Director's hearing loss is theater's gain

— The assumption is easy to make. Since Nicole Capri, director of education at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, is called upon to direct large-cast musicals filled with eager young actors, one would assume that her hearing is fine.

But that isn't the case for Capri, a striking 38-year-old brunette, who has worked as an actress and director since graduating from Little Rock's Central High School in 1987. Capri's hearing loss - less than 50 percent in both ears - is what pushed her to advocate the Rep's production of Children of a Lesser God, a Tony Award-winning drama that examines the gulf between a deaf student and her hearing teacher. Capri directs the show.

Children of a Lesser God closes today after a two-week run on the Rep's SecondStage space.

"When I was 6, I had inflammation of the brain," Capri says about the illness that led to a hearing loss in both ears. "I definitely had a personality shift after. I think I became a lot more introverted. A lot of people don't believe me."

During a pre-curtain speech before the opening night of Children of a Lesser God, Capri spoke to the audience and simultaneously signed what she was saying. She reminded the audience that to applaud the performance in sign language was to raise hands in the air and shake them.

This was especially important given that one of the lead actors is Amelia Hensley, a senior at Little Rock's School for the Deaf.

Capri has made a name for herself at the Rep, where she was an intern when she was 19, by leading the Summer Musical Theatre Intensive workshops for young performers. The most recent workshop attracted more than 400 applications for about 80 slots. The workshops culminate in a performance, the most recent being Sing, Dance, Repeat, a musical revue conceived and directed by Capri.

"We put up the show in eight or nine days," Capri says. "It is set up like a professional summer stock experience. The [students] get an intensive professional experience."

"Nicole has done a tremendous job raising the profile of the Rep's educational programs," says Bob Hupp, artistic director of the Arkansas Rep. "The programs she'screated bring literally hundreds of young people to the theater. She is an inspiring mentor. She has high expectations and the students rise to the challenge."

Traveling to conferences where she can see the type of shows other regional theaters offer young performers, Capri believes most of the material isn't challenging enough. For the Rep, Capri puts together musical revues that call upon her young actors to sing, dance and act.

"I don't call them 'kids,'" Capri says. "I call them 'young artists' for a reason. I think I am tough on them, especially the young girls, who are always told they are pretty and talented. Everybody is tough on young boys but hardly ever on young girls. When they get a compliment from me, they know I mean it."

SILENT STARS

In college, Capri was aiming for a career that would put her on stage. But during her college years, she endured a dramatic decrease in her own hearing and she endedup having to teach herself sign language.

"Although [my hearing loss] can definitely be frustrating at times - especially when I'm talking on the phone - it has opened up so many doors for me," Capri says.

The biggest door that opened came right after college graduation. She was able to perform and tour as a member of the well-respected National Theatre of the Deaf, then based in Chester, Conn.

"Because the theater is there, that town is almost completely deaf," Capri says. "You could walk down the street in the middle of the day and not hear a word."

Capri says that her difficulties hearing don't interfere with herability to direct shows. She will admit to having problems when she can't see the face of the person who is speaking to her.

But this also put her in a distinctive position to understand all the points of view that collide in Children of a Lesser God. Capri's casting of a deaf student in a lead role was significant.

"It is the first time that a person who is deaf has entered into the 'hearing theater' in Arkansas," says Barbara Northup, an English teacher who also works with the drama students at the School for Deaf.

Northup says that Capri's relationship with the School for the Deaf began when she taught movement, dance and acting to a troupe of 13 students called "The Silent Stars."

"I believe that the students have accepted her, not because she is hard of hearing particularly - but because she has tried to learn their language, values them as equals with hearing peers and takes an interest in seeing them meet theirhighest potentials in drama and performing," Northup says. "It is obvious she has a real love of working with students who are deaf and hard of hearing. She does not pity them but rather invests herself in bringing out the best in them."

Capri's ability to communicate to the hearing and the deaf is easy to spot. When the opening-night performance of Children of a Lesser God was done, the audience did just as Capri had instructed them to do during her pre-curtain speech - they applauded and then raised their hands and shook them. The cast smiled at the accolades.

The final performance of Children of a Lesser God is 2 p.m. today at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Sixth and Main streets, Little Rock.Tickets are $10. (501) 378-0405.

Style, Pages 61, 64 on 10/28/2007

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