(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Jacqui Tricarico, Senior Correspondent for "One-on-One."

So pleased to be joined now by mother and daughter Kristy and Hailey Whilden, who are the co-founders of Hands Up Silent Theatre, a theater for both the deaf and the hearing located in Millville, New Jersey.

Thank you both so much for joining us.

- Thank you for having us.

- Thank you for having us.

- And I definitely have to mention Russ Berrie Awardees this past year, 2024 Making a Difference Award winner.

So congratulations on that.

Russ Berrie is a funder of our program as well, and we know that they love to shine a light on the amazing work people are doing throughout the community.

So congratulations.

- Thank you, I really appreciate that.

- Of course, Kristy, I'd love to start with you, first, tell us about your personal struggle with hearing loss, because it happened in your adult life.

Explain to us what happened and how you found out that you were slowly losing your hearing.

- Sure, so I was a music educator for 10 years.

I owned my own music academy in Tuckahoe, New Jersey.

I had some other teachers there that worked for me that taught, like, guitar and some other instruments, but I was the head piano teacher.

So our claim to fame was that, I think, it was five of our students were invited to play at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

So that was a really exciting time for us and we were on top of the world.

And then, I started to notice that the kids were saying, "Hey, Mom, turn the TV down, it's too loud."

Or we're driving in the car, and it's like, "Mom, turn the music down, it's too loud."

And I was like, "I really need to get that checked out."

So then I learned I have hereditary progressive sensory and aural hearing loss, which also my father has.

But, normally, it doesn't hit someone until they're in their early to late seventies.

So it happened to turn on for me when I was 33, so that's when it started to decline.

They say I'll lose about 5% of my hearing every year until it's gone.

- Wow, okay, so fast forward and, you know, this is a lot of information to take in for you and your family, your children.

So, Hailey, when did this idea for Hands Up Silent Theatre come into play?

What was going on at that time, and why did you and your mom come up with this idea?

- So it really started when she first told me that she was losing her hearing.

I was only 11 at the time, and being a little girl, I was terrified that I was gonna lose communication with my mom.

I thought I wasn't gonna be able to talk to her and have her all throughout my life.

Obviously, that isn't true.

She went on to get her American Sign Language degree, her associates degree, and her professors allowed me to come with her.

I actually went on to get the same degree.

But, with that, we formed a joint love for the language.

And, at the time, we were going to see Broadway shows all the time, not all the time, that'd be a little crazy, for my birthday every year.

- I love Broadway too.

- I would love to go all the time.

- Me too.

- Every year, we were going for my birthday.

And when she started to notice that she was losing her hearing, she paid more attention to the interpreters, and we noticed that the interpreters were on the ground, and they were only lit up by a small light, and it was very hard to see them.

I got to see all of the amazing costumes, the lights, the performance in its entirety, and my mom was looking at this person in the corner.

And, from that, we saw the inequality in the arts, and my mom suggested that we create a choir using sign language.

And me being a kid, I was like, "That's kind of boring.

We should do a theater."

And so that's really how Hands Up Silent Theatre was born.

Yeah.

- That's awesome.

And the theater brings so many people together.

Kristy, talk about how this theater is different.

Right now you and I are communicating over Zoom, but we're using close captioning so you know what I'm saying.

On a stage when actors are performing, like Hailey said, you're looking at the interpreter to the side, you're not immersed in the actual what is happening on stage.

So talk about how Hands Up Silent Theatre works.

What's going on?

- Sure, so when our students come to us, like 95% of them have never signed before.

A lot of them never even danced or even came to theater before.

And they come to us looking for a family, really, we are one giant family.

So how it works is the kids come to us and we teach them the songs in American Sign Language.

We teach them how to voice with it.

So we use what's called SimCom, which is Simultaneous Communication of ASL and voice at the same time.

So that way it's 100% accessible, not just accessible, but equal for you as a hearing person to be looking up on the stage and enjoying the lights, the costumes, the sounds, everything, and it's just as equal for the deaf community member to be looking up on the stage to see the play in their own language as well.

- What has been the reaction from the theatergoers in the community?

Because this started out kind of small, right?

It's grown pretty big.

How many people can you fit in that theater?

- Well, we started out with seven kids and just a grand idea.

And, that year, we ended up putting on "The Lion King" in a theater that was probably about 400.

And we didn't fill it by no means, but it was taken really well.

So, from there, we went onto a theater that was about 220 and our kids grew to about 20 kids.

And we sold out that theater a couple years in a row, so then that's when we moved to Millville.

And then, we used the Levoy Theatre, which now has approximately 700 seats, and now, last year, we sold out our first show there.

So, like, that was very exciting.

So now we have approximately 40 students.

And what's really great about this is it's not just teaching them theater, it's teaching them about a different culture and also a different language, and some of our kids have really taken this on.

Like, for example, we have a student that's at Bloomsburg University who is becoming an interpreter.

We have one that went to Flagler College who's become a deaf educator.

We have another one who has aspirations of becoming a lawyer for the deaf, another one that wants to be a psychiatrist for the deaf.

So, like, we are opening these kids' eyes to different possibilities for different occupations in the future too, which is really exciting.

- Yeah, like you mentioned, ASL is another language that I believe we all should be learning to be able to communicate with the deaf community.

And, Hailey, how are you taking these life experiences with your own career path, your own educational path?

What are you studying right now?

- So I actually just finished my degree in psychology, my bachelor's degree in psychology.

Before that, I got my associate's in American Sign Language and deaf studies.

I recently got married and I moved to Kentucky, so, unfortunately, I'm not there every week with the kids.

But I started teaching lessons here, private lessons, and I've gotten really good feedback from my students.

They say they really enjoyed learning and they're so glad that I'm here for them, and I'm so happy to hear that.

I, of course, come back when I can to see the kids and help out.

I also do private lessons with the kids whenever they need it, so.

- That's wonderful.

And like I mentioned at the beginning, you are both Russ Berrie Making a Difference winners.

What has that recognition meant to both of you?

- I was actually surprised.

I didn't know it was a thing.

And I got this nomination, I was like, "Wow, what is this?"

So to be able to go there and to be on that stage with all those incredible people, it's really...

It was mind-blowing, 'cause it's actually kind of um... - Hailey, what's the word when you finally feel like what you do matters?

- Validated?

- Validated.

- That's a good one.

- That this is actually a really important thing and that other people are seeing it in that way as well.

So like I was super honored to be nominated for this award.

- It was definitely such an honor to be invited onto the stage, even though my name wasn't technically on the award.l They did let me speak, and I thought that was very kind of them.

And it was amazing to meet so many incredible people.

- An honor well deserved for both of you doing great work.

I can't wait to get my kids down to the theater to see one of the performances.

Thank you both so much for joining us today.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- You can come down in May, we are doing (indistinct).

- Awesome, I can't wait.

Thanks.

- Thank you.

- All right, we'll be right back after this.

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