CWC changes the game
CWC changes the game
The Riverton Ranger | Sarah Elmquist Squires
This week, actors set the stage, the lights go up, and the Central Wyoming College (CWC) talent will transform themselves back over 100 years to a pivotal moment in American baseball – when a single Minor League player literally changed the game.
CWC is gearing up to unveil its most unique production yet: “The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy.” It’s the story of William “Dummy” Hoy, the first deaf player to join the Minor Leagues, and for whom the baseball signals we all know were added to the game.
Student-actor and director of the show, Madeline Dike, explained how she stumbled on the script, then pitched it as a CWC production. “I thought it was just a really cool show, and I got to interview both of the playwrights for it,” she said. She pitched it for a class, got an A, and it must have been a home run, because the show under her direction will debut on Thursday night at the Little Theater on the CWC campus.
The show is based on the true story of William “Dummy” Hoy and his entrance to the Minor Leagues. “It’s about him learning to communicate and asking for accommodations, and learning that he has to be the one to fight for the accommodations,” Dike explained.
It’s also the first bilingual show on campus, with interpreters sharing the action in American Sign Language.
“I saw the passion that Madeline had for the show,” CWC Theatre Director Joey West said of Dike’s pitch. “It was like ‘OK, convince us why we should do the show, why we should do it now,’ and she just knocked it out of the park, she really did. It was just great.”
The show will run from September 25-27 at 7 p.m., with a final matinee on Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the CWC Box Office by calling 307-855-2002 or before the show, but don’t delay as seating is limited in the Little Theater.
The show features Madeline Dike as William Elsworth “Dummy” Hoy, Aydin Vargas as Speaker Hoy, Matt Hartman as Selee, Joey West as Judge, Sam Tower as Dooley, Krysten Winn as AC, Shawne Royce as Press, Kadie Crook as DS, Timothy Strong as Woodrow, Taz Williams as Tommy, Osborne Tower as Mutt, Jonathan Rummel as Tyler, Caterina Hancock as Katie, and Interpreters Sarah Dike and Alyssa Stewart.