NTID Theatre History: Gypsies: September-November 1979

May 27, 2021 – Message from James “Jim” Orr (Former NTID Performing Arts Staff)

A little more info about the Gypsies:

It was a group established and directed by Marjorie Pratt--the stories were all developed by the cast and director through improvisational storytelling, mime, and spin-offs of theatre exercises.  What happened to the cast members after the group disbanded?

Marj moved to Phoenix and taught theatre at the school for the deaf for many years.

Ricky Smith became a well-known Mime, workshop leader and ASL instructor

Mike Lamitola, Adiran Blue and Janis Cole were foundational members of the National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD) for years--Mike later became Artistic Director of NTD.  Adrian became a Professor at Northeastern University and Dr. Janis Cole is a Professor at Gallaudet University.

Mitch Mahar became involved with the very first Sunshine Too group...he and Mike have since passed away.

MaryBeth Barber (Mothersell) became Miss Deaf America and later became an executive with Sprint.

Eddie McDonald worked as a professional actor in regional theatres, films (notably Steven Speiburg's "Lincoln"), and even as a Disney character he developed at MGM Studios (an aging movie star who thinks he's still famous--very funny bit)

I don't remember much about Amy except that she was a professional actress from NYC who was buddies with Billy Joel--don't know what happened to her.

I, as you may recall, spent my career in NTID's Department of Performing Arts (trivia: I was the only person in NTID's history to serve in the theatre during these decades: the 70's, 80's, 90's, 2000's and 2010's....I didn't even realize that until Bonnie Meath-Lang (former Artistic Director) pointed it out to me

But it was our crew guy that maybe found the most success. Jim Hanley went on to found a construction company, Taconic Builders, that now has offices in NYC, Greenwich, CT, Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, and Paris, I think.  His company is regularly featured in top design magazines, and they do work for major companies and celebrities--I'm pretty sure he did Madonna's multi-million dollar penthouse renovation.