HENRIETTA, N.Y. -- Students and staff members from RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf, along with community members, are hard at work rehearsing for a special production of “Hairspray.”

The way the show works is all the roles are doubled, with a deaf and hearing person playing each role.

They work together to figure out how to present the role, with the deaf actor taking the lead and the hearing person as their guardian angel. From this the cast said they are learning from each other. The hearing cast members said they are certainly discovering more about the deaf community.

“Deaf is all levels, all types, different lifestyles, different accents, different countries,” actor Troy Chapman, who is deaf, said.

Show director Luana Davis Haggerty said it’s a great example of how the world works.

“It’s almost a mini model for what happens globally,” Davis Haggerty said. “We have to cross over. We have to be able to bridge people, everybody, so that we can function with other cultures, other countries, other ways of thinking.”

Now they’re hoping to pass that experience on to the audience. 

Actress Danica Zielinski has an understanding of what it’s like to live both lives.  She became hard of hearing after falling severely ill at the age of 19. Now 22, she is happy to have theater be a consistent part of her life, and for the first time she is playing the lead role.

“I really hope that people look and they realize that we’re all different yes, but we can all work together in this world, this environment,” Zielinski said.

Others echoed that same attitude.

“I hope they go home realizing that everyone no matter what, if they’re deaf, hearing, gay, straight, black, white, we’re all the same and that prejudices shouldn’t really bar us from getting to know each other in an interacting way,” actor Zack Jodlowski, who is deaf, said.

Overall, they of course just want the audience to have fun.

“I just hope everyone just comes and sees the hard work that everyone has been working for the past few months because it’s going to be an amazing experience for everyone in the audience,” Zielinski said.

The show will run from April 24 through May 3. For a complete list of times and dates click here.