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(More customer reviews)Right on the heels of Deaf West Theatre's successful deaf/hearing Broadway production of the musical "Big River," this fascinating book explores one small Midwest college's similarly experimental production of "West Side Story." Author Mark Rigney eloquently and passionately explores the divide between theatre for the deaf and theatre for the hearing, intimating that this rupture runs deeper than any American is willing to admit. As a member of the hearing community, I was shocked to learn how much I don't know about the lives of the deaf. As a member of the theatre community, I was taken on a spellbinding journey through the trials and tribulations of a production riddled with hurdles but blessed with triumphs. As a member of the world community, I was heartened by the success of communication across boundaries in a seemingly boundary-less small town. This was definitely a page turner from beginning to end...just the right balance of information and entertainment. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in theater, the deaf community and its position in society, and/or interpersonal communication.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Deaf Side Story: Deaf Sharks, Hearing Jets, and a Classic American Musical
The 1957 classic American musical "West Side Story" has been staged by countless community and school theater groups, but none more ambitious than the 2000 production by MacMurray College, a small school in Jacksonville, Illinois. Diane Brewer, the new drama head at the college, determined to add an extra element to the usual demands of putting on a show by having deaf students perform half of the parts. "Deaf Side Story" presents a fascinating narrative of Brewer and the cast's efforts to mount this challenging play.Brewer turned to the Illinois School for the Deaf (ISD) to cast the Sharks, the Puerto Rican gang at odds with the Anglo Jets in this musical version of "Romeo and Juliet" set in the slums of New York. Hearing performers auditioned to be the Jets, and once Brewer had cast her hearing Tony and deaf Maria, then came the challenge of teaching them all to sing/sign and dance the riveting show numbers for which the musical is renowned. She also had to manage a series of sensitive issues, from ensuring the seamless incorporation of American Sign Language into the play to reassuring ISD administrators and students that the production would not be symbolic of any conflict between Deaf and hearing people.Author Mark Rigney portrays superbly the progress of the production, including the frustrations and triumphs of the leads, the labyrinthine campus and community politics, and the inevitable clashes between the deaf high school cast members and their hearing college counterparts. His representations of the many individuals involved are real and distinguished. The ultimate success of the MacMurray production reverberates in "Deaf Side Story" as a keen depiction of how several distinct individuals from as many cultures could cooperate to perform a classic American art form brilliantly together.
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