'There Is Humanity in Here"

A New York prison's theater program helped transform the lives of inmates. The new movie Sing Sing tells their story with alumni playing themselves

- JACK SMART

The cast of Sing Sing, made up largely of formerly incarcerated men, aren't just telling a remarkable true story-they're reliving their own. With the exception of Oscar nominees Colman Domingo and Paul Raci, the heart-wrenching drama features alumni of Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA), a thriving organization of theater and other arts program operating in maximum- and medium-security prisons throughout New York State. "I commend my fellow brothers for coming in and crafting a role that's a version of not only yourself, but other people you've witnessed [behind bars]," says actor-producer Domingo, 54, who stars as the charismatic John "Divine G" Whitfield, one of the movie's creative consultants and a former RTA participant.