Sign Language on Broadway

[boatsintheghetto]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 6:03pm

Hey, does any one know the different shows wehre they do sign language on broadway? I saw the rent tour and it had it, but i was wondering about other shows. im planning on majoring in signlanguage interpretation in college and i'd love to be able to stick with theater as well. I just wanna see the diff shows that do it.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 6:05pm

You mean shows that have had sign language as part of the show, or shows that offer it to audience members who are deaf?

BIG RIVER was a full blown ASL show.

[Mythus]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 6:18pm

Big River is all I can think of. I remember reading somewhere that it was executed poorly, though. I can see how that would be hard to pull off - I think they tried to incorporate the interpreters into the show? I'm drawing a blank.

[Musetta1957]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 6:38pm

As far as I know, all shows on Broadway have performances at one time or another with interpreters off to the stage.

I've seen Phantom and Les Miz both interpreted.

The last show on Broadway before Big River that had ASL as (one of) the main language(s) of the piece was Children of a Lesser God.

[Musetta1957]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 6:39pm

"I remember reading somewhere that it was executed poorly, though."

Executed poorly?! Big River?!?!?!

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 7:39pm

That was my reaction too.

BIG RIVER received glowing reviews across-the-board. The critics (and audiences) raved about how the show incorporated sign language beautifully, and even brought the show to an awe-inducing stop during the "Waiting for the Light to Shine" reprise.

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 7:58pm

RENT incorporated sign language? Awsome! My best friend is deaf and I'm learing ASL from her and her family right now but I'm so glad to see that sign language is actually becoming part of theatre. This may sound corny to some but theatre is something I really want to share with her since she's my best friend and we share everything else but it's hard because, obviously, she can't really enjoy a broadway show as much as I would. I really hope they come out with more ASL oriented shows so we can both go together and she can be a bigger part of something I love so much.

[Musetta1957]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 8:02pm

No, Rent did/does not incorporate ASL. They have had interpreters, though.

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 8:05pm

Well its nice that they have interpreters anyways. I mean it's better then not being able to understand the show at all right? My friend read the lyric booklet and she loved them so I think its something we would both love to go see when we graduate from high school and can go to New York.

[Raggy Q poo]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 8:46pm

Funny you mention this. I've always always wanted to be an actress but alas, my dream will never come true. I've also always been interested in sign language and I am now in my second ASL class in college and enjoying it ever soo much. I've actually talked to a producer of a currently running Broadway show who I told this to. He said that incorporating the two would be wonderful and it has been done many times. Supposedly there is like a 1 week run with interpreters and they (interpreters) meet with the cast and learn all they have to sign and then go on for that week. Signing often is hard to do for an extended period of time so I suppose when they have this, that one signer would go on for half of the play and the other interpreter would go on for the second half.

Also, depending on whether you are doing ASL or English sign language can make a difference too. ASL is considered a foreign language while English sign language is not. ASL has differnt syntax and ways of forming the sentence unlike English sign language which is signed exactly how it is said in English. Often these 2 are incorporated into one another.

And yes, Big River is part of the Deaf West Regional Theater (I think thats what it is called) and I saw it in Philadelphia in....November (if I remember correctly) It was a great show but the way Big River was performed is not like any other show is performed with interpreters.

Hope I helped a little.

[brandonm]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 8:52pm

the FAME tour did when i saw it. if you're watching the interpreters, how can you watch and enjoy the show too? just curious

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 8:53pm

Yeah intepreting is alot harder then it seems. With my friend, she has two interpreters each day who go to all her classes with her and signs what the teacher is saying. They switch off every half hour to rest because its very tiring on the arms. It would be very taxing for someone to interpret a whole show for a long time so the week long stint is understandable. But that's very cool nonetheless.

I'm also about to start the second half of an ASL class this April at a nearby college which I'm excited about and its amazing how the structure of the sentence is different. Not only between different sign languages but between ASL and spoken english. For example, "Do you want to go to the movies tonight?" Would come out like "Tonight, you want go to movie?" in ASL. My friend was also showing me all the signs she knew in foreign languages and it was so interesting. There are completely seperate signs for dutch, british, french etc. So complex but its awsome.

And yes, Deaf West theatre is awsome. Last spring I saw this amazing deaf comedian named C.J. perform at Deaf West. It was incredible and so funny.

[Raggy Q poo]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 9:12pm

ASL actually stems from the French language. That is why schools now are allowing ASL to be accepted as another language.

For an exapmple taken from my book is this conversation:

Person 1: Party You Invite me, I must decline. Conflict
Person 2: All-right. I save food for you
Person 1: No. I increase weight I. I think of I. I should bring there salad. #Do?
Person 1: Worry. Self will make
Person 2: THank you. Will you tell-her wife sorry?
Person 1: Sure, ok. Worry.

Much has to do with facial expression in sign language. For a statement that negates something you would shake your head no. Or if it's a yes or no question your eyes are supposed to be wide open and if it's an open ended question, you squint.
There is soo much that you must learn that one doesn't even realizes.

Also, often signs are done wrong, which often is another sign such as "breakfeast" and "B*tch" or "Meet you" and "F*ck you." Everyone makes these kind of mistakes at first but you better watch who you are doing them in front of. There are many many embaresing stories.

Oh- and Brandonm- It's very hard for one who is hearing to experience deafness becuase there is no way that you can totally close off your ears. No matter what you do, 'you cannot make sound sound shut off.' Deaf people have adapted to these circumstances as its much easier to do so when it's the only option. Plus, when one of your 5 sences goes, the others tend to 'perk up' When watching a show and sign a sign language interpreter is pretty easy for the deaf. Even when having a signed conversation with a person, you are not supposed to look at their hands and what they are signing but rather the person as a whole. Such this in theater, interpreters are only showing you the words, the actors are showing you the action and if you saw someone doing an action but without words, I bet you can guess what action they are doing just from watching it. I did that exce3rsize in my acting class and it was actually quite fun. Try it- you'll like it.

Updated On: 2/14/05 at 09:12 PM

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 9:16pm

Did anyone see that g-d awfull show at the Superbowl?

I feel bad for those poor blind and deaf kids....

Big River has great music...and at the Tony's they showed clips from it on the big screen...more than they showed on T.V....

[CatieElphie1]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 9:20pm

I was in a production of Joseph in 5th grade and they had interpreters on the stage for I think two or three shows. The problem was, they didn't tell us little kids that they would be on the stage, so somehow we wound up standing in front of them...so i'm not sure if anyone ever understood the last chorus of Go Go GO Joseph.....

[Raggy Q poo]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 9:26pm

And also, feeling bad for deaf kids (and I suppose blind to) is not something needed. they live a normal happy successful life- if they so choose. I actually went to a deaf social yesterday as part of my assignment and I was soo nervous because I am not fluent, plus I was afraid I was going to slow or do something wrong and offend someone. It all worked at aweome because the deaf people are soo accepting. They appreciate you as a person learning to accept others and be able to communicate with them. They were often signing quite fast and I was worried that I was asking them to slow down too much and they didn't mind at all. They were all very nice, obviously you are gonna meet nasty deaf people too but thats just like life in general.

If you get a chance- 2 books I highly reccommed are "Deaf like Me" by Spradley and "Listening with my heart" by Heather Whitestone, who in fact was the first deaf Miss America.

[Musetta1957]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 10:33pm

"I feel bad for those poor blind and deaf kids...."

That's a terrible thing to say.

"ASL is considered a foreign language while English sign language is not."

Did mean SEE (Signed Exact English)? Unless you mean BSL (British Sign Language), but I'm not sure if that's based on LSF or English, or...

OK, you can ignore that part, I guess. But I'm not deleting it.

[ShuQ]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 10:43pm

For ALL National Tours in Nashville..they have interpreters at the Sunday matinee. It's very entertaining to watch them at times, kinda hard to not watch them and keep focus on the show.

[Plum]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 10:47pm

There's captioning at some shows now, which I find useful just because I'm really bad at hearing lyrics.

[Eileen2]

Posted: 2/14/05 at 11:40pm

Interpreting sign langugage, particularly music, is much more complex then the regular words we hear sung within the production. I've seen several performances with sign language interpreters. Typically, in the productions I've seen, there are 3 interpreters that go through portraying all of the different parts within the production. They alternate parts, based on what character is up at a given time. It has to be exhausting, but after taking an ASL class in college and interpreting a song as a final exam, I found it amazing to watch.

Eileen

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 2/15/05 at 12:00am

"I feel bad for those poor blind and deaf kids...."

Seriously, that's not needed or wanted by those who are deaf or blind. I speak from having friends who are deaf and blind when I say that they dont see it as a disability or a drawback. My friend loves being deaf and they don't need pity. I'm not saying that anyone meant it in a bad way at all, I'm just saying on behalf of any deaf, blind etc person you may come across. They are just like you and I and them being deaf or blind or what have you is just another thing that makes them who they are as an individual and as a person. I've been to a few deaf events with my friend and they are all just like everyone else, trying to live happy and successful lives like the rest of us.

Its true that interpreting a song or lecture or whatever it may be is far more complex then most realize. It usually takes more than one and I find it fascinating myself. Whenever I have a class with my friend, I always find myself watching her interpreters sign to her because their movements are so fluid.

I'm so glad to hear that they are now having interpreters for alot of shows. I always see shows that I want to see with my friend because I think she'd really enjoy it but we never end up going because she doesnt understand whats going on and cant read lips from that far away but now that they are including interpreters in some shows maybe we'll be able to see more together. We both really want to go see RENT in the future.