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Deaf performers take center stage in 'Big River.' Ty Giordano made a mighty noise on Broadway, without saying a word.
The 2003 revival of Big River, Roger Miller's Huckleberry Finn musical, wowed audiences and won two Tony Awards with an approach to musical theater that, while novel to most hearing audiences, was almost obvious to the deaf.
Onstage, Giordano and the rest of the cast performed their roles in American Sign Language, as the songs were sung and words were spoken by performers on the side. It put the deaf performance front and center, rather than the halfway measures most deaf audiences spend their lives watching.
Giordano plays Huck Finn, the breakthrough role in an acting career he had never planned. A deaf actor, he spoke to the News via e-mail.
"I got involved in acting completely by accident, wishing my friend good luck at her audition when the director came out and asked me if I wanted to try out. Turns out, he needed more men for his group, and my schedule for the next few hours was blank," he writes.
At the time, Giordano, a recent graduate of Gallaudet University, was trying to break into a job with non-governmental organizations in Washington.
"I was very political-minded, leaning in the way of environmentalism, progressive policies, and basically, trying to save the world from itself," he writes. "Who knew I'd be doing this?"
Soon, though, he'd been cast in the prestigious Arena Stage's production of The Miracle Worker. He applied to the summer training program at Deaf West Theatre, the Los Angeles group that initially staged Big River in 2001.
"And my appreciation for the art form just went through the roof," he writes. "I'm grateful for Deaf West providing actors like me this opportunity."
At the end of the summer training program, Giordano auditioned for Big River - and won the lead.
In the musical, the actor playing Mark Twain lends his voice to Huck, "which is clever in so many ways," Giordano writes.
"I use sign in the same way that a stage actor would use voice - you must elevate, project, and express the language clearly," he writes. "It doesn't matter what language you're using, the rules are all the same - most importantly, to get your message across clearly."
While Giordano may not open his voice and sing, the performance is musical for both deaf and hearing actors.
"I've always been musical since I was a kid - playing 'guitar' on tennis rackets, making rackets with pots and pans, and signing out loud, much to the chagrin of my hearing neighbors," he writes.
"Rhythm expresses itself in everyone differently. Most people think of rhythm as something on the outside that you take in, which is true. But what is also true is that you find that it's a matter of who's the master. Is music your master, or are you the master of music? . . . Anyway, in the case of a musical like this, because the music is set, every performer, regardless of whether they're deaf or hearing, has to follow it, and if they can, they play within those bounds."
Not only are there few professional opportunities for deaf actors, but there aren't too many artistically satisfying opportunities for deaf audiences. Signed and shadowed performances don't quite equal a full theatrical experience, Giordano says.
"I never really went to the theater as a kid," he writes. "My first true theatrical experience was when I took a college course in Shakespearean Lit, and watched The Tempest at the Washington Shakespeare Company. I was blown away when I connected the text with what was happening onstage."
But when the text is unfamiliar, Giordano has to undertake extra work as an audience member.
"Nowadays, when I go to the theater, I usually have to request and read a script before (sometimes during) I see the show, otherwise, I'm limited to commenting on the scenery or movement. And interpreted shows are nice, but the interpreters are often placed to the side, and you miss the action onstage watching the interpreters (which is not a bad thing when the show is bad).
"While these are fairly effective adaptive strategies, they are not the best ways to go about watching theater, I think, so it makes me more appreciative of shows like Big River where sign language takes center stage instead of playing on the sidelines."
Giordano's burgeoning acting career has taken him not only to Broadway but now to the big screen, playing Ashton Kutcher's brother in the current film A Lot Like Love.
"I'm excited about embarking down the path of film, and have learned so much, and want to do more," he writes.
"However, you never get rid of that love for the stage - almost every actor who has started on the stage has wanted to return there. There's just something about giving a live performance that moves the spirit in you."
See the music
A new technology for hearing-impaired audiences is being introduced during performances of Big River. The I-Caption system features a hand-held card that displays text and lyrics during a show, coordinated with sound and lighting cues so that it flows with the movement of an individual performance.
Patrons can pick up the units free from a booth in the Buell lobby during performances of Big River.
By Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News
The 2003 revival of Big River, Roger Miller's Huckleberry Finn musical, wowed audiences and won two Tony Awards with an approach to musical theater that, while novel to most hearing audiences, was almost obvious to the deaf.
Onstage, Giordano and the rest of the cast performed their roles in American Sign Language, as the songs were sung and words were spoken by performers on the side. It put the deaf performance front and center, rather than the halfway measures most deaf audiences spend their lives watching.
Giordano plays Huck Finn, the breakthrough role in an acting career he had never planned. A deaf actor, he spoke to the News via e-mail.
"I got involved in acting completely by accident, wishing my friend good luck at her audition when the director came out and asked me if I wanted to try out. Turns out, he needed more men for his group, and my schedule for the next few hours was blank," he writes.
At the time, Giordano, a recent graduate of Gallaudet University, was trying to break into a job with non-governmental organizations in Washington.
"I was very political-minded, leaning in the way of environmentalism, progressive policies, and basically, trying to save the world from itself," he writes. "Who knew I'd be doing this?"
Soon, though, he'd been cast in the prestigious Arena Stage's production of The Miracle Worker. He applied to the summer training program at Deaf West Theatre, the Los Angeles group that initially staged Big River in 2001.
"And my appreciation for the art form just went through the roof," he writes. "I'm grateful for Deaf West providing actors like me this opportunity."
At the end of the summer training program, Giordano auditioned for Big River - and won the lead.
In the musical, the actor playing Mark Twain lends his voice to Huck, "which is clever in so many ways," Giordano writes.
"I use sign in the same way that a stage actor would use voice - you must elevate, project, and express the language clearly," he writes. "It doesn't matter what language you're using, the rules are all the same - most importantly, to get your message across clearly."
While Giordano may not open his voice and sing, the performance is musical for both deaf and hearing actors.
"I've always been musical since I was a kid - playing 'guitar' on tennis rackets, making rackets with pots and pans, and signing out loud, much to the chagrin of my hearing neighbors," he writes.
"Rhythm expresses itself in everyone differently. Most people think of rhythm as something on the outside that you take in, which is true. But what is also true is that you find that it's a matter of who's the master. Is music your master, or are you the master of music? . . . Anyway, in the case of a musical like this, because the music is set, every performer, regardless of whether they're deaf or hearing, has to follow it, and if they can, they play within those bounds."
Not only are there few professional opportunities for deaf actors, but there aren't too many artistically satisfying opportunities for deaf audiences. Signed and shadowed performances don't quite equal a full theatrical experience, Giordano says.
"I never really went to the theater as a kid," he writes. "My first true theatrical experience was when I took a college course in Shakespearean Lit, and watched The Tempest at the Washington Shakespeare Company. I was blown away when I connected the text with what was happening onstage."
But when the text is unfamiliar, Giordano has to undertake extra work as an audience member.
"Nowadays, when I go to the theater, I usually have to request and read a script before (sometimes during) I see the show, otherwise, I'm limited to commenting on the scenery or movement. And interpreted shows are nice, but the interpreters are often placed to the side, and you miss the action onstage watching the interpreters (which is not a bad thing when the show is bad).
"While these are fairly effective adaptive strategies, they are not the best ways to go about watching theater, I think, so it makes me more appreciative of shows like Big River where sign language takes center stage instead of playing on the sidelines."
Giordano's burgeoning acting career has taken him not only to Broadway but now to the big screen, playing Ashton Kutcher's brother in the current film A Lot Like Love.
"I'm excited about embarking down the path of film, and have learned so much, and want to do more," he writes.
"However, you never get rid of that love for the stage - almost every actor who has started on the stage has wanted to return there. There's just something about giving a live performance that moves the spirit in you."
See the music
A new technology for hearing-impaired audiences is being introduced during performances of Big River. The I-Caption system features a hand-held card that displays text and lyrics during a show, coordinated with sound and lighting cues so that it flows with the movement of an individual performance.
Patrons can pick up the units free from a booth in the Buell lobby during performances of Big River.
By Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News