A.R.T. Announces ASL Interpreted and Audio Described Performances

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) has scheduled the following American Sign Language (ASL) and Audio Described performances for the upcoming productions at the Loeb Drama Center for Hansel and Gretel and Pippin.

Hansel and Gretel:

In the tradition of last season's sold-out holiday hit The Snow Queen, the A.R.T. brings another classic children's story to life-this time, The Brothers Grimm tale of a brother, a sister, a breadcrumb trail, and a suspicious gingerbread house in the woods. Graduate acting students from the A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theater Training star in this energetic and interactive re-telling, sure to be a sweet holiday treat for the whole family.

Audience members are encouraged to bring non-perishable food itemsto the performance. All food collected will be donated to the Greater Boston Food Bank this holiday season.

ASL Interpreted performances: Sunday, December 30 at 11:00am and Sunday, January 6 at 11:00am
Team: Michael Krajnak (coach), Wendy Watson and Jeanette Ocampo Welch (interpreters)

Pippin:

The Tony Award-winning musical by Stephen Schwartz and Roger O. Hirson, directed by Diane Paulus isa bold new staging of the dark and existential musical combining circus acrobatics and Fosse style dancing. Pippin, on a death-defying journey to find his "corner of the sky," must choose between a life that's ordinary or a flash of singular glory.

ASL Interpreted performances: Tuesday, January 8 @ 7:30pm and Sunday, January 13 @ 2:00pm.
Team: Michael Krajnak (coach), Jolanta Galloway and Wendy Watson (interpreters)

Biographies of ASL Team members:

Michael Krajnak, CDI and ASL coach, has previously coached at the A.R.T. the world premieres of Marie Antoinette, Wild Swans, The Snow Queen, and the 2012 Tony Award winning production of The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. He has been seen in and acted in numerous productions in New York including Off-Off Broadway at the New York Deaf Theatre, Ltd. in The Mystery of Irma Vep. He has consulted for many theatre productions in the New England area over the past 15 years including at Providence Performing Arts Center, Trinity Repertory Theatre, Perishable Theatre, Foothills Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, Stoneham Theatre, Boston University Theatre, The Opera House, and the Colonial Theatre. Among the productions he has interpreted are Billy Elliot, Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Jolanta Galloway has been working as a community interpreter for 15 years. She was trained at the Juilliard Interpreting for the Theater program in 2001 and is fortunate to have interpreted many productions in Boston and surrounding cities and towns. Among her favorite theatrical interpreting experiences are Full Monty, Lion King, Rent, and The Producers.

Wendy Watson,CI/CT, Master Mentor, has been combining her theatre background and interpreting skills in community, university, and performance settings since 1993. Performance interpreting training includes work with Adrian Blue, Janis Cole, and the Julliard Performance Interpreting Intensive. Wendy's performing arts interpreting credits include Carnegie Hall (Cris Williamson, Tret Fure), The Wang Center (The King and I, Titanic, White Christmas, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas), The Huntington Theatre Company (Company, Ah Wilderness, King Hedley II, Breath Boom, She Loves Me, Educating Rita), the Colonial Theatre (Chicago,Movin' Out, Little Shop of Horrors), Wheelock Family Theatre (Kiss Me Kate, Once Upon a Mattress), New Rep (The Weir, The Real Thing), and many others.

Jeannette Ocampo Welch (JO) is a nationally certified ASL-English interpreter, who has previously interpreted the productions of The Snow Queen and Wild Swans. JO works at Boston University as the Coordinator for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services, Director of Boston University Center for Interpreter Education (BUCIE) and also works as an interpreter in private practice. Previousworks have included the LA TheatreWorks production of RFK: The Journey to Justice, Dan Zanes, and Buddy Guy. JO has worked with VSA of MA and TX projects with Henry Butler.

Pippin Audio Described performances: Wednesday, January 9 @ 7:30pm and Saturday, January 12 @ 2:00pm
Audio describers: Alice Austin (primary) and Jan Stankus (secondary). These performances will preceded by a touch tour one hour prior to curtain in theWest Lobby of the theater.

Alice Austin has been describing visual media for people who are blind and visually impaired for twelve years. Beginning at WGBH's Descriptive Video Service, she described countless hours of film and television programming, includingThe Sixth Sense, You've got Mail, Dracula, The Cider House Rules, and PBS's Masterpiece Theatre, NOVA, and Mystery. Alice also provided live description for PBS's coverage of the 2000 Presidential Inauguration. As a freelance audio describer, Alice has described museum exhibits, works of art, presentations, and educational videos, and provided live description of the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Her extensive work describing theatre has been heard at such venues as American Repertory Theater, The Weston Playhouse, The Huntington Theatre Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, The Wang Center, The Colonial Theatre, The Opera House, and New Repertory Theatre.

For more than thirteen years, Jan Stankus has provided description for television shows and feature films. Among her many credits are Frontline, NOVA, Bones, Criminal Minds, Arthur, and PBS's Masterpiece Theatre including the 2013 season of Downton Abbey. She alsoprovides description for art exhibits, theme parks, national parks, museums, self-guided tours, and more. Her clients include Disney World and Disneyland, Patriot's Place Museum, Acadia National Park, the Capitol Visitor Center, and Florida's Peninsula Project sculpture exhibit. For the A.R.T., she was the primary describer for last season's production of Porgy and Bess. In addition, she has presented live description for theatre productions at The Wang Center, Shakespeare on The Common, The Huntington Theatre Company, and on board cruise ships. She is currently employed as a Describer by Descriptive Video Service, Media Access Group, WGBH.