North Texas Performing Arts Center raises curtain on a new act
PLANO (CBSNewsTexas.com) - CBS News Texas had an exclusive look at the North Texas Performing Arts Center's inaugural showcase that's accessible to deaf and hard of hearing performers and audiences.
"We wanted to make theater as accessible as possible to lots of kids and people of different skills and different capabilities," said North Texas Performing Arts CEO Darrell Rodenbaugh.
Deaf Theatre Director Daymond Sands has had a passion for performance since he was young and this production is personal. It's an opportunity to take center stage and show the community their talents, while bringing the stage to life for the deaf community.
"Setting up this program and soon to release our first showcase is a huge deal, and it'll have a tremendous impact on the deaf community because we've been wanting something like this," Sands said. "We've been wanting access to theatre; we've wanted space for us to perform, for us to be able to put on characters and not feel so isolated."
The production, a review of some of Broadway's most popular productions, features a diverse cast of 33 deaf and hearing actors. Some of the performers are as young as eight years old.
"To us, this was really an extension into a community that didn't have theatre," Rodenbaugh said. "We've done that before. Our Starcatchers' troupe is a special needs theatre troupe for students with disabilities. So, this is part of our accessible theatre concept that we have to try to reach out to new communities that otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity."
"Deaf Theatre Showcase: A Union of Hands and Voices" performances will run June 30-July 2 in the Starcatchers Theatre, which is located at North Texas Performing Art's Willow Bend Center of the Arts. Tickets are $14.