Rachel Cross, singer & songwriter

The Montgomery County Gazette, January 31, 2002

Sound decisions: How Deaf Access gets its groove on

by Chris Slattery
Staff Writer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jan. 31, 2002

Submitted photo
The Deaf Access Company of BAPA's Imagination Stage relies on the music of Montgomery County's Rachel and Henry Cross.

There's a lot to like about "Party in the Sky and Other Tales from Brazil," including, as one might imagine, the music. Don't call it a soundtrack, though. The music accompanying this particular performance at a North Bethesda theater is a little bit out of the ordinary.

That's because "Party in the Sky" is a production of BAPA's Imagination Stage Deaf Access Company, a theater company where integration means combining abilities in a way that brings out the best in everyone. Because the theater company serves both the Deaf and the hearing communities, it adds music to enrich the experience of its hearing audience just as the subtleties and nuances of sign language bring things to life for its deaf audience.

And because the theater company takes pride in being progressive, it actually creates choreography before deciding on a single note of music.

"This has been our sixth year doing this," says Rachel Cross, the Takoma Park singer/songwriter who takes an annual time-out from her busy touring and recording schedule to collaborate with BAPA's Deaf Access Company -- and her husband, Henry. "They visit a different culture each year; this year, it's Brazil."

That appeals to Cross for many reasons, not all of them musical.

"Brazilian folk tales are very different from the Disnified folk tales we're used to," she points out. The music is unique as well.

"We listened to traditional and contemporary Brazilian music to hear what kind of instruments were used."

The tales, by Sally Bailey and Jim Marvin, include three different stories, and plenty of challenges.

"One is done in mime; that's the most difficult to score for," Cross points out.

Of course, the way the Crosses score a Deaf Access Company production is unorthodox. The music is the last part, an after-the-collaborative-fact piece added in only after the play's other elements have been fully realized. For example, the dance sequences choreographer Fred Beam creates are the starting point for their musical accompaniment.

"We get it on videotape," Cross explains. "It's all filmed and we write the music to the videotape.

"We're not showing them how to move; they're showing us how to hear by the gracefulness of the movements," she observes. "In some of the pieces the music is almost implied."

Does it work? Don't ask the composer. How would she know?

"We don't get to see the final thing until opening night," Cross says, but she sounds much more than optimistic.

"That's the payoff," she says.

Watch the music

"They are incredibly talented," Lisa Agogliati says, and the founder and director of the Deaf Access Program could be describing just about any of the people with whom she works on a regular basis: executive director and BAPA co-founder Bonnie Fogel, program chair Mary Yeh, sign master Linda Salamoff, playwrights Bailey and Marvin, choreographer Beam, and so on. She means the Crosses, though.

"The score is beautiful," says Agogliati, who has a background in dance and choreography, and has been part of this project from its genesis. Once she and her collaborators have fleshed out an idea and started on a script, she says they do some good old-fashioned brainstorming. Keep in mind that when Agogliati communicates, she does so full force, with speech, American Sign Language (ASL) and her own expressive energy.

"We talk our way through it," she explains. "Where do we see music? Where do I envision a mime piece? A mood piece?"

With three or four pieces envisioned within the score, Agogliati attaches the movement next.

"I sit down with Fred and we agree on ideas," she says, referring to Beam, who is a choreographer, a dancer, an actor and an advocate for Deaf awareness through the performing arts. Beam does it all: hip-hop, mainstream dance, Black Deaf Theatre -- he even has his own one-man show. Here, he's in his element.

"He choreographs for the kids with no music at all," says Agogliati. "It's been his vision; that's what he does."

And that leaves the director with an abundance of riches.

"Because I'm working with a visual language that's so rich, I want it to be accessible in both worlds," she explains. "A hearing audience may not understand all the nuances in sign language, so I use music to strike a balance."

The music she uses comes from outside the Deaf Access think tank: a videotape is made and sent to the Crosses, who are so arts-centric they need to borrow a television every year just to play the tape, according to Henry Cross.

Once informed of the production's culture, the couple immersed themselves in the music, then met with Agogliati and Beam.

"It's very conceptual, conversational," Henry Cross says.

After that initial meeting, he says, the Crosses communicated mostly with Agogliati, burning a CD and bringing it to her so she could try it out with the troupe. The editing process was ongoing.

Some of the pieces, Cross explains, are as short as five seconds -- just a burst of music to highlight a character coming on stage. In other situations, a longer passage, perhaps four minutes, is necessary. The only direction may be "We'll need some kind of magical slow." And somehow Cross understands exactly what they mean.

The husband and wife composing team would somehow take it from there. Cross says he's learned a lot about Brazilian music: it's part Latin, part oompah, part polka -- plenty of interesting instrumentation.

They say it's fun, and that they're perfectly happy to give their best effort, even though they know their work is not the star of this show.

"It's a visual thing," says Cross, pointing out that whether the actors are deaf or not, the score is rarely front and center.

"I think the music is usually a secondary thing -- unless you're Stravinsky," he laughs. "We're following them."

But following the high-energy folks at BAPA's Imagination Stage Deaf Access Program has its perks. They are known to be nice, as inclusive and welcoming as they encourage others to be.

"We know it'll be appreciated," he notes. "And we go the extra mile for them, especially Lisa; we really want to meet her standards."

The feelings of respect and appreciation go both ways.

"Rachel and Henry, in their incredible way, always find something that fits us perfectly," says Agogliati. "The score is phenomenal. What's amazing is, when you see a change coming you see it visually. But if you stop and listen, you realize the same idea is set to music. Most people are not aware of the process. It's not in the program; it's how we work with music in the play.

"I always think 'How do they do this? They have captured every single movement, everything that happens.'

"You think, 'Oh my gosh, it fits perfectly.' "

BAPA's Deaf Access Program presents "Party in the Sky and Other Tales from Brazil," through Feb. 10 at BAPA's Imagination Stage at White Flint, 11301 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. Shows are Saturdays and Sundays at 12:30 and 3 p.m. Tickets are $6.50. Call 301-320-3550.