Is This Still Relevant - Blog Posts

Deaf West Spring Awakening began in LA and during its run there it managed to win many awards for their performance; several Ovation awards as well as Broadway World LA awards and they are expected to make a splash at the Tonys for their Broadway run. This production brought a level of diversity and inclusion never before seen on Broadway before. Once on Broadway, the show received unanimous critical reviews from all over the US as well as a British review. New York Times, LA times, Wall street Journal, American Theatre and multiple more publications gave it must see praise. When all was said and done they were listed on 16 publications as a top 10 show of 2015 and had 2 performers listed in the top 10 individual performances of 2015 in the Huffington Post. Throughout the run the positive reviews and awards were seemingly never ending. Historically they brought many firsts to Broadway including the first wheel chair bound broadway performer, the first performer to both sign and voice his role, the first lottery conducted in sign language and english simultaniously. There was much history made with their performance and it was fortunately preserved by the New York Pulbic Library Theatre Archives. While this production won many awards, received much critical acclaim, and made multiple historical Broadway firsts; those amazing accomplishments alone are not enough to seek release of the archived film in my opinion. The run on Broadway coincided with the 25th anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act and it is because of that coincidence that i can think of no better way to honor it then to expand on what Deaf West accomplished on Broadway by taking accessibility to a new level never before seen. Any deaf theatre goer on Broadway was able to see a broadway show any night they wanted to without worrying if it was a captioned performance. Now for the hoped for result of this petition. It is my upmost hope that the director of film archives, Patrick Hoffman, will see the importance of this film being accessible to all and not just people that are in New York. I am formally requesting , along with all those that signed this petition and countless others, that copies of this film be given to every deaf school across America as well as every deaf library in America. Additionally, i would ask that for those that would wish to see this historical event that copies of the film would be available for purchase or rent. Think of the students in deaf schools, up to now they can be told that they can do anything they wish, that there are no limits. Imagine, though, how much better it would be to be able to show them the truth to that. Thisis very personal to me as i am the father of a deaf girl. Yes she was in the show but i remember when she was in school and i told her that she could do anything but the idea of being able to show her would have made it so much easier to believe. I sincerely hope you can see the importance of this request.