Review Fix Exclusive: Marlee Koenisberg Talks ‘The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy’

Review Fix chats with “The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy” director Marlee Koenisberg, who discusses the historical comedy of Major League star William “Dummy” Hoy and how he changed America’s pastime forever.

Set for a 10-day run at the Gene Frankel Theatre, “The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy” is more than a comedy for baseball fan, it’s a coming of age story that reminds us that anyone, in spite of their disabilities, can achieve anything.

Review Fix: What was the casting process like?

Marlee Koenisberg: The script calls for actors to have a wide range of skills, some need to be fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), others to posses the ability to convey a dynamic physical vocabulary, and of course the role of Dummy Hoy must be played by a deaf leading man.  The Deaf acting community in NY is a small one (but we hope to change that!) so it was important to me to cast as wide a net as possible into both the deaf and hearing acting communities.  I saw it as an opportunity to discover artists that I might not already know, to meet like minded people interested in working on material that combines both the hearing and deaf worlds and understand the importance of the telling of this man’s story who happened to change our national pastime.  The process of the auditions was complex. Actors were asked to prepare comedic monologues and then given sides for specific characters whose qualities I felt they possessed. To discern whether they had the physical vocabulary I was seeking, in the auditions I asked many of the actors to try performing their monologues silently, without voice, and only could use their body to communicate. The actor’s we’ve cast, rose to this challenge! Finding the right ensemble took longer than I anticipated but New York Deaf Theater’s Artistic Director, JW Guido and I are thrilled with our cast.

We have a terrifically diverse group of actors that each with their own unique perspectives to bring to their roles and to the production. We cast some actors who are fluent in ASL, whether or not their role requires it, while other actors have very little to no ASL and we find this dichotomy very exciting because we discovered that we inadvertently created an ensemble whose process in rehearsal mirrors the journey of the characters’ in the play.

Review Fix: What are your goals for this production?

Koenisberg: To tell the best story we can by creating a physically dynamic, visually arresting world that gives sight to sound, brings Deaf and hearing audiences together in a shared experience that gives them an understanding of the tenacity of spirit which Dummy Hoy possessed.  I certainly want to entertain, inform and move people and I think those are all worthy goals.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?

Koenisberg: Baseball fans! Anyone and everyone interested in American history, or curious about Deaf culture or who has ever pursued a dream.  There is no one way to participate in the experience of this play.  It is a historical-comedy play, written for a large age range.

Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?

Koenisberg: As a unifying piece of theatre that investigates themes of communication and looks at the advantages of differences. If we help an audience member see difference in a new positive light, inspire them to change their perspective, then we have been successful.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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