“The term is abhorrent and should never be used. The fact that we are talking about this during a very important moment in American history has upset me deeply,” Matlin said in a statement on Friday.
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Three staffers on the reality TV show, who requested anonymity due to non-disclosure agreements, told the Daily Beast that Trump often treated Matlin with disrespect and called her “retarded,” both behind her back and in front of her. A former Apprentice contestant also told People that Trump made sexual comments to Matlin and other women on the show.
“I am Deaf. There are millions of Deaf and Hard of Hearing people like me, in the United States and around the world who face discrimination and misunderstanding like this on a daily basis. It is unacceptable,” said Matlin, who has indicated her support for Hillary Clinton throughout the campaign.
“As a person who is Deaf, as a woman, as a mom, as a wife, as an actor, I have a voice. And I’m using that voice to make myself heard… and vote.”
VIDEO [CC] - What ‘Deaf’ means to me with Amanda McDonough.
Deaf activist, actress and Youtuber Amanda McDonough discussion and conversation questions about "What "Deaf" Means to Me" she wanted to talk about something she have been thinking a lot about recently and that is the word "DEAF." Now she grew up in hearing culture in the United States.
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I grew up with hearing family, hearing friends, going to a mainstream school and I didn't have access to signing. I didn't have access to Deaf people and... So, growing up for me that word "DEAF" scared me, because for me, before, that meant that I was going to lose my hearing. That meant that I was going to lose access to oral communication. That meant I might lose my family and my friends. That was scary for me. It was really scary. And it wasn't until after I became physically Deaf that I started searching for people like me and I started searching for a better way to communicate. And I found that in Deaf Culture, in sign language, in the Deaf community.
Now that i am a proud Deaf woman that word death means something so different to me. So, I wanted to share with you what word "DEAF" means to me now.
Now the word "DEAF" means strength. It means having the strength to accept yourself for who you really are. It also means support; having the support of the Deaf community. Having people around me that understand what i go through every single day, all of my struggles. They understand me, they really understand. It also means communication, because now I have this beautiful language that I can always understand I don't have have to struggle with and I have access to communication through new technology like VoIP and oh captioned phones. Different things that help me communicate better. It also, lastly, means intelligence. Why? Because deaf people; we have to be able to think creatively. We have to be able to think outside the box so that we can create new solutions to problems that we have, that don't depend on hearing, and that takes intelligence. So, this is what my new meaning of the word "DEAF" is.
VIDEO [CC] - Exclusive Interview: Lyric Theatre's "Fiddler on the Roof" Incorporates American Sign Language, Deaf and Hearing Actors.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Over half a century after its premiere on Broadway, the songs of Fiddler on the Roof are known around the world. From joyous “If I Were a Rich Man” to haunting “Sunrise, Sunset,” the musical focuses on the story of a Jewish milkman and his family’s troubles in rural Russia at the turn of the 20th century.
While the show certainly has its lighthearted moments, Fiddler on the Roof is, at its core, about the importance of family and tradition and the tensions surrounding them.
That is something Michael Baron could relate to when he took on directing duties for Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma’s production of the musical, which runs July 26-30 at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave.
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“As a Jewish musical theater director, Fiddler on the Roof has always been high on my bucket list of shows to direct,” Baron said. “It’s a show I’ve seen countless times and whose music has been played at almost every Jewish wedding and bar mitzvah I’ve attended, including my own.”
That notability can be seen as both a benefit and a detriment. At this point, Fiddler on the Roof is essentially synonymous with musical theater.
Between being one of the most-performed high school musicals and having multiple Broadway productions and a film adaptation, Fiddler has become difficult to ignore.
For this reason, audiences have likely seen it in one form or another, making it continuously harder to make the material fresh again.
But in an interesting twist, Lyric Theatre’s version incorporates American Sign Language and two Deaf actors portray love-struck characters Hodel and Perchik.
Two interpreters will be incorporated onstage to fully communicate to Deaf viewers.
New opportunities: Baron planned on utilizing the performers after discussing it with a friend, Deaf actor Christopher Tester.
After brainstorming how it might be possible and what Lyric would need to provide to make it happen, Baron said it seemed like a wonderful opportunity to showcase an underrepresented community.
“Our goal is to create a new village for Fiddler that is accessible to both hearing and Deaf patrons,” he said. “I hope this collaboration reveals new insights by bringing hearing and Deaf actors to the Lyric stage for the first time.”
And it certainly helps when performers are as passionate and talented as Sandra Mae Frank.
“I didn’t want to be an actress at first because it’s already tough enough to be an actor alone, but to be a Deaf actress?” she said. “I just did it anyway by taking the risk and moving forward with theater because I eat, breathe and dream it. It’s my life. It’s who I am.”
Frank, who became Deaf due to an unknown cause at the age of 3, doesn’t want to work in theater simply because it’s her passion.
She also wants to use it as a tool for educating others.
“Everyone has their own struggles in their own ways, but for me, as a Deaf actress, I also have to be an advocate and teach others about my culture,” she said.
Frank uses ASL as her main form of communication, which comes with its own set of challenges.
“It gets hard once in a while being vulnerable and bringing my culture to the public, but it’s also very beautiful letting my culture be a part of the story,” she said. “And depending on what the context is about, it brings more depth to a story by adding a different perspective from a Deaf character than how it’d usually be done if performed by a hearing actor.”
Frank certainly thinks the addition of ASL to the story of Fiddler on the Roof makes perfect sense.
In the musical, Hodel is the intelligent and free-spirited 17-year-old daughter of main character Tevye.
Over the course of the story, she falls in love with Perchik, a scholar and Bolshevik revolutionary who is exiled to Siberia.
“I love that Hodel and Perchik are Deaf, and it makes total sense,” Frank said. “Hodel resisted Perchik at first because of tradition, but to me, adding the deafness to the character gives it more purpose. She’s so hesitant, but she sees this handsome, deaf stranger, and it stirs up these feelings.”
Elaborate plans: With only two weeks from the beginning of rehearsals to opening night, Lyric Theatre hopes to put on one of the biggest and most ambitious productions of Fiddler on the Roof.
Its actors and production staff have certainly put in the work. Baron notes the planning for the show started nearly a year in advance, coordinating everything from casting across the nation to meetings with the choreographer and music director.
“The process to create this show has many facets,” he said. “From collaborating with scenic, costume, lighting, props and sound designers to create a wholly original production based on Jewish folk art built here in Oklahoma, consulting experts like Rabbi Vered Harris of Temple B’nai Israel, and so much more.”
But even with flashy musical numbers and elaborate sets, Frank and Baron agree the heart of the show lies in the more restrained and emotional moments.
“Fiddler is about the sometimes difficult balance between tradition, religion and family, which is always something audiences can relate to,” Baron said. “The fact that it uses such moving music that evokes emotion from the actors and audience makes it a special evening of theater always worth revisiting.”
Frank echoed that sentiment and said she hopes audiences leave the show filled with a new appreciation for the musical.
“I hope they feel a sense of joy and that no matter where you are in life or what defines you, family is where your home is and where you’ll find love,” she said.
Fiddler on the Roof
7:30 p.m. Tuesday-July 28, 8 p.m. July 20, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. July 30
VIDEO [CC] - A video of the highlights of Deaf actress Amanda McDonough's recent trip to Las Vegas for the DeafNation World Expo.
LAS VEGAS, NV -- News 3 LV: The DeafNation World Expo at Paris Las Vegas, The event bring thousands of people into Las Vegas and is free to those who register.
Deaf actress Amanda McDonough, author of the upcoming book "Ready to Be Heard" and activist for the Deaf community, shares some wonderful tips on how to appropriately communicate with those who are hard of hearing or who have lost their hearing altogether.
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With thousands of Deaf visitors attending the conference in Las Vegas this week, McDonough tackles stigmas and how to avoid uncomfortable situations for both parties. SOURCE.
Deaf News: Audree Lauraine Norton, Pioneering Deaf Actress, Dies at 88.
Hollywood Reporter - Audree Norton, who many consider the first Deaf actress to appear in a featured role on an American network TV series, has died. She was 88.
In September 1968, on “The Silent Cry,” the episode that kicked off the second season of the CBS crime drama Mannix, Norton starred as a Deaf woman who, while reading the lips of a man talking inside a phone booth, realizes that he’s plotting to kidnap someone.
She seeks out good-guy private detective Joe Mannix (Mike Connors). He investigates, putting their lives in jeopardy.
Norton also played a Deaf mother who wanted to adopt a child in a 1971 episode of ABC’s The Man and the City, and she and her husband, Kenneth, who also was Deaf, auditioned for roles as parents in a 1978 ABC Afterschool Special titled “Mom and Dad Can’t Hear Me.”
According to the 1988 book Hollywood Speaks: Deafness and he Film Entertainment Industry, written by John S. Schuchman, a casting director told Norton that “of all the people, you and your husband won the roles. But you are out because the director is afraid to use Deaf actors and actresses.”
VIDEO [ASL/CC] - A groundbreaking silent film, "Universal Signs" to touch the hearts and minds of Deaf and Hearing audiences alike.
Universal Signs is a modern American Sign Language (ASL) film from 2008. After the death of his fiancee’s daughter on his watch, Andrew d’Anjou (Anthony Natale, Mr. Holland’s Opus) a Deaf computer technician/artist, becomes a prisoner of his own mind.
Tormented day and night by his memories and self-blame, Andrew follows a downward spiral of depression and anger that alienates everyone around him.
It is only through a serendipitous friendship with Mary (Sabrina Lloyd, Sports Night), the new university librarian, that Andrew is able to forgive himself, rediscover his muse and again experience the transformative power of love.
Anthony Natale on the Universal Signs ASL film - A sample clip from the special features section of the Universal Signs, Anthony Natale comments on using American Sign Language in film.
VIDEO [CC] - Good Morning America: Exclusive interview with Marlee Matlin in Landmark 'Switched at Birth' Episode.
Actress discusses taking a risk in using American Sign Language and subtitles on ABC Family's ‘Switched at Birth.’
Actress Marlee Matlin came by Good Morning America March 4 2013 to talk about the landmark new episode of Switched at Birth, which will be the first in history to be aired on television entirely in American Sign Language. Marlee Matlin, who is Deaf in real life, appeared with a translator, who facilitated the interview between her and Robin Roberts.
Matlin said it’s been an amazing journey for her, because she began in the business 28 years ago trying to get her language, American Sign Language, across to anyone watching television or movies. She said it’s going to be beautiful to show and highlight to the whole world the culture of American Sign Language.
The clip they showed of tonight’s Switched at Birth episode was extremely powerful. I’ve never seen the show, but Marlee Matlin and actress Lea Thompson were sitting at a dining room table signing to each other about how to get reporters to a high school presentation of Romeo And Juliet.
‘Switched at Birth’: ABC Family’s The teen soap Switched at Birth explores self-expression and the communication gulf between the hearing and Deaf communities. List of Switched at Birth characters: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Switched_at_Birth_characters
VIDEO - Marlee Matlin is the one of top 5 youngest Academy Award winners.
HOLLYWOOD -- Kicking things off at number five, we've got Marlee Matlin, who took home the Best Actress trophy in 1986 for her role as Sarah Norman in Children of a Lesser God. Matlin was just 21 years old when she became not just the youngest winner ever for the category, but also the first Deaf person to take home an Oscar.
Next up, the only guy on our Top Five - Timothy Hutton, who won Best Supporting Actor in 1980 for his role in Robert Redford's Ordinary People. Hutton, now a television star, was only 20 when he took home the gold.
At number three we've got our most legendary performance on the list - Patty Duke's incredible portrayal of Helen Keller in 1962 classic The Miracle Worker. Duke was only 16 years old when she stunned audiences across the country with her heartbreaking performance and won the Best Supporting Actress prize.
Number two on our list is also our most recent award - Anna Paquin's 1993 win for her Supporting role in The Piano. The actress was a mere eleven years old when she took home the Oscar, and has since gone on to star in both blockbuster films like X-Men and art-house classics like Margaret.
And finally, the youngest Academy Award winner of all time is... Tatum O'Neal, who won Best Supporting Actress in 1973 for her role in Paper Moon. O'Neal was just ten years old when she gave her award-winning performance alongside her father, Ryan - that's the age most kids are in the fourth grade! Amazing.
"I don't mind fun poked at me, as I poke back," the Dancing with the Stars alum tweeted Sunday. "But at the language, that millions use? It feels childish and insulting."
NEW YORK CITY -- TIME: "The term is abhorrent and should never be used"
