Deaf West Theatre to Honor Retired Founding Artistic Director Ed Waterstreet, 2/9

Deaf West Theatre will honor retired founding artistic director Ed Waterstreet at a gala fundraising event on Saturday, February 9. "The Dream Must Go On!" will take place at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City beginning at 7:00 pm.

The evening is a tribute to Ed's legacy and will feature scenes and vignettes from past Deaf West productions, including Cyrano, Children of a Lesser God, Pippin and Big River, as well as the screening of the documentary film, Our Hands are Louder: The Incredible True Story of Deaf West Theatre, produced and directed by Joseph Sargent. Guests at the event will include actress Linda Bove ("Linda the Librarian" on Sesame Street); performer, writer, director, poet, artist and National Theatre of the Deaf founder Bernard Bragg; Tony Award-winning director/choreographer Jeff Calhoun (Big River, Newsies); CTG founding artistic director Gordon Davidson; actress Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God), National Center on Deafness executive director Roz Rosen; and multiple Emmy Award-winning director Joseph Sargent. Drinks and hors d'oeuvres will be served at 7:00 pm; the program and honors will begin at 8:00 pm, to be followed by a dessert reception.

Ed Waterstreet became the first deaf artistic director of an American theater company when he founded Deaf West Theatre in 1991. Under his leadership, DWT has produced 40 plays and four musicals, including a Broadway run, and won more than 80 theater awards, among them Tony Honors for Excellence. Previously, Ed was a 12-year member of The National Theatre of the Deaf. He starred in the Emmy-winning Hallmark movie, Love Is Never Silent. Ed is also the recipient of Geneva's prestigious International Fete d'Excellence Gold Medal Award for Cultural Education in the Theatre and the James A. Doolittle Ovation Award for Leadership in the Theatre.

Deaf West Theatre, Inc. (DWT) was founded in 1991 to directly improve and enrich the cultural lives of thousands of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who live in the Los Angeles area. For its unique vision and artistic excellence throughout its 21-year history, DWT is recognized as the premier sign language theater in the United States. DWT has consistently strived for the highest artistic quality by bringing together some of the most exciting theater professionals from the hearing world to work with deaf and hard of hearing actors of the highest caliber in ambitious American Sign Language adaptations that range from contemporary masterpieces and original works to the classics. DWT has helped launch and nurture the careers of many of today's most recognizable deaf actors. DWT's productions and internationally acclaimed educational programs have contributed significantly to the vibrancy of deaf culture and American theater. For more information, please go to http://www.deafwest.org or http://www.facebook.com/deafwesttheatre.

To purchase tickets and for more information, call 818-762-2998 or go to www.deafwest.org.