And after getting a degree in theater from the University of New Orleans, she did. She toured for more than three years, then moved to New York in 1980 to work for the Theatre Development Fund One of her duties was auditioning interpreters for the deaf, and one of the first candidates was Champion. He had attended Oral Roberts University on a music scholarship before leaving for St. Louis, where he sang in summer stock and the city opera company and worked as a theatrical interpreter His first interpreting gig was a play about Billy the Kid, performed by a touring company from Iowa. He was drafted at the last minute, spent about 30 minutes with the director, talking about the play, and then interpreted all four speaking roles. Since then, they've teamed up fairly often, but they also work with other signers.
Musicals pose no special problem, they say.
Most of their audiences have never heard music, so their task is to try to capture the musical mood through gestures and body and facial language. It isn't a limitation, not hearing music, just a lack, of one dimension. In fact, he signed BroeckerPenn's wedding eight years ago. They have performed it every year since it opened in 1991, and Champion always wears a tuxedo . Champion's mother came from Oklahoma to see it, her first Broadway show, and because she is deaf, he interpreted for her .