LOS ANGELES — Traditionally, when the character of Florestan appears on stage in act II of “Fidelio,” he is alone in his prison cell.

But this is no ordinary performance of Beethoven’s only opera. Actor Josh Castille shares the role — and the stage — with Ian Koziara. As Koziara sings the first few words — “Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!” in German, or, “God! What darkness here!” — in his rich tenor voice, Castile, hands bound in prison ropes, delivers them just as passionately in American Sign Language, his face telling a story of agony, longing and loss.

“It’s not a sandwich,” he explained, communicating in American Sign Language and being interpreted by Maria Cardoza. “It’s not a sandwich, but it’s really just a mix of a lot of things. It’s almost like a cake and a recipe that we’re making to really create the character.”

Castille wasn’t born deaf but, after developing a kidney infection as a baby, began losing his hearing over the course of his life. He suspects he will be fully deaf by the time he’s 30.

Although he’s appeared in several musical theatre productions, including Deaf West Theatre’s Tony-winning revival of “Spring Awakening,” “Fidelio” is Castille’s first opera, and he connects to the materials in a very visceral way. By the time the piece originally debuted in 1805, Beethoven was deaf as well.

Castile noticed right away that the show features a lot of moments where people are desperately trying to communicate or understand each other. As a deaf artist, it’s something he recognized.

“We really emphasize connection, like the eye contact, making sure that I understand you, you understand me, that we kind of have this mutual understanding of each other. And I’m finding that in this script,” he said. “There’s a lot of communications that are not necessarily happening efficiently. So it’s very interesting, as [Beethoven is] a hearing person became deaf later on. He probably had the experience of feeling very disconnected from a lot of the people in his life.”

The concert is a collaboration between the LA Phil and Deaf West Theatre, and is truly a testament to the power of communication.

“There are five languages, always, in our rehearsals,” director Alberto Arvelo pointed out.

There are the Deaf West Theatre actors, performing in American Sign Language, as well as a chorus of deaf performers — Coro de Manos Blancas — who use Venezuelan Sign Language but performed in a more interpretive way. English and Spanish are heard throughout the rehearsal room — Arvelo and LA Phil conductor Gustavo Dudamel are both from Venezuela — while the principal singers and the Los Angeles Master Chorale perform the piece in the original German.

There’s a lot of interpretation and translation happening, but amazingly, Arvelo says, what’s not lost is connection.

“Music is just energy. And energy can come from different places. And we have been transformed by this,” he said. “I mean, the singers have been transformed by the actors, the actors by the singers, and we are achieving something that we were not expecting, this like hidden energy, that is there. Just…just art.”

DJ Kurs, artistic director of Deaf West Theatre, says that the opera world hasn’t always been accessible to the Deaf community. In fact, this is their first time collaborating with the LA Phil.

“So I’m thrilled to incorporate the world of opera into the deaf community,” he said. “So you know, Beethoven himself became deaf. And he wrote 'Fidelio' when he has already lost much of his hearing. So it’s a really been an honor… making 'Fidelio' accessible, and visual in sign language.”

Castille agrees but also added that this isn’t just a chance to introduce deaf audiences to opera. It’s also a chance to introduce opera professionals to new ways of thinking.

“Just seeing the opera world learn so much more about their own craft and how they can actually collaborate with us as deaf artists and really make music and art together,” he explained.

“What I think is super wonderful about this is that even when we’re getting into sort of the really technical parts of singing all of our roles, you’re going to get to see a sort of counterpoint to each one of our performances, which is the deaf or hard-of-hearing actor being able to sort of give a physical impression of what we’re creating sonically,” said Koziara. “It’s been unbelievable. Just the sheer inventiveness of it is unbelievable. One of my favorite productions I’ve ever done.”

ASL choreographer Colin Analco, who helped translate the German text into ASL, says this production opens up whole news opportunities for the artform and could change the way even the most avid opera fan experiences the music.

“This is a world that I was not able to access for an extremely long time. I feel like I’ve been given a little bit of window into what that looks like. And it’s just incredibly endless opportunities and possibilities,” said Analco. “The visual aspects of what can be created with music is just mutually beneficial for both worlds. We’re creating something new with this production, something beautiful.”

This is a first-of-its-kind concert but also hopefully the first of many. With the recent Oscar win for “CODA” and Deaf West currently working on a musical version of the story, deaf artists feel that doors are opening for them like never before.

“This is really a massive moment in our community,” Kurs said. “And we have been preparing and have a lot of work in the progress, creating more opportunities for deaf actors.”

“Yes, I absolutely think the world is changing,” Castille agreed. “I think that the conversations are shifting constantly. And I’m very excited about that.”

But Castille stresses that as these conversations happen, they shouldn’t just be about deaf people. Deaf artists need to be intricately involved in them. This is just the beginning of what could be a transformative journey, but only if the Deaf community gets to play a leading role.

 

 

 

 

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