w w w . s h o s h a n n a h – s t e r n. c o m

I wanted to share with you my newest project.  I’m playing Sarah in Children of a Lesser God at Deaf West Theater in North Hollywood.  It’s the 30th year anniversary from when it was last shown there.  It went on to Broadway to introduce the world to a deaf character like they’d never seen before.  Phyllis Frelich, who originated the role of Sarah, went on to win a Tony.  Then the film version was made a few years later, with Marlee Matlin as Sarah, who then went on to win an Academy Award.

So, I’m truly honored that they asked me to be the next actor to officially play the role of Sarah.  I hope I do the character justice!  Previews start September 6-11, and it opens on September 12.  The run begins from there to October 11, but we will have a possible extension of one week since I have to go to New York to shoot something that last week.   Murphy’s law.  But if you want to come then, or if you’ve already bought your tickets, the shows will be postponed so you won’t be seeing a show without me.

Deaf West Theater is based in North Hollywood, and it has a very helpful website (complete with a picture of me attempting to look as 1979 as possible AND randomly wearing Carol Barbee’s shirt from when she did Picnic at CTG!) at www.deafwest.org.

I hope to see you there!

-Shoshannah

I just saw the most amazing short film, Ingelore. It’s showing in Los Angeles this week. If you live here, you HAVE to see it.

http://docuweeksla.bside.com/2009/films/ingelore

It’s amazing. i want everybody to go see it!

-Shoshannah

Got a picture of yourself with Shoshannah to share? We’re working on a Fan Page on Shoshannah’s website and we want YOU to be part of it! Send your photo(s) to: shoshannah.fans@gmail.com

Thank you for all of your love & support you have for Shoshannah!

“You don’t have to hear your voice to be able to use it.”

Shoshannah Stern – a deaf actress most recognized for her roles on the cult hit series Jericho and Showtime’s Weeds – took a moment to speak with us about her recent NO H8 photo shoot, which featured a group of her deaf peers standing up against hate.  “Since my native language is a visual one, a photography campaign felt like the most natural thing for me to do.”

Shoshannah also shared some insight with us as to why she’s fighting for marriage equality and how it connects to deaf rights.

“Alexander Graham Bell, the dude who invented the telephone, was married to a deaf woman. He had a lot of ideas about what us deaf people should do or should not do. He actually tried to get a law passed banning deaf people from marrying other deaf people. If that had happened, I would not be here today. I’ve used that comparison to get a lot of people – deaf or not – to see why Proposition 8 is so wrong and flawed.”

To read more – go to www.bouska.net/noh8

by Evan Henerson, LA Stage Scene Examiner, www.examiner.com

OK, so this is not exactly a homecoming, since the play in question was first produced before the nationally renowned Deaf West Theatre was even in existence.

Still, there’s a certain cosmic synchronicity about Deaf West Theatre producing a 30th anniversary revival of Mark Medoff’s “Children of a Lesser God” some 10-15 miles down the freeway from the Mark Taper Forum where Gordon Davidson’s Center Theatre Group first put Medoff – and to some extent theater of and for the deaf – on the map.

CTG’s production of “Children” told the story of a love affair between a hearing speech teacher James Leeds and his deaf student Sarah Norman. Performed in English and American sign language, the Taper production directed by Davidson, transferred to Broadway in 1982 and ran for two years, winning the 1980 Tony Award for Best Play. Stars John Rubinstein and Phyllis Frelich each won acting Tony awards as well. The 1986 movie won Marlee Matlin an Oscar.

Deaf West was founded in 1991 and has produced more than 30 plays and adaptations – for its deaf and hearing audiences. Of late, the company has made a name for itself with sign language adaptations of musicals such as “Big River,” “Pippin,” “Sleeping Beauty Wakes” and “Oliver.”
Frelich has performed regularly at Deaf West including stints in the world premier of Medoff’s “Road to a Revolution” in 2001 and in “Big River.” Rubinstein used to perform regularly in North Hollywood as well when his Interact Theatre Co. was based in NoHo, barely a block away from Deaf West’s home on Lankershim Boulevard. More recently, Rubinstein played an extended run as the Wizard in the sit down company of “Wicked” at the Pantages Theatre.

The current revival of “Lesser God,” which plays Sept. 13 to Oct. 11, is directed by Jonathan Barlow Lee who was the stage manager for Davidson’s original production. Shoshannah Stern and Matthew Jaeger will play Sarah Norman and James Leeds respectively.

How cool would it be if they could get Rubinstein, Frelich and Davidson all to be in the audience opening night.

Deaf West is located at 5112 Lankershim Blvd.

About the Author at www.examiner.com: Evan Henerson sees a lot of plays in a movie town. He has written for Backstage, Stage Directions, and is the former theater critic for the Los Angeles Daily News. E-mail Evan at EHenerson@sbcglobal.net.

Find Shoshannah on Twitter!

http://twitter.com/Shoshannah7

Hello, everyone!  I know, I know.  It’s been so long since I’ve written.  I’ve had many exasperated conversations with friends who don’t understand why I don’t write more.  It’s not that I don’t want to.  It must be annoying to keep checking back and keep seeing the same entry from November.  Thank you for bearing with me, seriously.

It’s just that often, I feel like what I have to say wouldn’t be that interesting.  Like, I just joined Twitter and I haven’t said anything in three days because my first entries went like this:  Yay, I love coffee.  Yay, I joined Twitter.  Okay. So… now what? Ultimately, you guys have to be the judge of that and not me, so I humbly defer to all y’all. 

Anyway.  My point being…  I’ve recently been inspired.  Really inspired. 

I had a sit-down conversation with myself a few months ago, where I decided that maybe I wanted to branch out a bit more.  I love what I’ve been able to do with my life thus far.  I definitely want to keep doing it, but the reality is that 99% of it lies out of my control.  The 1% is preparing and showing up for auditions.  The remainder is up to what absolutely everyone else involved wants, and that’s totally okay with me.  It is what it is, and I chose to do this with eyes wide open.  But I found that I was starting to feel increasingly sorry for myself.   

So, I decided to start teaching part-time.  That’s where I’ve been the past couple months.  I love it, and a big part of that is selfish, because I feel like I’m the one that ends up learning the most.  Granted, it’s not a 9 to 5 job, and I go from school to school teaching things that I am passionate about, which is a very special situation.

I just got back from Louisiana a couple weeks ago.  I taught a two day workshop at the Louisiana School for the Deaf, and the teacher that arranged for me to be there chose to show a clip of the “Yes, We Can” video that I was in.  We had more time than we expected at the end of the workshop, and the teacher wanted me to recite the chorus of the song to wrap up the workshop, which seemed like a good idea.  So, we did, and the kids were amazing.  They shouted “Yes, we can!” at the top of their lungs and were so totally engaged and thrilled.

For me, it felt like a total rebirth.  I know that Obama winning the election meant so much to so many different people.  I see people walking around with “Yes, We Did!” shirts, and I love seeing that.  But, even now I still get a lot of questions from people who would ask me what exactly “Yes, we can” meant.  Yes, we can… what?

I could partially understand that perspective before I went to Louisiana, because a lot of lofty principles and ideas were brought up in the speech Obama gave that inspired the video.  It could seem a bit weighty, and it could be seen as though he was making generalizations. 

But when I saw those kids screaming that simple message, “Yes, we can!” back at me, I realized then that it’s only the privilege of being an adult that allows us to take away from that.  It takes the experience of disappointment and bitterness to make us feel like we can’t do what we hope to do in our lives.   

I know I’ve felt like that in the past few months, and I’ll probably will again.  But when you really get down to basics, it’s a choice I made to feel that way.  Either we believe we can or we believe we can’t.  It takes an equal amount of commitment and investment either way.

After I saw these kids in Louisiana, some who still live in poverty after being severely affected by the hurricanes, and some of who are still displaced, so ready to believe in the positive and choose the good… well, it made me feel more than humbled. 

It made me feel stupid.  And I loved that.  Thank you, LSD.

photo credit: tate tullier, www.tatetullier.com

I’ve just almost literally slept for two days. Now, I’m awake. I’m still processing the enormous experience I’ve just had. I want to share it with all of you. I know not all of you are Americans. I know that those of you that are, might believe in different things than I do. I respect that completely. The beautiful thing about America is that we are allowed to have our own beliefs and our own voice. I’d like to hear yours.

This is mine. I personally believe in hope, I believe in change, and I believe that is what America needs. I believe in Barack Obama.

Some of you might know that I was lucky enough to be a part of the pro-Obama “Yes, We Can” video that not only had something like 9 million views on YouTube, but also went on to win an Emmy. Some of you have asked how I became a part of this. Did I audition? No. Was my agency called? No. What happened was that I had a conversation with a friend. We talked about what we wanted for the future of America. We talked about Obama, and then she put me on the Young Hollywood Fundraising Committee for him. Then she sent me an instant message one day asking me to come be a part of the “Yes We Can” video. So, of course! I did.

A few months later, I saw this friend again, and she asked me if I wanted to come to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. There was going to be a performance of “Yes We Can” with Will.i.am, John Legend, the Black Eyed Peas Band, and the Agape Choir. The vision was that they would sing it while I signed the entire “Yes We Can” speech in my native language, American Sign Language. So, of course! I said yes. Thank you, Sarah Pantera.

It was such an unbelievable experience in general.  As with anything that is astonishing, there were many highs and lows.  In the end, it was the definition of amazing.  It was one of the best things I will ever experience in my life.  This was such a historical moment, and there was such an energy to it that was so momentous and inspiring. So many people were so helpful and generous with me. Thank you, Will.i.am, Printz Board, and Dan Catullo.

I was beyond thrilled that my parents were able to come and watch me, that is, until I discovered that my parents were seated, by the ADA people at the DNC (not the people who arranged my appearance) with all the other deaf people, almost behind the stage and three tiers up.  None of them could see the stage at all and the interpreters couldn’t even hear parts of Obama’s speech from that distance.  I was fortunate enough to meet a deaf delegate, Leah Katz-Hernandez, and a professor, Dr. Veith, that were sent by Gallaudet University, the only liberal arts university for deaf people in the world. Even though they were on the floor, they were again seated in the ADA section there, and again, they could not see the stage or the interpreters. There were two interpreters on podiums to the left and the right of the stage, but unfortunately, they were probably not seen by a single deaf person in the Invesco Stadium that night.

As much as I wish I could say they were able to catch me on the television screen during the actual performance, this was not possible because, for some reason, not one camera caught what I was doing.  Apparently, they thought I was an interpreter.  Despite how amazing and breathtaking it was to be on stage signing Obama’s great speech in front of 75,000 people, this was a little disappointing. This marked the very first time a deaf person, not an interpreter, but a deaf person, was been on stage performing as an equal with live musicians, no less with such admirable performers as Will.i.am, John Legend, and the Black Eyed Peas band, who have all achieved, and will continue to do, so much.  This meant a great deal to a lot of individuals in my community and I couldn’t help but feel I’d let so many people down when I found this out, especially with all that the convention represented this year.

Far be it from me to denounce this experience as a negative one. There were so many wonderful things that came from this. The greatest thing of all for me personally was that, thanks to the amazing credentials I was given, I was able to be seated right in front of the podium during Obama’s speech!  Thank you, Wendi. There were also two floor workers who went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that my personal interpreter and I were able to see both the podium and the stage interpreters. They moved us four times to make sure our seats were satisfactory. The funny thing is that they were not affiliated at any way at all with the ADA office at the DNC. Those are the kind of people that should, from this point forward.

I had the honor of shaking Michelle Obama’s hand. She was just like she appears on television, tall, poised, warm, accessible, and beautiful. I was seated across from her and the girls, so I got to look over and see the Malia and Sasha’s reactions, which were precious! Malia was more poised, while Sasha kept laughing at pictures of herself that came up during Obama’s biography video. When Obama took the stage, the interpreters had no light on them, so I couldn’t see them even though I was probably in the best position in the stadium to. However, I was able to look back and read the teleprompter which was really the best thing that could have happened since I was able to see his words, as he meant them, as he said them.

I was seated among a variety of people. Next to me was a Vietnam veteran, next to my interpreter was an African-American woman shaking huge red pompoms. In front of me was a young Caucasian couple, behind three people in wheelchairs. And we all cheered until our throats were raw.

One thing that stood out for me was that even from where I was sitting, I was able to lip read Obama almost perfectly, and I have never been able to lip read a politician before. Another was when, after he brought his family on stage with him, he leaned down to point out some streamers that had gotten caught in the wire for the camera to his girls, and all four of them shared a laugh. It just seemed so human to me, and so much like a father. Most of you have seen his speech for yourselves, so I will not go into an at length analysis of it. Rather, I want to give you the general feeling of what it was like from where I was sitting, and that is a difficult task, because there are almost no words to describe the feelings and the experience I had. The best one I can find is that it was electrifying.

The bottom line from the entire experience, even though I am not quite finished processing it, is this. We all have more work to do.  Our work is not done. We must keep pushing for Obama. Our country needs him. Our world needs him.  My work is not done, either. I hope to keep working to raise the profile of deaf people, the community, and what they represent.  Let’s start rolling our sleeves up.

As always, thank you for thinking of me and for all your support! I love you all.

xoxo,
Shoshannah