2 months ago
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The invitation announced that a cultural tribute honouring the life and legacy of Munair Zacca would be held at the Little Theatre last Wednesday evening; however, the programme indicated that the memorial for Zacca would also take place on the very stage he loved.
And the arrival of his family with the urn containing the ashes of the late stage and television actor, left no doubt that this was indeed the last rites for the man known fondly as ‘Sonny T’ from his iconic role in the historic television drama, Royal Palm Estate.
“It probably was a little confusing ... but this is it, there will be nothing else,” Zacca’s daughter Paloma explained to The Sunday Gleaner when asked if there was going to be a church service or any other thanksgiving commemoration.
For the opening, there was the playing of the national anthem, in addition to scripture reading and prayer similar to what would happen at a thanksgiving service. But, after that, the “memory” in memorial skilfully played out, as scenes from Zacca’s life, unfolded across the screen, some sombre but most soaked in infectious comedy, even as laughter rang out inside the Little Theatre.
The evening saw a balanced mix of live and recorded tributes, live performances and both picture and video montages, all in honour of ‘Muns’, who was remembered as “a master of the craft” and who “left a legacy of love, humility and quiet strength”.
The first picture montage – accompanied by Peter Ashbourne playing You Raised Me Up – showed Zacca as an adorable toddler into his younger years. Zacca would grow up to be the Syrian-Jamaican who carved his path away from the family business and blazed a trail into acting to become one of the architects of Jamaican theatre. During his lifetime, he took part in more than 180 productions.
Rib-tickling video montages showed Zacca in a scene with Cathi Levy and Glen Campbell, and a soliloquy with him deeply lamenting the treacherous betrayal from someone who turned out to be his daughter. Her great sin was stealing his money.
Zacca’s friends spoke of his ability to assume the character he was playing, as seen in the on the television soap opera, Royal Palm Estate, where he was the ruthless Sonny T who “ran a criminal empire with charisma”, but they were also quick to point out that Zacca the husband, father and friend was nothing like that.
“He was a quiet soul, and when he spoke about his children, his eyes would light up in a way that the cameras couldn’t catch,” a friend said in tribute.
His daughter Anabela and Paloma recalled that their father always put his family first and Anabela smiled as she recalled how she became a celebrity while attending Alpha, as she would be asked to sign autographs when the students couldn’t get to Sonny T.
Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, in a tribute read by Permanent Secretary Denzil Thorpe, hailed Zacca as “one of the best homegrown acting talents to have emerged from Jamaica”. She noted that “with Trevor Rhone and Yvonne Brewster, he took theatre to small venues beginning with the Barn Theatre on Oxford Road. Before that theatre was present in bigger spaces such as the Ward Theatre and the Little Theatre”.
Lenny Little-White shared that when he and Zacca were classmates at Jamaica College, “nobody considered acting as a viable profession ... except Munair” and, with a desire to work with him, he sealed the deal with Royal Palm Estate.
“I invited Reggie Carter and Munair as the alpha and omega of the show. But when Reggae Carter passed, I said, ‘Munair, you owe it to Reggae to make the series live on’. Munair replied, ‘Bossman, I am ready for the challenge if you think I can do it.’ The rest is history,” a present Little-White said in a tribute read for him by Paul Issa.
Emphasising that “we are here to celebrate the stature of the great Jamaica actor”, Little-White noted that Zacca “even played a woman to confront God in heaven and went further to appear in his birthday suit on stage at The Ward Theatre ... without apology and without a fig leaf”.
That nude appearance seemed to have been quite momentous, and Honor Ford-Smith shared a delightful, very behind-the-scenes story about her role as the person who had to take Zacca to the beach to get his buttocks tanned in preparation for that scene. Dorothy Cunningham, in her personal tribute, also referenced that scene, noting with regret that she was unable to attend the theatre that night because she had rehearsals.
Zacca’s widow, Adelina Pedroza-Zacca, shared her heartfelt thanks at the outpouring of love for her late husband. She told The Sunday Gleaner that she wants him to be remembered as “an honest, charming man who loved his family, with a passion for theatre and a love for his country”.
“Munair was a very shy, loving and fiery person. And, to quote him, ‘a born, bred, schooled and very nationalistic Jamaican bredda’ ... a true Jamaican patriot, through and through and proud of it,” Pedroza-Zacca said when asked what kind of person he was off stage.
Sharing that “theatre was his first love”, Pedroza-Zacca listed some of his special roles: Edward Seaga in 8 o’clock Jamaica Time; a cameo in the James Bond film, Live and Let Die, his very first film role; and McKenzie in The Fight Against Slavery, a Jamaican mini-series produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation.
“He was also very proud of producing and writing the [Creative Production and Training Centre] CPTC-produced The Play’s the Thing, that and he also acted in with Cathy Levy as his wife. And for sure, Munair loved his role as Sonny T on Royal Palm Estate and all the recognition that it brought after so many years on stage,” Pedroza-Zacca sated.
Tributes also came from Justin Hadeed, Sheila Carter (read by Carl Davis), Bobby Finzi-Smith, Paul Campbell, Tony Hendriks and Pau Dangla Valls. Everaldo Creary and Junior Williams were the drunken duo in the Dahlia Harris-produced Rounds Table Talk; students from the Jamaica School of Drama entertained with Owen ‘Blakka’ Ellis’ Tick Tock, and Nexxus Performing Arts Group gave cultural offerings.
The stage manager was Karen Harriott.
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