South Shore performer gets his Hollywood moment in Oscar winner ‘CODA’

In the Oscar-winning movie “CODA,” Bryan Sabbag, 25, performs and is a lead vocalist on the soundtrack. His day job involves work with Alzheimer’s patients and he also appears regularly on the South Shore with The Milton Players, The Paris Cabaret in Stoughton and Company Theatre in Norwell.

Sabbag, a Norwood resident, works at the memory care facility at Avita of Needham, where he runs the activities in four of their Northbridge community units.

South Shore stage actor Bryan Sabbag, center, had a part in the Oscar-winning movie "CODA."

“I incorporate my musical skills into the programs. I sing with the residents, we do karaoke,” Sabbag said. “I have to be on my toes all the time and be creative. It requires a lot of patience and a lot of empathy. You can’t just help with your hands, you have to feel with your heart.”

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Sabbag’s experience with professional theater led him to try out for his first movie.

During “CODA” auditions, Sabbag sang a somber song, “What You’d Call a Dream,” from the musical revue “Diamonds.”

“After I sang, they wanted me to do the song again with a comedic flair, and then to sing it a third time as if I was in the flag-waving finale of ‘Les Mis.’ ” They dubbed him “Broadway Boy,” the character he eventually played in “CODA,” and he shared an insight into his nickname.

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“Instead of sticking strictly to the script, (director) Sian Heder let the characters fit more closely to each of our personalities,” he said.

He remembers how it felt to be cast.

“I got a call from Boston Casting that I was in the movie, and I was laughing and crying on my knees, I was so stunned. Even today I still have to pinch myself that I won’t just wake up from a dream. I love telling a story, sharing music with people.”

“CODA,” which stands for child of deaf adults, tells a story about love and acceptance in a Gloucester family in which all are deaf except the teenage daughter (Emilia Jones), an aspiring singer whose ambitions threaten her father’s fishing business.

In addition to nabbing the best picture Oscar, the movie won for supporting actor (Troy Kotsur) and adapted screenplay by Heder, of Cambridge.

Sabbag is not deaf but he does struggle with an auditory processing disorder.

“Sometimes I’ll be listening to somebody and there will be bits I hear, but it’s like I don’t hear it because the words don’t always process in my head,” he said. “It’s taken me a number of years to overcome and I overcompensate by being laser-focused on the director so I don’t miss anything important.”

Sabbag’s Broadway flair traces back to when he was 3 years old and he attended musicals with his parents, John and Carol Sabbag, and his sister Lauren. At age 5 he first appeared in a Christmas show for The Reagle Players (now Reagle Music Theatre) and never stopped acting.

In addition to South Shore theater productions, he has performed with Trinity Repertory, Kaleidoscope Touring, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Blackfriars Theatre and many others.

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At his day job, Sabbag often uses Broadway tunes to bring back happy memories for residents with memory loss.

“Even those who are at a very low-functioning level can feel comfortable,” he said. “There are people who have never uttered a sentence but will sing along. It’s like magic.”