Seventeen graduates of the Theatre Development Fund's "Interpreting for the Theatre" program will sign their Broadway debuts at Miss Saigon June 11 with a special deaf-interpreted performance of the musical. As a part of the Fund's Theatre Access Project and in conjunction with Juilliard School, seventeen applicants were accepted into the "Interpreting for the Theatre" one-week institute. Classes taught by practiced theatre interpreters include Performance, Translation, Body Work and Contributions of Deaf Professionals, culminating in the interpretation of a Broadway musical as a final project for the graduates.
TDF's TAP program was established in 1979 to provide access to the performing arts for persons with disabilities. The first sign interpreted Broadway performance was The Elephant Man in 1980. Last season, TAP debuted a close captioning system for deaf and hard of hearing patrons unfamiliar with American Sign Language.
For tickets ($-$) to the June 11 performance, contact Telecharge at (212) 239-6200.