Omer Abbas Salem- the brown Julia Roberts...
Actor and Playwright- Chicago, IL
In to America at Griffin Theatre directed by Dorothy Milne
Chicago Tribune
But there is also undeniable value — especially
these days — to giving center stage to the voices
of the dispossessed and the displaced, who
refuse to surrender their dignity even in the face
of the ugliest xenophobia dished out. Omer
Abbas Salem plays a Syrian peddler in rural
Oklahoma (shades of Ali Hakim from "Oklahoma!")
who ingratiates himself into the home of a farmer
and his wife on a cold winter's night — and ends
up with new friends for life.
Chicago Theatre Beat
The actors are phenomenal, particularly Omer Abbas Salem and Scott Shimizu, the latter of whom recounts a World War II-era raid to a Japanese American family home that brings more than one tear to the eye.
(http://chicagotheaterbeat.com/2017/04/02/in-to-america-review-griffin-theatre/#review)
New City Stage
These pieces are drawn from letters and journals and there are few storytellers in the cast. Juanita Andersen, Aneisa Hicks and Omer Abbas Salem are charismatic.
