Silhouette Productions
We were brought up to the sounds of opera, big band standards and Broadway show tunes. Immersed in the arts, music, dance and performance by our mother Florence Abraham we couldn’t help but be involved. As a young woman she studied music and became a professional vocalist at The Cleveland Opera Company, several prestigious night clubs and recorded under the name of Leslie Johns.
After marriage and while raising her family she continued to perform with numerous local theatre groups from Euclid Lyric Guild to Huntington Playhouse. During this time her desire to direct, form a community theatre group of her own and find a home for it continued to grow. In 1963, in order to raise operating funds, she contacted a group of talented friends who presented weekend reviews at Scotty’s Tavern under the name of Silhouette Productions. With the assistance of the Wickliffe Recreation Department, her sister Emily DiDonato and her mother (seamstress extraordinaire) Rose Franic their first full production “Once Upon a Mattress” hit the stage at Wickliffe Junior High School the following year. I
In the early years, Silhouette Productions presented Music Man, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, My Fair Lady, Oliver, Milk and Honey and The King and I.
After her death, though her family continued to perform, Silhouette’s became dormant. Then her oldest son Charles Abraham Jr. decided to direct, resurrected the production company and took it on the road. He staged productions at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, Rabbit Run, Geauga Lyric Theatre Guild, Wicci and finally found a permanent home in 1995 at The Shore Cultural Centre. During the final weeks of his crowning achievement, a full flight production of Peter Pan, he suffered a heart attack and passed away. Family and close friends pulled together to keep his dream alive and the show went on in his honor. Later that year Silhouette’s created a new board consisting of family, close friends and our sister Susan Abraham Sabetta as in-house director for the next several years.
Currently, our sister Charlotte Abraham Mirabile is the keeper of our mother’s legacy along with her two daughters Tara and Aria and our cousin Larry DiDonato, Amy Bopp and a host of close family and friends that continue to perform or work tirelessly behind the scenes. Silhouette Productions is four generations strong and comprised of a diverse group of individuals from Northeast Ohio who all have one thing in common – a passion to perform.