Hands moving in a fluid like motion and gracefully fluttering fingers displaying a flurry of emotions visually telling a story. American Sign Language Cabaret also known as ASL Cabaret is a variety show produced by Mona Jean Cedar and Jo-Ann Dean.
Mona Jean Cedar said, “ASL Cabaret has already exceeded my expectations. We started three years ago in a punk dive bar and now at a cool dinner club on Hollywood Boulevard. Wow!”
Mona Jean Cedar was a dancer and a poet when learning ASL before creating the idea to start the ASL Cabaret. She did not understand the language well at the time but knew she wanted to see artist perform with intense creativity and advance expressions to share the linguistic knowledge of the Deaf culture.
For 25 years waiting for the opportunity to arise to create a production. In 2014 Mona Jean Cedar partnered with Jo-Ann Dean to start the first production of the ASL Cabaret and had her husband Jeff Boynton to provide technical support resulting a successful start.
“I feel blessed by how warmly the Deaf community has embraced the idea,” said Mona Jean Cedar.
Fast forward three years on September 18, 2016 John Maucere a Deaf comedian and actor hosted the ASL Cabaret on Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, California. This show featured Hula Bella a LED hula-hoop dancer and rap artist Sean Forbes. The following month on October 23, 2016 Ricardo Joseph hosted the event featuring the signed version of Rocky Horror Picture Show and several other performers including Maxim Fomitchev a traveling comical clown. The show ended with a flash mob performing Rocky Horror Pictures Show’s famed “Time Warp” dance resulting a standing ovation from the audience cheering.
