Transcript
Jonathan Kovacs: Here are some locations where we traveled. We traveled to various Hard Rock Café restaurants while on our tour bus. Some pubs are also named “Rathskellar,” we’d visit various pubs or restaurants with the same name during our tour.
Brian Malzkuhn: So you Googled these locations?
JK:Yes; if we found them, we went there.
BM:So many of them!
BM:I recall one of your 2009 tour stops on October 3, at Gallaudet; I was taken aback by the long line of people at the doors and beyond, even across the street! I’d never forget that. How many people attended that event?
JK:I think about 815 people attended that event.
BM:815?
JK:815 people, yes. The limit is 772 people, but we went over that limit with 815 people.
BM:After Gallaudet opened Elstad Auditorium in 1961, the first sold-out show was in 1967 and there hadn’t been any additional sold-out shows since then. Now with Rathskellar in the picture, that has changed?
JK:Yes, that was 42 years ago and now we set a new record with 815 attendees. Clearly the demand is still high.
BM:Wow. Was that the last performance for Rathskellar?
JK:I hope not. That was a one-night-only performance. Whether that was the last depends on sponsors; if we get sponsor support, we could hopefully continue through 2010 and 2011. If there are no sponsors, we’ll see what happens.
BM:How was the name “Rathskellar” created?
JK:We were created in 1998, while I was a student at Gallaudet. I was part of many different experiences, but I wanted to do something combining ASL and art. I loved music and drums, I loved A-to-Z stories, et cetera; so for the heck of it, I gathered about five or six of us one weekend for auditions and brainstorming. I went to the Archives and looked up various aspects of history at Gallaudet including ghost stories and true stories; I jotted down some ideas-
BM:You mean Gallaudet’s history?
JK:Yes, at Gallaudet; I compiled them together as well as the history of A-to-Z stories and other arts, the drum, the Bison Song, and so on, creating a good set. We then had our first performance on the weekend of December 10, 11, and 12, and with a $3 donation from attendees, which we gave to the Archives for allowing us to spend so much time with their records. One audience member was from New Jersey and after he saw our performance, he demanded that we go to New Jersey and perform there. We thought about it and once the other group members unanimously agreed, we went for it. We decided to set the date for April 1999. We dived into rehearsals so we could give a better-quality show. We went to New Jersey and performed, then decided to perform at Gallaudet again after we returned. More requests came up, including Canada! We went to Canada – right, we already became international by our fourth show, wow! That summer, we rented two vans and traveled throughout the Northeast region for about a year. Later in 1999, we flew for the first time to our performance destination, in Indiana. We’d been driving around and now we finally flew to another location. Yes, it was at the deaf school in Indiana. We were excited about flying to our performances. After that, we were flying around the country nonstop. 2000 was the first time we flew out of the country and into Europe. In Denmark, and our performance was a big hit there. After that, we continued flying out of the country throughout Europe and we just became an international act throughout the world. One example, we flew to Germany and Amsterdam, we gave workshops – we did that all over, but those two countries established their own performance groups as a result. We returned to Amsterdam and combined our groups to perform together. We’ve had a big impact all over, including America; we impacted adults, children, and organizations. We’d host workshops and children would feel good about themselves after seeing deaf adults perform. They’d feel good about signing and would begin showing off their skills to us. ASL is just beautiful. With hearing people, spoken English would be turned into music and it’d be art, and with ASL, it could be turned in music and it’d also be art just the same. They each have their own art.
BM:I remember Rathskellar from my time. I was a Gallaudet student and when I was a junior, there wasn’t a pub on campus, and we wanted to one established. Other universities had pubs on their campus, and we wanted to have that as well. My junior year, Gallaudet opened a pub and everyone went there frequently, especially on the weekends. We’d tell ABC stories, dance, created numerous games with ASL ... we made art with ASL. I completed my education at Gallaudet, graduated, and went on with life. I wonder if there’s any connection between this pub and your group?
JK:In a way, yes. When we established our group, there were about two and a half weeks left before our first show and we still didn’t have a name. We needed to name ourselves, but we couldn’t think of a name. When I was researching the Archives for our performance content, Rathskellar came up in my research and other people said the same that you just shared with me, how people shared stories and jokes at the pub. It was clear that the energy was there, the spirit was there, and ASL truly blossomed there. I wanted to keep that energy and spirit blossoming before it diminished so I applied it to our group to keep it growing. We carry that torch of ASL and art and it’s the strength in Rathskellar, so we named ourselves Rathskellar and it’s been our identity since then.
BM:“Rathskellar” – certainly a beautiful sign, I love it.
JK:That’s another thing I kept, the sign because of the name. It’s great.
BM:I have to tell you, Rathskellar has been going nonstop. Rathskellar has finally been brought back to Gallaudet, thanks to you.
JK:Well, perhaps it has a little impact, but it’s definitely nice how the local community could interpret it as either the pub or the performance group. Having two different two identities is pretty neat.
BM:That’s a story to tell once in a while. Now, after all that time of creating the group, developing the content, and identifying yourselves, you’ve been on the go from there. I saw you last year with the tour bus, pulling up in the morning. I was astonished that the group was still alive, I thought you were gone. I went up to you and wished you best of luck. What happened with the group after that point? Where’d you travel?
JK:2007 through 2008 was a big year for us due to major sponsor support. We were shocked to have a bus; it’s always been a dream to have a big bus with a trailer for our props, and have kids see our bus and understand that standards for deaf people are just as high as any other. I was skeptical it’d ever happen, however. We ended up with that big bus with Rathskellar emblazed on the side and it was amazing how we got that great bus through our sponsor support. We rehearsed nonstop for two months, every day. Once we were ready, we started our tour and went all over the United States. We also met hearing people that saw our bus. They’d try communicating with us and we’d tell them that we’re deaf, and when they asked if we were a band, we told them we were ASL performers. We exposed that to these hearing people who also came to our shows, as well as numerous deaf kids. The kids came to our shows and were in awe with us as deaf role models, meeting adults who were deaf like them. It was good to be role models for them because it meant big dreams for them: they wanted to succeed, they wanted to be senators, and so on. They saw through us that they could do it. That 2007-2008 tour was a big year for us. I hope to do it again in the future, we’ll see what happens.
BM:During that bus tour traveling the States for a year, what was a major or funny experience that happened to you?
JK:One time we were on the road with the tour bus, and the bus started to slide over the edge of the road, nearing tipping over. We called a tow truck and we were waiting in that tipped bus. The tow truck came and helped us back upright. We checked inside the trailer and everything remained in place. Also, another time we were driving to Pittsburgh through major curvy roads, which were difficult for the driver, and once we arrived to the deaf school, the bus’s motor broke down. We had to call a mechanic to fix the bus overnight. We had to lug all our props and supplies into the school prior to the performance. Many little things like that happened as we traveled. The major impact on us throughout the tour was the kids, wow. After the show, kids would crowd around us and want to share their ASL performance skills and dancing skills, saying they wanted to join Rathskellar once they grew older; they wanted to be like us. I could see so many kids just blossoming. This wasn’t one specific location – this happened all over and with kids of all ages as well as adults. They were inspired by seeing their language on stage. This planted the seed for them, yes. They truly enjoyed seeing their own language and it was wonderful seeing this impact on them.
BM:I’d like to know more about how many performers that you’ve contacted, recruited, and worked with throughout all these years – was it 10 years?
JK:11 years.
BM:All these 11 years, okay. How many performers throughout these years?
JK:I did the math, and wow – there have been 26 performers. Including me, 27 performers.
BM:All of you!
JK:All of us, yes, 27 performers. All of us were also alumni of Gallaudet.
BM:Wow!
JK:And not only the performers, but there were also crew members. Really, there were many of us. I always viewed Rathskellar as a community of support. It wasn’t a group that ran on its own; we ran on support from our fans, my family, the performers’ families, and so many more backing us with encouragement and support the entire way. I’ve always seen it as a “community-owned company” and as the community’s pride, how we show ASL as a beautiful language. It’s really the community.
BM:You’re the longest-running group, going nonstop while there has been music out there that has come and gone. That’s really good.
JK:11 years, wow. We haven’t been worn out yet.
BM:Never – you’re ageless! You just keep moving. Really, I’m impressed with how you move from skits to moves, memorizing it all. I’m awed; I can watch your performance again and again without getting bored. I love feeling the sounds through vibrations and watching the skits and ABC stories. I just know it’s exciting to see the show each time, no matter how many times. It’s never the same, so it’s never easy to be bored of the performances. It’s impossible; I’ve seen at least, perhaps 15 or 20 shows. It’s a record, you know; most deaf performers, I’ve already seen and already know what they will show, so I get bored of them. I have a theory about this; it’s easy for deaf to become bored with these shows while hearing people never get bored of the same music. They can listen to the same thing over and over. I felt it wasn’t the same with us, until I saw Rathskellar break through that barrier! Like for hearing people listening to the same thing repeatedly, we can watch your performance repeatedly. I applaud you for that.
JK:Thank you. One thing we’re trying to teach kids, as well as adults: in the past with numerous music performances, there are the musicians with an interpreter on the side. Musicians are always in the front with the deaf individuals’ interpreters’ translations in the back. Rathskellar thinks differently; we are in the front with music in the back. Music is our tool, the drum is our tool, and our hands are our lead. I think that’s what made a big difference compared to others in the past. Now it’s becoming a widespread shift, with hands as the lead and music in the back. Many more are doing this now. Now many kids watch us and are amazed, and they ask us, “What’s your secret?” I tell them there’s no secret – just practice. Practice repeatedly and frequently until it’s hot and smooth, full of skill. Do your best and give it your all, your time and your passion and your commitment – until you get to that point. That’s Rathskellar’s belief: to practice and give it your all until you get to the top, and deliver it in ASL combined with art.
JK:Also for ASL students and deaf audience members alike, they’d come to a show and watch a story about Frankenstein or heart surgery, and they’d realize it was actually an A-to-Z story – they’d clamor to see it again!
BM:Yes!
JK:Another thing that tends to happen is overlooking little details that they’d like to double check. It’s like with art: some paintings or drawings look nice on the first glance, but when you return to the painting or drawing, you spot some details that you overlooked the first time.
BM:Many layers to the art.
JK:Yes, it’s multilayered. With ASL, we try to really show that there are many meanings and details behind our performances. For example, we have repeated hand shapes, A-to-Z stories, and background singers in the music reflected through our signing. We want them to see what others hear in music. There are many hidden meanings that make it art. The more we rehearse, the more we can add color to our performances. This is very important in our impact on the kids; we show that art isn’t just something we create in haste. There’s so much more to it, like with A-to-Z stories...
BM:You want to know something? All that art makes people want to come back and see more, catch those little details. At first, they overlook these subtle meanings but when discussing with other audience members, they realize they missed these aspects such as ABC stories and return to the next performance. That’s what happened in Fremont. I was busy that week – you remember coming to Fremont for one week? It was just packed, and the shows were sold out, thank you for that. During the first night, I was in the box office and the line for tickets was long. I saw some people who were buying tickets again; they had just seen tonight’s performance. Many stated they wanted to see the performance again because they missed ABC stories... they weren’t content with that. I kept selling tickets, and it was a repeat sold-out night for each performance, with the same audience members coming to the shows. That, again, was a new record. I was flabbergasted, I had never seen anything like that in my life. I believe it was due to the strategic structure of the show, and people kept discovering little hidden details they hadn’t seen before, and they would keep returning to see these details again. One example is the handshape detail, right? What was that?
JK:The “B” is a popular one: boat, flag, animal ears, and so on. Before we had the “G”: Gallaudet, some classifiers, graduate... “G,” “B,” there are so many different variations. While we were traveling and providing workshops, we’d challenge the kids to pick one handshape to play with. Many would say “One? That’s too hard! I can’t!”
Hearing people have their own form of art, they’re forced to challenge themselves so people watching can enjoy finding the different hidden meanings and become fascinated by that. We kept challenging the kids so they’d learn. With the drum, we’d explain the rules of the drum with the beat and rhythm, they’d learn and practice –
BM:Like “buff and blue”?
JK:Yes, like “buff and blue” ... we’d teach them, and the kids would feel empowered and develop their skills of presentation. They’d create their art, develop it, and then present it with numerous hidden meanings behind it. I truly enjoyed teaching them and seeing them learn and become motivated.
BM:What about “Ice”?
JK:Pantomime. That’s another art, with the face.
BM:That’s really fascinating how two people work together, it looks so smooth. Did that have to be rehearsed many times?
JK:Oh yes, it had to be rehearsed many times, working together. Some time ago, we had one student, who was also a performer, had to create a class project that turned out to last only 30 seconds. I encouraged him to expand on the skit and to add more to it. I felt there was something missing and once we added another person behind him, it became much clearer. If you’ve noticed in the past, with old skits like the baseball skit with the personification of the ball, you know? I figured it’d be the same idea – yes ad golf and other things like that as well. Now with the ball or object, it’d become a face and I’d add a person and it’d become 3-D right there. Audience members would do a double-take and realize what was actually happening and how the two performers are working together. It’s nice to put together different ways to do things like that.
BM:There’s the girl who gets on top of the table and dances while signing, and a multitude of other skits... the car race, Wild-Wild West with the gun fight – what’s the thing that gets shot during the skit?
JK:The sound effects. We have our ASL stories and skits, and we add on the sound effects to give the sense that you’re watching a movie. For many hearing people, sound effects in movies are important; the industry spends a massive amount of money into sound effects to lead audience members into believing whatever is happening in the movie, and ultimately becoming involved in the movie. Now with deaf audience members, while they are watching the performance and feeling vibrations of whatever sound effects fit the performance, they will feel connected with the performance. Deaf performances have their methods like hearing performances, but with ASL and other approaches.
BM:We’re not on a lower bar than others – we have the same standards!
JK:I think we may be a bit more!
BM:Regarding sponsors... many people attend your performances and we want to see you continuing to perform. If there are no sponsors, would it be possible for you to run the show yourself?
JK:Well, without sponsors, it’d be really difficult. In our first few years when we started, we slowly built our way up without sponsors but we hit a point in 2004. In 2004, we announced our final performances because we felt without sponsors, we hit our limit and it would become too much burden so this would be our last performance. Before we knew it, we gained sponsor support and got our tour bus so that was a great benefit. The biggest benefit is being able to place the responsibility of marketing somewhere else while I focus on production. 2007-2008 was such a big year. For future performances, I’ll stick with sponsor support to help with marketing, networking, and spreading the word. During our 2007-2008 tour, it was a great year but many people still didn’t know about it. I’d say about 80% still hasn’t seen Rathskellar, so clearly there wasn’t enough marketing and we need more. Yes, about 80% haven’t seen Rathskellar, or maybe more than that. During our recent October 3rd performance, it was the first time for many audience members. I asked around, and there were just so many. This means we need sponsors to help with marketing and help with planning. For our trailer crammed full of props, who will pay for the transportation? Sponsor support is essential as well as any additional help, and it’d mean giving the best for the community.
BM:If you get sponsors, what will happen next? Will you hold auditions so people can join your group or what? What’s your plan?
JK:If we get sponsors, then yes. We will certainly plan ahead and arranging the tour: tour dates, transportation, and so on. But yes, we will always have auditions. I’m not sure how many performers, but I never have a set number in my vision. It’s always ideal to have five or more. More than seven or eight, finances probably wouldn’t allow that. I don’t have any set expectations during auditions; I just wait to see them share their skills in ASL and art. For example, some can’t dance but are incredibly skilled in ASL performances and some vice versa. Either way, presentation during these auditions will create the group. We’ll then brainstorm some ideas and create a script. With new performers, changes will be made. During the 2007-2008 tour, we changed the script four times, during the eight-month tour. We continued to make revisions and additions. The group knows that we will never be fully satisfied; once we hit our limit, we’ll keep pushing for a higher limit. Commitment, practice, passion, dedication – once you see someone you know was part of Rathskellar, you know they’re committed, they know how to dedicate themselves, they give their passion, and they push to make the experience even better for the community.
BM:Have you noticed any differences between deaf performances and hearing performances?
JK:They’re certainly different; there is obviously the difference in signing and speaking, but I think what makes Rathskellar truly different is the use of sound effects, as loud as they are. For many deaf people, music is something to pass up on but once they feel it, they can feel more connected. We’re trying to emphasize the new definition of sound and music for deaf people; they’re entertained with ASL and skits like our pantomime, but we can now use music as a tool for a greater impact. A second difference is the recent use of glow sticks by the audience members during our October 3rd show. For hearing performers, audience members will show their appreciation of the show by laughing, cheering, and applauding and the performers will feed off of this energy in the theater. With deaf performers, it becomes more complicated; it’s too dark to see the audience waving their hands so they wouldn’t see this recognition until the end of the show. With the glow sticks, the audience is able to show their appreciation and the performers can see this. We will inform the audience before the show to use their glow sticks when they want to respond to a performance. This triggers the energy exchange between us and the audience, and motivates us. I think this should be continued; any deaf theater performances should pass out glow sticks to their audiences. In addition, loud sound effects should be utilized for the audience to feel during the performances. Also, for other dimensions that the hearing performances have, we should make it more visual. I hope the glow sticks idea will spread like a wildfire.
BM:December 1998 was the first show for Rathskellar before the rest became history; what did you learn from that experience?
JK:December 1998 was a great experience. We got together and rehearsed... I began thinking about how to combine the deaf aspect – intense ASL performances – with music for those who would hear it. For those who didn’t hear the music, how would I handle that? I proceeded with both aspects for the first show. After the show, people’s responses were favorable: they liked the sound effects and the strong vibrations of the musical beats. This made me realize that people do enjoy the ASL performances at its best with the musical vibrations. They should just be combined rather than be viewed as separate ideas used to benefit specific groups so I could pull in an audience. I realized there is an overlap with signing and sound effects; in fact, the effect is intensified. I learned plenty from that, and we redefined music. Music was always viewed as an element only for those who can hear, and interpreters were to be used for deaf people. Now music can mean both signing and the vibrations; it can be combined with ASL. We are now emphasizing a new view of music and a new view of sound effects, and I’m taken aback by the audience’s increasing desire for even more sound effects. I learned a lot from that, and it became a big aspect from that point on.
BM:11 years. 1998 to today. What are your thoughts about all of these years and experiences?
JK:Well, 11 years sure is a long time. Entertainment for people, enjoying the fun in watching shows, is a high demand. However, I still see there is a strong need of emphasizing ASL and how to play with ASL for the purpose of art. This needs to be emphasized and continued so people can get a sense of pride in their language, in addition to others who are learning ASL and can see the potential of ASL, ultimately becoming involved. This really needs to be pursued. The growth of Rathskellar wouldn’t have happened without the performers. Alone can’t be done; the performers gave their time, commitment, dedication, and flexibility to change their routines to perfection for the greater good. I applaud all 26 performers who have taken part of this, in addition to those behind the scenes, the crew and technicians, who also had to be flexible to continuous changes in the performances. I give thanks to those who were involved, the performers and crew among multitudes of others that I can’t list, and especially the community with their amazing support and desire for more from us, pushing us. We grew as a result of the community’s involvement, push, and help. Most of all, I have to thank my family who believed in me and believed in supporting us all the way. Again, Rathskellar is the ASL community as a whole. We’re not affluent; even if we were poor and barely getting by, we keep our focus on our passion of the art, the art of ASL, and keep pushing on with the community. All these thanks are for people who know ASL, people who believe in ASL, and people who want to see ASL flourish. Thank you.
BM:And thanks to you.