If you are going to dream, dare to make it happen. Sounds like something you’d see on one of those inspirational posters or a famous movie quote from some legendary icon of heroism. I’m not sure if it is one of these or not, but I am sure that I was recently a part of someone’s “dream come true.” And the experience was nothing short of amazing.
17 Years A Dream
Wanda Larson dreamed for 17 years of directing and producing the play “The Taste of Sunrise.” I could tell from the moment I was invited to join the cast as an integrated American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, that this was an endeavor to which she and her Deaf co-director were totally committed and fully invested. I was just one piece of the puzzle. It was clear from the start that realizing this dream meant finding the right people for the right parts. And find these people they did. They dared to look beyond race, gender, age and other labels and titles – to see each person’s ability to bring something to the table and to buy into the dream. You could sense it in the room at the first rehearsal. Everyone was there to make something extraordinary happen.
Diversity of Gifts
We were by no means a homogeneous group. Amongst the cast, the crew, and the production team, there were men, women, boys and girls of various races and cultures. There were veteran actors and actors making their stage debut. There were deaf folk and hearing folk. There were people who were fluent signers, novice signers or people who didn’t sign at all. But more importantly, there was a myriad of varied strengths. Everyone, whether by training, life experience or just plain talent, brought assets that were needed by everyone else to complete the endeavor.
I learned something from each individual involved. I could literally look around and say of each person involved, “We couldn’t do this without them.” There were major roles and minor roles, big jobs and little jobs, veterans and novices. Yet, no one person was more important than the other. We all counted. We all mattered. And we all knew it.
Together we watched the birth of a dream conceived 17 years prior. Together we dared to make it happen.
Originally published July 2015.
