gloria rosen
How It Started…
Gloria’s deaf mother loved musicals, but even with a hearing aid she could not understand the words. So as soon as Gloria learned how to speak her mother would play the records of the show she wanted to see and Gloria would lip synch all the songs. At the movies or watching TV Gloria would repeat all the words…in silence. Then she thought it would be great to be up there on stage and do all that stuff herself and out loud…
A Little Detour…
She got herself educated and started acting, playing such roles as, edgy New York mothers (Lox Atop the Lincoln Tunnel – Shortened Attention Span Festival), world weary tramps, (Marthy in Anna Christy – Studio Theater) compassionate wives (On the Beach – Estro Festival Winner); a homicidal nurse, (Do You Mind If I Join You? – Samuel French Festival); Italian matriarchs (The Wanderer – Scripts Up!), ghostly Jewish grandmas (Bubby’s Shadow – Planet Connections,) and assorted wise women.
Along The Way…
During her acting training and subsequent career, she has met some wonderful acting teachers. One of them, Peter Flint, encouraged her to tell her story. And so she took the time to create the story of a hearing child in the world of the deaf. She revisited her childhood home where ringing telephones and doorbells lit up the house; watching TV required feats of concentration; and visits to her parents’ club for the deaf led her to an attempt at identity theft. These recollections are often funny, sometimes frustrating, potentially scary and certainly eye opening. And in the end she found what she was looking for – her own voice.
As a result – Listen… Can You Hear Me Now? has been produced in NY, been selected two years in a row for Los Angeles Women’s Theater Festival and now heads back to LA for the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
