BRUCE HLIBOK

ABOUT BRUCE HLIBOK

Bruce Hlibok, born in Flushing, Queens, NY, was the first deaf actor to play a main role in a Broadway production, Runaways, composed and directed by Elizabeth Swados and produced by Joseph Papp. The musical premiered off-Broadway on February 21, 1978 at the Public Theater Cabaret as presented by the New York Shakespeare Festival. It moved to Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre on May 13, 1978 and closed on Dec 31, 1978 after 274 performances and 12 previews. Hlibok was the first to use sign language in the rhythm of music on stage. The play received five Tony Awards nominations. Hlibok founded a theater company, Handstone Productions. He also served as a consultant for theaters for the deaf and on ASL in general theater. Hlibok completed twelve written plays which were then produced at off-off Broadway theatres in Manhattan, New York; Paris, France; and Amsterdam, Netherlands. He staged a one-man show, The Deaf-Mute Howls, based on Albert V. Ballin's memoir. He acted in an off Broadway play, "Another Person is a Foreign Country", and his last role was in an off Broadway play, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter in 1994. He also was known for his original poetry in both American Sign Language and English.