Ritz Theatre Wins Cultural Access Network's 2011 Innovator Award

The New Jersey Theatre Alliance and the community members of the Cultural Access Network of New Jersey Project, a cosponsored program of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts presented the Ritz Theatre with this year's Innovator Award in recognition of their innovative shadow interpreting program. Paper Mill Playhouse and Pushcart Players also received the Innovator Award for their partnership in making theatre accessible to children with autism. "We are deeply honored to be recognized for our work in accessibility by the association representing New Jersey professional theaters" says Bruce A. Curless, Ritz Theatre Producing Artistic Director.

The Ritz Theatre Company has been an American Sign Language (ASL) Shadow Interpreting leader throughout the Delaware Valley for over twenty-one years. Their first ASL production, (Children of a Lesser God) was presented in 1990 and the first Shadow Interpreted performance (The Fantastiks) in 1999. For the past eight years, the Ritz has had the opportunity to enrich the theatrical experiences of patrons that are deaf or hard of hearing, by including at least one shadow interpreted production each season. The shadowed style of interpreting is the most inclusive style of interpreting for the theatre. It involves placing the interpreters directly within the action nearly making them "sign language actors."

In 2010, with the sponsorship of PNC Arts Alive, the Ritz was able to offer three shadow interpreted productions of "Monty Python's Spamalot" that were also open captioned. They carefully documented the rehearsal process and performances to create a DVD entitled, "Me and My Shadow." The DVD was created with closed captioning to make it accessible for all.
Upon completion, the theatre reached out to various schools, theaters and arts organizations asking them to help distribute these DVDs with the hope that other theatres will participate in this exciting initiative.

Photo credit: Chris Miller