James Caverly in “The Music Man” stage production

Alex: Hello, James Caverly! You have the lead role in a new “Broadway style” show, am I right in calling it a Broadway style show?

James: Yes!

Alex: And it’s called The Music Man. Can you tell us what that story is about?

James: The story is about Harold Hill, the leading man. Harold is a con man posing as a traveling salesman selling music equipment. His goal is to sell as much as he can, promising to provide musical instruments and music lessons. But in reality, he knows nothing about music. He just wants to make some quick money and skip town. So, he goes to the town of River City, meets the people there and sells his items. At the same time, it’s a very sweet and touching story of a community in conflict finding a strong connection together.

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Alex: This may be the first time such a high number of deaf people are both on and off stage, 50% in fact. Can you tell us more about that?

James: Yes. I know it’s important to have deaf people on stage, but it’s also crucial to have deaf people behind the scenes to truly elevate this story. As for how this happened, I was in the DC area, and I knew several deaf people working there. I convinced the Lead Director to hire a deaf director, and he hired Sandra Mae Frank. They are now Co-Directors, Sandra and a hearing man from Oklahoma, Michael Baron. The Director of Artistic Sign Language is Michelle Banks, also from the DC area. I brought in the Set Designer, Ethan Sinnott. So we have a strong deaf team to really lead this production. It’s been so inspiring.

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Alex: Could you describe how with hearing and deaf performers, and voicing, how this will work with captions among a deaf and hearing audience? What will the audience be seeing at this show?

James: So, this show is different from what we are typically used to seeing. Deaf West Theatre typically has shadow actors performing together, but most of this show is in ASL. We’ll have hearing actors paired with deaf actors who are signing. And captions will be shown for the entire performance, we will have open captions on a screen being projected, ready to see. This show is wonderful. If you haven’t seen it yet, definitely grab this chance to go! I have a discount code: TROUBLE25.

Alex: In all caps, TROUBLE25.

James: Yes, that will give you a discount for tickets. Come and watch the show!

Alex: Perfect!