AMERICAN THEATRE: By the time I met and befriended Lewis Merkin, I had already played the radical Deaf student Orin Dennis—the role Lewis originated in the original 1980 Broadway production of Children of a Lesser God—in two different regional productions. My current roommate, James Caverly, understudied my friend John McGinty in the same role on Broadway in 2018.
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I was lucky enough to see Children of a Lesser God at Studio 54 back in 2018, and I wish I had known more about its incredible playwright before seeing the show. I am saddened to hear the pioneer for deaf actors, Lewis Merkin, has passed away, but it is clear that his legacy will carry on. It is inspiring that he knew he wanted to be an actor and that since there were few, if any, roles written for deaf actors, he created them. His work has also allowed deaf or hard of hearing actors play hearing roles, like the actor who played Mr. Raymond in the recent Broadway production of To Kill A Mockingbird. The actor signed all of his lines while other characters narrated them. I am sad to realize that Merkin wasn’t able to see that CODA won three Academy Awards in 2022, including Best Picture.
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