During the early days of the pandemic, some Ohioans got to know Marla Berkowitz during daily briefings from Gov. Mike DeWine and Dr. Amy Acton. Berkowitz interpreted their speeches on video broadcasts. But that’s very different from interpreting music or an emotional character in a play.
American Sign Language interpreters are becoming increasingly visible at plays and concerts, where a segment of the audience might be deaf or hard of hearing. ASL helps them experience music and enjoy the storytelling.
“It's a workout for sure,” said Colleen Ticherich, chair of The HeArd, which is a program of the nonprofit Theatrical Interpreting Services of Cleveland, Inc..
Ticherich works with a cast of interpreters who work the shows at venues such as Playhouse Square and Blossom Music Center. She was inspired to go back to school and get her ASL certification after working as an occupational therapist with deaf people.
“With theater, we take on specific characters,” she said. “You've got 20-some actors on a stage, but there's only [a few] of us. So, we have to take on multiple characters, and we need to personify each one somehow differently.”
For recent productions of the “Lion King,” for example, she kept her hand on her face near Scar’s scar. When portraying Zazu, a bird, she’d keep her arms folded at her sides to mimic wings.
At concerts, the main interpretation is lyrics, which can be a challenge in the freewheeling world of rock 'n’ roll.
“Some performers, they don't like to give us setlists,” she said. “Even though we have argued ad nauseam. There's just no way we can go learn all the songs of a band just in case something pops up.”
That’s where Peter Parsons, treasurer of the HeArd, comes in. He understands the unique challenges faced by deaf audiences, since he grew up with deaf parents. Even when they get setlists, it’s not always easy to print them out and format them.
“A lot of times when you're interpreting from paper, you're looking down and then you look up and it just doesn't look good,” he said. “Then you lose your spot on the paper when you look back down, and you look lost and you look unprepared.”
As a solution, he’s created software known as TERP setlist.
“This is more of a teleprompter,” he said. “You can just type in the name of the song, hit a button and there's all your lyrics in a beautiful format.”
Parsons and his fellow interpreters have been testing the software and refining it, planning for an official release next year.
Parsons said he also hopes that the number of interpreters increases. The Registry for Interpreters of the Deaf shows 359 licensees in Ohio, out of 10,000 nationally.
“We want to get more younger interpreters in,” he said. “We want more deaf mentorship. It's a little scary, you know, being in front of people and doing music, because that's a very personal thing to interpret music. Some people might not have rhythm or whatever, but we want to encourage it and help mentor the young ones. And we need more of them, because the show must go on, with or without us.”
