at 100% full energy. That was what made Jonah such an incredible actor. Many of us needed weeks of rehearsal to come out of our shells and to find the courage to approach a new role without fear. Jonah wasn’t afraid to make a mistake. He was so confident and just went for it every time. He was so fun to be around because of that, and was such a natural actor.

Sarah and Jonah
“Hair,” Informal cast photo
Jun 2008

Jonah also cared deeply about others, but showed this side of himself in a different way. He was never over the top about it, but he demonstrated his thoughtfulness in little ways that would surprise you. On the closing night of Hair, Jonah gave us all commemorative pins he had made for the occasion. He got our attention casually during the pre-show ritual and handed one out to each of us. The pin idea came from a scene that I was in, where my character Jeanie is showing off her “Psychedelicize South Korea” pin to her crush, Claude (played by Ross Baum). Throughout the process I had been using a prop pin with no words on it. I remember how cool it was to proudly wear Jonah’s gift on closing night during that scene. And I know it meant so much to all of us to be able to take that gift home, and to have something tangible to look at and remember all the wonderful times we had together during Hair.

When I look at the pin now, those memories come flooding back. But most of all, there’s the memory of Jonah – his wild smile, his fearlessness, his unbeatable energy, and all those little things that let you know that he was really listening, and that he truly cared.

Sarah

P.S. Your donation at jonahmac.org is always welcome! We are ever grateful for your friendship and support.

Dear friends,

Our autumn fundraiser has ended, but Jonah’s friends have asked to continue writing about him. So we’ll keep sharing those writings here. Enjoy!

Billy

Ryan McGovern remembers …

Ryan McGovern is a freelance writer/director and founding creative director of RooMcGoo.com, a web platform for new musical comedy. He is also a proud graduate of PGT and Emerson College, where he studied Directing for Stage and Screen.

I remember with remarkable clarity the moment I first set foot in PGT, and much of the process for the first show I did there, The Hadleyburg Project, which is the show that introduced me to Jonah. As a 14-year-old who stood out like a big theatrical thumb at my all-boy sports-centric high school, I believe working on that show, and finding PGT, has stayed with me on such a deep level because it was the first time I found peers – specifically male peers – who I really connected with, who I felt equal to.

I remember Jonah specifically as one of “the guys” who was so open to me and who welcomed me from the beginning of the process, since we were “the underclassmen” at the time. At first, Jonah so freely making conversation and jokes with me as an instant friend was almost … jarring. Didn’t he know I’m different? That I’m not like him and the other guys? That we aren’t supposed to get along? But my insecurities faded (as they do at PGT!) and Jonah and I bonded over a joke here, and a joke there.

Jonah and Ryan
“The Hadleyburg Project”
Dec 2004

Lots and lots of jokes, really. Jonah’s sense of humor and his openness are two distinct qualities of his personality I still remember, and they were more important to me during a rough year of high school than I think I ever realized.

That was the only show we were in together, but once you were in a show with someone it was always exciting to go see them in a new role every season, your old friend in a whole new show! And when I think back on all of the PGT performances I saw in high school, I have more specific memories of Jonah on stage than of any other peer I saw in those shows. He appeared in so many roles, and many were so vastly different, but he brought his own distinct personality to each of them so that they’re all strung together in my mind like a reel of “Jonah’s greatest hits.”

And I think, again, this is because of the humor and openness that he always brought with him on stage – that was how he brought each new character to life in a way that was distinctly “Jonah,” while also somehow being completely different from the last character you saw him play.

Now that I am a young director and working with a new generation at PGT, I appreciate on a whole new level how rare these qualities are, and how tricky it can be to put them into action so effortlessly. And I try my best every day to teach our young actors to enter the space, and more importantly, to approach life, with humor and openness.

As Jonah proved to me, it can go a long way.

Ryan

P.S. Your donation at jonahmac.org is always welcome! We are ever grateful for your friendship and support.

Dear friends,

Our autumn fundraiser has ended, but Jonah’s friends have asked to continue writing about him. So we’ll keep sharing those writings here. Enjoy!

Billy

Solly Zisser remembers …

Solly Zisser is a junior in high school at Solomon Schechter School of Westchester. He is currently in rehearsal for his fifteenth production at PGT, starring as Shrek in “Shrek, the Musical” (Jan 11-26, 2014).

Unfortunately, I did not get to know Jonah as well as I wished I had. I was only twelve when he left us. Most of my very few memories that I have of him are scattered and not very clear. One of my most clear memories of Jonah occurred during PGT’s production of Once on this Island. As told in Maddie Hendricks’ writing, two weeks before our tech week Jill Abusch (our director) needed to find someone to play the role of Daniel’s father. She picked Jonah. So there we were, rehearsing in the White Plains Mall [PGT’s old rehearsal space] three weeks before our show with a new cast member. Most of the cast was on break while only a handful of us was actually rehearsing. I, being the curious ten-year-old that I was, went into the infamous “yellow room” where the rehearsal was going on. I sat down next to where Jill was standing and began watching the rehearsal. Jonah also happened to be watching the rehearsal.

Jonah and Solly, “Once On This Island”
May 2007

Our set consisted of these big circular platforms that cast members had to push around on the stage. Jill’s constant challenge: find people to move these platforms. The scene that I happened to be watching consisted of a platform move and Jill says “Um … Jonah, Solly … you’re up.” Of course what we didn’t know at the time, which we learned during tech week when we had a stage and a set, is that Jonah and I would have to stay behind the platform after we moved into place for the duration of the scene and song.

All I could think of was, “Oh great. Not only do I have to stay on stage for all this time but there is gonna be this big, scary high schooler with me.” I was quite nervous to say the least. But all my nerves were pushed aside the very first time we did that scene/song. Together Jonah and I moved the platform and set it into place. We sat down behind it and then, without a moment’s hesitation, Jonah says with a big smile on his face, “So, how ya doing, Solly?” I was caught completely off guard. I barely even knew Jonah, let alone ever talked to him. I was practically a stranger to him, and yet he treated me like a friend.

Jonah’s kindness and compassion inspired us all. The way he interacted with others can teach us all how to treat those around us. I feel lucky to have been able to catch a small glimpse of Jonah. I feel lucky, like I know we all do, to have known him, as a role model, and as a friend.

Solly

P.S. Your donation at jonahmac.org is always welcome! We are ever grateful for your friendship and support.

Dear friends,

I’m so honored to share with you this very special, very loving portrait of Jonah, written by the one and only Jill Abusch. Read her bio below. Jill, along with her husband Steven, is the heart and soul of Play Group Theatre. For any truly complete reflection on what the intersection of Jonah and PGT was truly about, it’s important to hear from Jill. Needless to say, for the care and guidance and love she gave to both our sons across the years (heck, that’s she’s given to me and Ellen, as well!) we can never offer sufficient gratitude. But I have a wish: that she and Steven be able to do their thing for many, many decades to come, so that tens of thousands of kids will benefit from the same magic they bestowed upon Jonah and Aiden.

While our autumn fundraiser ends on Jan 5, 2014, we’ll be running a bunch more essays written by Jonah’s friends. I hope you enjoy them all.

Billy

Jill Abusch remembers …

Jill Abusch is the co-founder and Artistic Director of The Play Group Theatre in White Plains, NY. Jill studied acting and directing at the Stella Adler Conservatory and the Classical Studio at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she earned a BFA in Drama. She adores working alongside her husband and partner, Steven, and is especially proud of their best productions, by far: Aviva and Ilana.

It was almost exactly a month after Jonah died, in the first week of April. I was driving with my then little girls in the back seat of the car … hearing their little girl chatter in the background but lost in my own thoughts of Jonah, feeling angry and heartbroken and just so terribly sad … and suddenly, I was driving in snow. SNOW! In April. And not just light little flakes of snow … big, swirly snow, falling fast and furious. And all I kept thinking was, of course, how very perfect. This snowfall – so surprising and unpredictable, making my kids scream “It’s snowing!” with equal parts disbelief and wonder, was the perfect metaphor for our Jonah. When I looked up, the snow was swirling excitedly around in the sky, seemingly random and frenzied, but as the flakes landed on my windshield I could see that they indeed had direction and meaning and purpose. It was magical, this snowstorm, because it was unexpected and because it was beautiful and because it was powerful and strong – not a wimpy little snow shower – and because it made all of us smile. And then, just as quickly as it started, the snow stopped. It didn’t gradually slow down and peter out, it just stopped. And when we arrived home and I got out of my car, the sun was shining. It was over too quickly. But I will never, never forget that snowfall.

Jonah burst onto the PGT scene full force. He took the stage by storm and stole our hearts in the process. His exuberance on stage was matched by his off-stage lovable, infectious energy. He had hugs for everyone. Not polite little pats on the back – big, giant, pick-you-up-off-the-floor-and-spin-you-around bear hugs. For his teachers too. I received many.

Hair
Jun 2008

Audiences LOVED Jonah – they would leave the theatre talking about him because his characters were all larger than life, yet totally truthful. They were all funny and sweet, charming and real, theatrical and always deeply personal. But audiences only got to see a part of Jonah. His PGT friends and teachers are so lucky; we got the backstage Jonah.

Backstage Jonah was mischievous, silly, passionate, industrious … he could also totally goof off, be completely infuriating and distract everyone from their work! He was the student you LOVED to have in your cast and the one you had to ALWAYS keep your eye on! He was the student you had to keep in line, but also, how could you reprimand JONAH?!?!?! He was just being Jonah … he was just doing it HIS way!

Above all, I remember Jonah’s generosity of spirit. The look on his face as he handed out the homemade buttons he created for the cast of Hair on the morning of our closing show – the act of giving this gift, bringing him such total joy – is permanently planted in my heart and mind. The impulsive way he would give a friend a piggyback ride when she didn’t have shoes to wear down to Subway, or the ease and love with which he shared his senior show experience with his baby brother … his ability to jump in and help out with whatever needed to be done around the theatre – no task too great or too small … his sparkly eyes that were windows into his sparkly spirit … his generosity took many forms.

At PGT, we have some golden rules – they are both implicit and explicit in the work we do every day. If we can teach these rules to our students during their time with us, then we have been successful:

• Make your partner look better than yourself.
• Work hard, play hard.
• Bring your best self to everything you do.
• Listen.

I like to think we taught Jonah a thing or two during his years at PGT. He certainly graduated a different kid than he arrived. But these golden rules weren’t things we had to teach him. Jonah intuitively owned these values. He embodied them – it is who he was.

I have been talking with my students a lot lately about the very nature of live theatre. It is in the moment. It is here and it is gone. The curtain comes down on a show and it is over, gone forever. If you weren’t in the theatre, you missed it. Photographs and videos are nice reminders, but they can’t replicate the experience. You had to be there to see it … you had to see it to understand it. That is what makes it so special. And yet … and yet. We are part of an incredible tradition, those of us who spend our lives in the theatre. Centuries of artists have come before us and we have inherited their plays, their superstitions, their techniques, their legends, their ideas and ideals. So, while the art itself is fleeting, its impact is long-lasting. And, on a smaller scale, here at PGT … nearly twenty years of young actors, teachers, designers, directors have now passed through our little world. Shows open and they close. They are here and they are gone. But left behind are twenty years of traditions, life lessons, memories, role models … a foundation upon which our current and future students and staff can make their own art.

And, in those twenty years, is our Jonah. You had to know Jonah to understand him … you had to experience Jonah to know him. I can write about him, I can tell stories about him … but like photographs of live theatre, my words can only tell you so much. Jonah had to be experienced in the moment. That is what made him so special. And yet … he leaves behind so much for us to build upon. From the fun off-stage memories to the gorgeous art he created to the life lessons he embodied and passed along to the rest of us. His life was fleeting, but its impact long-lasting.

I miss Jonah all the time. He was unpredictable and a little frenzied … but his passionate, exuberant energy always had direction and meaning and purpose. He was a beautiful, strong, magical person. He made us smile, sometimes in spite of ourselves. We couldn’t help it. That was Jonah. And then, like that snowstorm, he was gone too soon. But Jonah left behind a gorgeous ray of sunshine – beautiful memories, enduring friendships, a theatrical career that made us laugh and cry and think and feel, a brother who carries his legacy on stage and in his heart, parents and a sister who continue to keep his memory alive through incredible charitable work and beautiful written words that lift us all.

Jonah’s life was too short. But he lived it fully. I am so very grateful that I got to be a part of it, and that I continue to bask in the sunshine that he left behind.

Jill

P.S. Please give generously to our Autumn 2013 campaign at jonahmac.org. As always, we are ever grateful for your friendship and support.

“Jonah’s Years at PGT” is The Jonah Maccabee Foundation’s autumn fundraiser for 2013. Throughout November and December 2013, we’ll be remembering, mainly through the writing of his friends, some of the great fun and growing Jonah experienced at PGT. We’re hoping you’ll be inspired to help us provide other kids with similarly loving direction along the road to wholeness during their own childhood years. Please consider making your tax-deductible gift at jonahmac.org by Sunday, January 5, 2014. Okay, or any other time. Thank you. You’re the best!

Chiara Klein remembers …

Chiara Klein grew up in Edgemont and performed in PGT shows for six memorable years. After graduating from Dartmouth in 2010, Chiara founded MaineStage Shakespeare, an outdoor summer theater in Kennebunk, Maine. She is currently in New Haven pursuing an MFA/MBA joint degree in theater management at Yale.

When I look back on my years at PGT, I have very few memories that do not somehow involve Jonah. Whether or not he was in your cast, Jonah was a huge presence at PGT. He was always full of surprises ranging from whipping out his ukulele necklace and making up a song, to completing a challenge to eat a ball of wasabi, to talking about his latest adventures in detention, to sneaking up on someone for a big bear hug. His infectious energy, when channeled for good and paired with his acute sense of compassion, gave him an uncanny ability to create truthful and moving characters.

A Man of No Importance
Dec 2005

The two shows that we did together were The Laramie Project and A Man of No Importance – two challenging productions in which Jonah played multiple roles (and, coincidentally, multiple gay-bashers). In both cases, I admired him not just for his ability to seamlessly transform into complex characters, but by the way that he could go from goofing around offstage to playing these troubled, layered, emotional characters onstage. I have never met anyone else who at the same time could be as irreverent, fun and gregarious offstage and as thoughtful, serious and moving onstage.

A Man of No Importance
Dec 2005

I will always cherish getting to watch Jonah grow as an actor and a person from the unique perspective of having graduated two years before him and seeing him only in short bursts. Every time I saw him after I graduated, it was as if he had grown years in maturity, confidence, and craft. I will always remember being stunned by his kindly and complex portrayal of Ben in The Secret Garden, how I did not recognize him in his riveting, chilling portrayal of Doctor Otternschlag in Grand Hotel, and the tremendous joy with which he became Woof in Hair.

The last time I saw Jonah he told me how excited he was that he would be going to Buffalo in the fall, and I told him how impressed and amazed I was by the confident and grounded young man he had become in the five years since we first met. It has been another five years now and I still expect to see him at every PGT gathering and show. Jonah’s life was much too short, but the impact and legacy that he leaves is immeasurable. He was and always will be larger than life.

Chiara

P.S. Please give generously to our Autumn 2013 campaign at jonahmac.org. As always, we are ever grateful for your friendship and support.

“Jonah’s Years at PGT” is The Jonah Maccabee Foundation’s autumn fundraiser for 2013. Throughout November and December 2013, we’ll be remembering, mainly through the writing of his friends, some of the great fun and growing Jonah experienced at PGT. We’re hoping you’ll be inspired to help us provide other kids with similarly loving direction along the road to wholeness during their own childhood years. Please consider making your tax-deductible gift at jonahmac.org by Sunday, January 5, 2014. Okay, or any other time. Thank you. You’re the best!

Jeff Downing remembers …

For many years, Jeff was the Associate Artistic Director of Play Group Theatre. He directed Jonah in six shows there: Lucky Stiff, The Laramie Project, A Man of No Importance, The Secret Garden, Marvin’s Room and Grand Hotel. He recently moved to Helena, Montana, where Jeff now serves as the Artistic Director for Grandstreet Theatre.

I directed Jonah many times. Through countless hours of rehearsal and performances, I watched Jonah transform from a boy into an incredible young man. I remember so much about his journey.

I remember …

Jonah and Jeff backstage
“Grand Hotel” (Dec 2007)

• When he didn’t know how to walk on tempo in Lucky Stiff and somehow became a dancing hippie superstar in Hair.
• How he never seemed to know his lines when he was supposed to. The rumors that I threw a script at him during The Laramie Project may or may not be true.
• When he became the kid we would fight over in casting sessions.
• When he auditioned with “Over the Rainbow,” and accompanied himself with his ukelele.
• Choreography rehearsals for Hair. Jonah was not to be believed.
• How he embraced playing the bad guy show after show, knowing his unlikable character was a necessary piece of the story puzzle.
• When he played Ben in The Secret Garden … a good guy … yay!
• Our quality time during Grand Hotel when I would paint his hair gray with a toothbrush and tape a mustache to his face.
• That monologue in The Laramie Project. That unbelievable monologue near the end of Act One. Jackie Cotugno standing stage right. Sarah Nash standing stage left. Jonah sitting down center stage in a dark-blue hoodie. Some of the finest acting I ever saw at PGT.
• How proud he was when we gathered with his senior class for their final performance.

Ben in The Secret Garden
Jan 2007

Sadly, what I don’t remember is the last time I saw Jonah. I have some fuzzy memories; I know it would have been during our rehearsal process for Urinetown, but I can’t say for certain when it was. My best guess is that it was an ordinary day at the White Plains Mall [PGT’s former rehearsal space]. We had put out a call for volunteers to come and help us paint scenery for an upcoming show. Jonah was home on a break; a college student who could have easily spent his time on his parent’s couch. But of course, Jonah showed up to help us paint scenery. I don’t remember a lot about this afternoon, but I remember that Jonah was there. He didn’t have to be there, but he was. He continued to give back to us, the people and the place that he cared so very much about. I will always remember that about Jonah, his spirit of giving. Joining a stage crew at the last minute or accepting a cameo role so that the show could go on was so quintessentially Jonah.

But the kind of giving that warms my heart the most is the way he gave his energy, his heart, his soul, his very own self to every single moment he had onstage, especially in his final shows at PGT. I am so grateful to have those memories. They will never go away … and so Jonah won’t either.

Jeff

P.S. Please give generously to our Autumn 2013 campaign at jonahmac.org. As always, we are ever grateful for your friendship and support.