The intro to a feature in the Clarion Ledger in Mississippi:Even John Lennon may not have imagined this: A concert where no words are spoken, yet the lyrics are delivered with such power and beauty, they produce smiles and tears.
The artists are members of A Show of Hands, a club at the University of Southern Mississippi in which students interpret the words of well-known, recorded music through the use of American Sign Language.
"The first thing people think when they hear about us is that we perform for the deaf or the hearing impaired," says club director Jerry Buisson, an assistant professor in USM's Department of Speech and Hearing in Hattiesburg. "And we do, because they enjoy music, too.
"But our main focus is to build an understanding for hearing people toward deafness and sign language through entertainment and information.
"It's more than people just standing up there signing. It involves dance, in that the body is used to convey words and feelings. We lip sync and have costume changes. We even do audience participation."
And the music consists of everything from '60s classics such as My Girl and Wishin' and Hopin' to soundtrack hits like My Heart Will Go On from the movie Titanic.
Carol Gaines, 52, of Ocean Springs acknowledges she was leery when invited to A Show of Hands concert about a year ago.
"I knew nothing about sign language," she says. "But I absolutely fell in love with the show."She invited two friends to go with her to the club's annual Christmas show.
"At first, they had the same question as me - what does this show have to do with a person with perfectly good hearing," Gaines says. "But they were amazed. One of them had tears running down her face during one song. She told me later that she had never been able to feel the song's true meaning the way she did that night.
"I know it sounds strange to someone who hasn't been to a show. But when you're watching it, it brings songs home ... it increases the depth of their meaning."
