DEAF ACCESS - Our staff

Lisa Agogliati
Deaf Access Program Founder/Co-Director
Ms. Agogliati holds a degree in theatre from American University, and has an extensive background in dance performance and choreography. She has served as consultant to many regional and national projects about deaf and hearing students working together, most recently with the USA Network’s television documentary It Just Takes One. She has been on the Academy’s staff since 1989, and is also the former Access Director for Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. Ms. Agogliati has presented lectures and workshops to numerous national and international conferences, community organizations, and educational institutions.

Wendy J. Calhoun
Dreams to Sign III Project Co-Director
Ms. Calhoun has worked with the Deaf Access Companies since 1993. She holds a BA from the American University. She has an extensive background in arts administration, including holding several positions for the National Endowment for the Arts, and Americans for the Arts organization.

Mary Yeh
Dreams to Sign III Co-Project Director
Ms. Yeh has served as a Board member for Imagination Stage as well as a founding member of the Deaf Access Advisory Board. She has held the position of Project Co-Director for the past six years, working to advise project planning for the Deaf Access program. She holds a BA from Gallaudet University and a MA from Western Maryland College. She is also a former board member for the National Theater of the Deaf and an active member of numerous civic and education organizations. Her daughter Mei is a founding member of the Deaf Access Company.

Fred Beam
Choreographer
Mr. Beam is also a professional actor and has been seen on stage and screen nationally and internationally, most recently as an actor for the National Theater of the Deaf, and many award-winning television programs, including the West Wing, The New Captain Kangaroo, Deaf Mosaic, and the BBC and PBS series Deaf Culture in America (Japanese broadcast). He has also appeared in several Imagination Stage productions, most recently as The Emperor in Liang and the Magic Paintbrush. Mr. Beam is the executive director of Invisible Hands, Inc., which promotes deaf awareness through the performing arts, which includes the international all-deaf dance company The Wild Zappers.

Susan Robbins
Sign Master
Ms. Robbins has worked as Sign Master for the past eleven years. She is also a teacher of the deaf for Montgomery County Public Schools. She holds a MA in Deaf Education from Western Maryland College and her BA from Marymount College. She is also a writer, and has articles published in Perspectives and Odyssey.

Rachel-Ann and Henry Cross
Composers
The Crosses have brought their combined talents to Imagination Stage's Deaf Access productions. Rachel-Ann is co-founder, lead singer, and acoustic guitarist of Big Village, a triple-WAMMY-award-winning tribal pop band. Henry has been a musician and composer for 16 years. He has studied with such notables as Ornette Coleman, Allen Ginsburg, and Oliver Lake. His experience as a producer/songwriter has earned him an international reputation as an innovator of unique blends of global music. For soundbites from music composers Rachel-Ann and Henry Cross, visit their web site: www.rachelcross.com.

April Rosenfeld
Voice Coach
Ms. Rosenfeld has worked with the Deaf Access Company since 1992. She is also a reading initiative teacher for the Lucy V. Barnsley Elementary School.