- September 9, 2024
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Editor’s note: This is the second story in a behind-the-scenes series of the Garden Theatre’s production of “Pippin” — the theater’s most ambitious project yet — and its commitment to education and raising awareness for the deaf community.
'PIPPIN: IN A NEW LIGHT' - Act 1: Ambition
Michelle Mary Schaefer was born a beautiful and perfectly healthy baby, until a nurse made a mistake and gave her spoiled breast milk. The milk nearly blew up her intestines. She became jaundiced and almost died several times.
Schaefer was taken to The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where Dr. Alex Haller took a risk and saved her life, not knowing how she would live but knowing she was a fighter and had the strong will to do so.
Unfortunately, the Gentamicin medicine she was given damaged her hair cells in her cochlea, which is how she became deaf.
As the only deaf individual in her family, she encountered many challenges growing up. She dealt with many traumatic experiences from society, in her schooling and even from the deaf community.
“I struggled with my identity and the sense of what it was like to be respected, accepted and belong,” she said. “I was bullied by both the hearing and the deaf, which devastated me and made me truly feel ashamed of being deaf. I was bullied by many deaf individuals … saying I should be dead because I have a hearing family. I was told by the deaf community that I was not considered ‘deaf enough’ and was often mocked. I have tried to audition for Deaf West Theatre for years and had several rude encounters, but I still hoped that one day I would truly be accepted and perform on stage with other talented artists as a whole community and as a human with passions and talent.
“The hearing community has either said that I’m ‘too deaf,’ that they don’t incorporate (American Sign Language) on stage or have used me as a tokenism to make themselves look better without truly analyzing their soul, the purpose and truly including us,” she said. “I feel like a pinball being hit all over everywhere, and sometimes tossed to the side once someone gets what they need or want from me. Then, I don’t matter anymore.”
Despite the emotional and mental damage Schaefer has suffered throughout her years, she has chosen to push forward and continue doing what she loves.
She has chosen love, life, passion and authenticity.
“It took me forever to finally embrace my deaf identity, in spite of society and people,” she said. “My journey has brought me to many places, I have met many people, and I have shared my love and kindness, which I finally can say I’m proud of. I also learned to love myself.”
Now, Schaefer is continuing to advocate for others in the deaf community through her work on the Garden Theatre’s production of “Pippin,” the establishment’s second show in the 2024-25 Broadway on Plant Series.
While the musically mesmerizing show will portray the same beloved story that has been shared many times over its more than 50 years, the theater is focusing on accessibility and the talented contributions of deaf actors and creatives for audiences to experience the duality of the hearing and non-hearing world.
“Pippin” will be a multilingual production integrating ASL, English and a rich visual language.
The production will highlight the energy and retrospective fantasy of “Pippin,” while also introducing the unique artistry of deaf performers and sign language.
Through carefully crafted portrayals, it is the theater’s intention to challenge stereotypes and illuminate the lived experiences of deaf individuals — a community often overlooked and misunderstood.
BLENDING THE LANGUAGES
Schaefer, the director of artistic sign language also known as the DASL for the show, has been working closely with Rob Winn Anderson, the mastermind behind the project and the theater’s producing artistic director, and Cindy Wilson, the show’s choreographer, to begin the immense project.
One of the first steps in the process was for Schaefer to convert the script into ASL translation and then work the translation into the show’s choreography.
Schaefer believes the biggest challenge is working with the actors who are not fluent in sign language and only have a few short weeks to learn.
“It takes an average person more than eight years to truly be fluent in ASL,” she said. “However, it can take three to six months to learn the basic concept of ASL. Now, you have ASL, songs and dance, which is a lot of movement all at once. So, this will end up being a part of the choreography the actors must learn, which is basically muscle memory. Not everyone has the skills and ability to do so. It will take a lot of patience, compassion and encouragement during rehearsals.”
Anderson and Wilson have been working hard to learn the signs to help teach the actors, who have been rehearsing throughout July and into August.
The group of leaders started with the songs that required the entire cast to participate in signing, which include “Magic to Do,” “Morning Glow,” the opening to Act Two and “The Finals.”
The team will next move on to the moments when the hearing actors are signing as individuals. The four hearing actors who will carry the bulk of the responsibility for this are the ones who play the characters of Catherine, Theo, Berthe and Charles in the show.
Although Anderson took some ASL classes in college, he said he has lost a lot of it over the years.
“Just like any new language, it requires an adaptation of the way you process words, and, with ASL, the connection to the physical implementation of it,” he said. “I am daunted by it but excited to continue to learn. We want this to be a marriage of all the languages — English, ASL, and the visual language of blocking and choreography. The goal is that this is seamless and that we approach it as creatively as possible while still ensuring that the audience, whether hearing or deaf, can understand the story we are telling.”
Wilson, who has no background in sign language, said earning ASL has been both exciting and challenging.
“Learning movement I’m used to, since I was a dancer growing up, but the dexterity you need with your hands and the speed for conversation is very challenging,” she said. “In dance, yes you use your hands, but not in the detailed way you do for signing. I definitely want my journey to continue with ASL even after ‘Pippin.’”
ACCESSIBILITY FOR ALL
Schaefer wishes everyone would learn ASL, because she said it would help break down the communication and accessibility barriers and offer more opportunities for inclusivity.
To help educate the community, the Garden Theatre is taking the learning of ASL one step further by offering classes to more than just the creative team and cast of the show.
In fact, the staff at the Garden Theatre also has committed to learning sign language through free in-person weekly classes with community partner Ryan Vander Weide, of Winter Garden Deaf Chat.
In addition, Vander Weide has offered individuals the opportunity to attend his monthly Winter Garden Deaf Chat meeting so participants can learn in a totally “voices off” environment.
Participants started by learning the alphabet before moving onto numbers and greetings. Directions, days of the week, asking questions and theater-specific vocabulary also were taught.
Jean Boone, group sales manager and accessibility coordinator at the Garden Theatre, said she picked up a little bit of sign language from her sister who took classes in high school. Years later, she used sign language in her role as a foster parent working with children in her care that had language developmental delays.
Boone said learning a new language is always challenging, and she struggles with learning the numbers. However, she said Vander Weide has been a wonderful teacher, as he makes the learning fun, and she would love to continue learning ASL.
“When I heard about the wonderful vision that Anderson had for ‘Pippin,’ I thought it was a great opportunity to learn some basic sign language,” she said. “Language connects us, and I believe in inclusivity. If I can make a patron feel welcome by communicating with ASL, it’s a wonderful experience for both of us. I am very proud of the inclusivity programs we offer at the theater. From Treetop Players, which makes theater accessible for people of all abilities, to offering ASL interpreted performances and assisted listening devices for our patrons who need these services, and audio description and touch tour services for blind and low vision patrons, it’s an honor to be part of leading the way to make theater accessible for all.”
Amanda Payne, director of education and community at the Garden Theatre, also has been taking the ASL classes, although she is new to signing.
She said many signs are similar, so remembering the subtle differences between signs has been challenging.
“I’ve always had an interest in learning ASL,” she said. “My grandfather was deaf, but I never had the opportunity to learn to sign. So, learning feels like a great tribute to him. I also want to be able to welcome our deaf and hard of hearing patrons into our theater. Not just for ‘Pippin’ — but all the time.
“Theater is about storytelling and people,” she said. “Sometimes, we see stories that we relate to, and other times we see stories that help us grow our perspectives and learn about new cultures, communities and lives very different from our own. The work being done here — whether on stage, with patron groups or with our education department — is truly a reflection of the people in our community that we serve.”
