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Silent
Voices-San Diego LDS Deaf Community Gather for an Evening of Sign
By
Evan C. Wirig
Singing Deaf?
How can the deaf sing? It's quite simple really. They use music,
various expressions and American Sign Language.
For over a decade,
the LDS Deaf Community in the greater San Diego California area
has produced an annual musical event called "An Evening of
Sign". Persons who are deaf and hard of hearing as well as
their families and friends have participated in this free event,
which breaks down several stereotypes that hearing people think
about the deaf. Even though a person cannot hear, they still can
enjoy music and on-stage artistic performance. And even though a
hearing person may not understand ASL they still can understand
the meaning of the performance through the signs and the music.
This year's
"Evening of Sign" was held at the Mt. Abernathy Stake
Center May 14th and 15th in the Claremont Mesa area in San Diego.
It involved a cast of over 60 deaf and hearing people, ranging in
age from 3 to the "well seasoned". Joyde Lee Marrow,
this year's program director, oversaw the supervision of the entire
90-minute production. "A lot of people gave their time and
talents to help make this program a success," said Marrow.
"Working with talented individuals and personalities, the show
takes on a life of it's own."
The entire cast,
small groups or individual soloists, performed the 24 different
musical numbers. Songs included Primary favorites like, "I'm
Trying to be Like Jesus", where a Primary Teacher signs and
instructs her students, to Johnny River's 60's hit "Secret
Agent Man", where several youth sign and act out the James
Bond type lyrics. The audiences were moved by the signed solos
of Man of La Mancha's "Impossible Dream" as well the song
"His Hands" which describes the life of the Savior. This
year's production ended with the ensemble signing Lee Greenwood's
"Proud to Be An American"
"This program
has been a great tool for helping people learn sign language and
communicate with the deaf," said Michelle Hinton, one of the
coordinators of the weekly free classes in ASL at the University
City meetinghouse. "The program started small, teaching a
few families ASL and then grew to where we have many LDS and non-members
participate in the classes and the performance."
Sister Hinton
also said that the program and the classes have been a great educational
and missionary tool. "Several people in the Church and in
the community have gotten their ASL Interpreters certification.
Others have been called to Deaf Missions as a result of the program,
and a few non members who have participated in the classes and performance
have even joined the Church."
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© 2004 Meridian
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