NTID Student Back on Stage After 40 Years
NTID News - October 27, 2009
Kevin Nolan, a member of NTID's first class in 1968, returns to the stage in "Equus." See full-size photo
Forty years have passed since the first play,The Marriage Proposal, was performed at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
One of the actors was Kevin Nolan, who helped start the NTID Drama Club with two other students and Professor Robert Panara. Today Nolan, 64, has added "Sr." to his name and has less hair. But the sparkle in his blue eyes and his passion for acting remain. He's fulfilling a dream: returning to the NTID stage in a supporting role in Equus, with performances Nov. 5-8.
"I'm thrilled to be coming back for the play," says Nolan, who was one of the 70 students in NTID's inaugural class in 1968. "It's special to me because it's the 40th anniversary. It's nice to be back one more time. And I'm so happy to see that NTID Theater is going well and it has a strong program. It makes me feel good."
Jerry Argetsinger, who is directing Equus at NTID, recalls seeing Nolan perform decades ago.
"He flattered me when he said he believed it would be well worth his time to come back to NTID to 'strut the boards of the NTID stage one more time,' to return to his alma matter and to give something back," Argetsinger says. "Remembering his stage presence as Capulet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, I immediately invited him to be part of our production."
Argetsinger says Nolan has immersed himself in the production and has added a sense of experience and history to the show. "Members of the department have drawn on him to talk about the development of the Drama Club during the first year of NTID's existence. Kevin was one of three students who teamed up to create a club that became one of the most successful and influential theaters for the deaf in the world. He is a true pioneer and we are grateful to have his experience, expertise and friendship as a major part of our production of Equus."
Nolan has always been a performer.
"Since I was little, I've been watching black-and-white Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges and Charlie Chaplin," he says. "I enjoyed it. There were no closed captions. But it had a lot of action movements. That really entertained me. Ever since, I wanted to be involved in theater."
Nolan performed in several productions at NTID. He particularly remembers his performance as a villain in The Claw.
"I murdered three people," he says. "After the play, no one would come up to me. They were afraid of me. It took me a long time to convince them it was only a play."
Nolan has earned his reputation as a jokester. Near the NTID president's office hangs a framed photograph of the students from NTID's first class. He pauses and tells people they should bow in front of the picture in homage before they can walk by it. When he worked as an admissions counselor for NTID in the 1970s, he told visitors that President Lyndon Baines Johnson was buried under a plaque in front of the building that bears his name.
"People would stop and take pictures of it," he says.
A native of Attleboro, Mass., Nolan graduated from RIT/NTID in 1971 with a degree in Business Administration. In 1985 Nolan successfully ran for City Council in Northampton, Mass.and is the first person born deaf to be elected to a government position. He was an educator for much of his career at the Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton.
Nolan, now retired, moved to the Los Angeles area with his wife Linda, where he's been active in community theater and has been an extra in television and movies productions. He also keeps busy visiting his three children, Kevin Jr., Kristie Ann, and Keith, and entertaining people in a one-man stage show, "Who says getting old is no fun?"
And he recently became a grandfather for the first time. There's now a Kevin Nolan III.
"People have been groaning, 'Oh, no, not another one. Now we have to hear the name Kevin Nolan for another 100 years,'" he jokes.
Nolan has been staying on the RIT campus for a month during rehearsals.
"It's a good feeling to be back," he says. "What a difference between 1968 and today. Now there are more places to eat. You have 100 food courts around. And all around RIT, there are a lot of changes. When I first came, it was full of red bricks. I'm very excited about the changes at RIT, for the best. I'm really excited for the students and very proud of RIT/NTID.
During his return to RIT, Nolan was also excited to visit with Panara, 89. Panara, NTID's first deaf faculty member, plans to catch a performance to see his former student on stage with current students in the theater which bears his name.
Nolan will fly back to California the day after the curtain closes on Equus. He misses his family, but is glad he reconnected with his college.
"This was a dream to be back on stage here at NTID," Nolan says. "Never stop dreaming, no matter what age you are."
Performances of Equus are at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 5, 6 and 7, and 2 p.m. on Nov. 8 at the Robert F. Panara Theatre at NTID.
Tickets are $7, and $5 for seniors and students. Visit: http://www.rit.edu/~w-npart/equus.html.