A Christmas classic comes to life in Roanoke.
Wednesday night, we gave you a first glimpse at this year's "Scrooge the Musical" put on every December by the New Century Church.
This year the person running the show is also in the spotlight.
Betsy Foster is the play's director.
A recent graduate of Roanoke College, she also lost her hearing when she was 16-years-old.
However, that hasn't stopped her from pursuing her dream.
She’s not only helped guide the performances, but she’s helping an entire community take part in musical theater.
For the first time people were in the audience interpreting the dialog and music for the hearing impaired.
“When they asked to come on board as director I kind of included that this needed to happen for the deaf community too,” Foster said.
Molly Hawk, who lost her hearing as an infant, couldn't pass up the opportunity to take part in what so many take for granted.
It was her first time watching an interpreted play.
“It very exciting for me to be able to understand everything the same as everyone else,” Hawk said. “Sometimes I would like pretend to laugh when other people were laughing, but I never really understood myself.”
For the five interpreters it was also a performance.
“The interpreters have been at the practices with the cast,” explained Joni Boetticher, interpreter.
Foster said the response has reached beyond Roanoke. After all, Molly and her fiancé drove in from Lynchburg.
It seems the director's message of support was heard loud and clear.
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