Play dedicated to slain teen

Adelia Ladson

July 21, 2007 10:28 pm

— MOULTRIE — “Who else would love him still. When they’ve been used so ill? He knows I always will. As long as he needs me,” sings Nancy, a character who is brutally murdered by her boyfriend in Lionel Bart’s “Oliver!”
The words also hold poignant meaning for those who remember Jennifer Ann Crecente.
Crecente, spending the summer in Moultrie with her father, played a young pickpocket in the Colquitt County Arts Center’s production of “Oliver!” nine years ago.
On Feb. 15, 2006, at the age of 18, Crecente was shot to death in her home town of Austin, Texas. An ex-boyfriend, Justin Crabbe, is charged with murder in her death.
Crabbe is scheduled to be in court Friday. The Travis County District Attorney’s Office said Crabbe will forgo his upcoming trial, according to the website of KVUE, an Austin television station, which hinted at a plea agreement. The DA’s office declined to discuss that possibility.
On the very same day, the Arts Center Theatre will begin another production of “Oliver!” Each performance will be dedicated to Crecente’s memory.
Performance dates are July 27 at 7 p.m., July 28 at 10 a.m., Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. and Aug. 5 at 2 p.m. The July 28 show will be followed by lunch with the cast for a small additional charge. All performances will be held at the Arts Center’s Wright Auditorium. Contact the Arts Center at 985-1922 for ticket information.
Crecente will have a real presence at the performances. First of all, as the play-goers arrive, they’ll pass a bench donated to the Arts Center in her honor by Jennifer Ann’s Group, an organization her father started in her memory. In September of last year, the bench was placed under a tree that is adjacent to the main entrance of the Arts Center facing the Wright Auditorium.
“I wanted it facing the box office because that is where we spent a lot of our time,” said Drew Crecente, her father, at the bench’s dedication.
The Crecentes were in two shows together at the Colquitt County Arts Center, “Oliver!” and “The Music Man.”
When Jennifer Crecente died, her body was buried in Moultrie, next to her great-grandfather in the Crecente family plot.
Drew Crecente started Jennifer Ann’s Group to “educate, inform and then direct” teens who may be victims of violence to already existing organizations that can help them. Since November 2006 the group has been distributing educational cards featuring “10 warning signs of an abusive relationship” and suggestions for a safety plan. Starting this past February, the cards also feature the toll-free number of The National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline.
“We want to give them information they need to identify the warning signs and give them information on who they can get help from. There are a lot of warning signs and we need to get them out there,” Crecente said.
The cards will be available in the front lobby of Wright Auditorium during each performance. There will also be bracelets, lapel pins and key chains with the Jennifer Ann’s Group logo on them for sale with all proceeds going to the organization.
“The tide is turning, I think, in terms of awareness,” said Crecente.