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"Local sign language interpreter gets big job" : News-Record.com : Greensboro, North Carolina
Sam Parker's mother faithfully attended his school plays — even though she couldn't hear a word.
She was deaf.
Back then, even until the mid-1980s, theaters didn't provide sign language interpreters.
"I remember how my mother would sit and just watch, not knowing the story unless I had told her beforehand," Parker, 45, recalls.
Parker, who teaches at UNCG, is not deaf himself. But the experience instilled in him a passion to make theater accessible for the deaf.
He pursued that passion as an actor and director — and by becoming an interpreter to bring the full theatrical experience to deaf audiences.
"How many of us go to the theater and leave changed?" he says. "I wanted my mom to have that same experience."
Parker has taken his mission to the Kennedy Center in Washington. There, he is lead sign language interpreter during rehearsals for its new children's musical, based on a book co-written by deaf actress Marlee Matlin.
When it opens Friday, "Nobody's Perfect" will offer audiences an uncommon sight: a show with a deaf and hearing cast, performed simultaneously in spoken English and sign language.
That makes it easier for deaf spectators, who usually have to watch both the actors — and an interpreter off to the side — to follow the story.
"More and more theaters are trying a new approach mixing deaf and hearing actors performing together," Parker says.
And with a performance that's signed and spoken, "Every audience member sees the same play."
He hasn't met Matlin yet. But he did share an elevator ride with famed tenor Placido Domingo.
During rehearsals, he interprets for the lead actress, co-choreographer and assistant director, who are deaf, and helps hearing and deaf cast communicate with one another.
"You have deaf actors working on how things should be signed. And you have hearing actors learning sign, singing, dancing and acting."
As they learn, "It's wonderful to see someone embrace another language and another culture and another world," he says.
Parker has done that since childhood.
He grew up in Virginia with deaf parents, an aunt, uncle and two cousins.
"I signed ... long before I spoke," he says.
He developed an early passion for acting. As a teen, he studied with Bernard Bragg, founder of the National Theatre of the Deaf, so that he could interpret at a Virginia theater.
While living in Washington, he interpreted for audiences at the Kennedy Center and other venues, even coordinating all interpreters for President Clinton's 1993 inauguration.
Parker came to UNCG as a graduate acting student.
Since then, he has pursued his passions by teaching in its interpreter preparation program, interpreting at Triad Stage and directing plays at the Raleigh Little Theatre — with deaf and hearing cast.
He even created a one-man show based on his experiences growing up with deaf parents.
There are misconceptions about sign language, he says.
American Sign Language is not English; it's a language unto itself.
And sign language is not universal. "There are as many sign languages as spoken," he says.
Despite the intensity of the work at the Kennedy Center, Parker says, he will miss it when it's over.
"I am often awestruck at the talent of the actors, deaf and hearing," he says.
His part will end this weekend, when rehearsals come to a close and the curtain opens.
Sam Parker's mother faithfully attended his school plays — even though she couldn't hear a word.
She was deaf.
Back then, even until the mid-1980s, theaters didn't provide sign language interpreters.
"I remember how my mother would sit and just watch, not knowing the story unless I had told her beforehand," Parker, 45, recalls.
Parker, who teaches at UNCG, is not deaf himself. But the experience instilled in him a passion to make theater accessible for the deaf.
He pursued that passion as an actor and director — and by becoming an interpreter to bring the full theatrical experience to deaf audiences.
"How many of us go to the theater and leave changed?" he says. "I wanted my mom to have that same experience."
Parker has taken his mission to the Kennedy Center in Washington. There, he is lead sign language interpreter during rehearsals for its new children's musical, based on a book co-written by deaf actress Marlee Matlin.
When it opens Friday, "Nobody's Perfect" will offer audiences an uncommon sight: a show with a deaf and hearing cast, performed simultaneously in spoken English and sign language.
That makes it easier for deaf spectators, who usually have to watch both the actors — and an interpreter off to the side — to follow the story.
"More and more theaters are trying a new approach mixing deaf and hearing actors performing together," Parker says.
And with a performance that's signed and spoken, "Every audience member sees the same play."
He hasn't met Matlin yet. But he did share an elevator ride with famed tenor Placido Domingo.
During rehearsals, he interprets for the lead actress, co-choreographer and assistant director, who are deaf, and helps hearing and deaf cast communicate with one another.
"You have deaf actors working on how things should be signed. And you have hearing actors learning sign, singing, dancing and acting."
As they learn, "It's wonderful to see someone embrace another language and another culture and another world," he says.
Parker has done that since childhood.
He grew up in Virginia with deaf parents, an aunt, uncle and two cousins.
"I signed ... long before I spoke," he says.
He developed an early passion for acting. As a teen, he studied with Bernard Bragg, founder of the National Theatre of the Deaf, so that he could interpret at a Virginia theater.
While living in Washington, he interpreted for audiences at the Kennedy Center and other venues, even coordinating all interpreters for President Clinton's 1993 inauguration.
Parker came to UNCG as a graduate acting student.
Since then, he has pursued his passions by teaching in its interpreter preparation program, interpreting at Triad Stage and directing plays at the Raleigh Little Theatre — with deaf and hearing cast.
He even created a one-man show based on his experiences growing up with deaf parents.
There are misconceptions about sign language, he says.
American Sign Language is not English; it's a language unto itself.
And sign language is not universal. "There are as many sign languages as spoken," he says.
Despite the intensity of the work at the Kennedy Center, Parker says, he will miss it when it's over.
"I am often awestruck at the talent of the actors, deaf and hearing," he says.
His part will end this weekend, when rehearsals come to a close and the curtain opens.