A Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright. A longtime baseball fan-turned-film director. An activist/actor.
04.12.2018
THE JEWISH NEWS
Excerpt: One of three speakers to discuss films that showcase their talents at the 20th-annual Lenore Marwil Detroit Jewish Film Festival in April 2018:
John Maucere, who plays the title role in No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie, communicates about achieving career success on stage, television and film by emphasizing his capabilities, and he serves as a role model for achievement.
In answering questions, Maucere said:
Maucere also feels a connection to Michigan because of stage performances and a friendship with Sean Forbes, who heads up the Deaf Professional Arts Network based in Ferndale. Although Maucere is not Jewish, he feels comfortable in Jewish environments because his wife, Lauren Abbott, and children are Jewish.
“I am John Maucere, not a deaf actor or a deaf teacher or a deaf anything,” he says. “I am an artist, and I think this film is going to open people’s minds to think about diversity and acceptance of whatever a person is.
“I’m an actor as well as a deaf interpreter in the legal system as well as an instructor of deaf studies. The deaf studies program is the focus of the film, and I feel its part of my career to educate the public about communicating with individuals in their language and interacting with them in their own culture.”
Maucere started acting when he was 23. He had met an actress who opened his mind to acting as a career choice. School theater programs claimed his attention, and he worked with the National Theatre of the Deaf, touring the world for five years.
Maucere, who will be accompanied by an interpreter for his Michigan appearance, will be going to Israel in May.
Photo: No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie.
“I’ve appeared on TV and in commercials,” he says. “I’ve been a spokesperson for a variety of corporations.”
A graduate of the California School for the Deaf, Maucere was the first deaf actor in ABC’s Talent Development Program. Acting has placed him in episodes of Law and Order, Brand New Life and Pacific Blue among other series. He communicated about access ability programming for Sprint over nine years. He’s also the founder of Deafywood, an ensemble for deaf entertainers. He’s currently working on part two of the SuperDeafy film.
Source: thejewishnews.com/2018/04/12/something-for-everyone/
