The Straight Scoop: Howie Seago's Interview

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A quarter-century later, we remember him as Riva in Star Trek (1989). But there’s little doubt that actor Howie Seago never ceases to reinvent our perspectives of whom deaf characters can become … and therefore, whom we can become. How many other sci-fi roles are flanked by intergalactical sign language interpreters, and how many Shakespearean characters have been empowered with their own Royal Interpreter on-stage?

Katie Roberts (Blog Editor) and Crystal Plum Green

Such progressive scripts do not come solely from the generous whims of a director or producer, as we discovered in Deaf Spotlight’s “Interview with Howie Seago” on November 17. While interviewed by Crystal Plum Green, the accomplished actor, writer, and director revealed the decisions, artistic ideas, and cultural ideals shaping his career – and roles.
We like to think artistic directors and producers call the shots. But when Seago bravely refused to accept the original audist script (Riva wearing a stylized helmet programmed by Data to teach speech development overnight), it led to an on-the-fly re-scripting … and the re-education of the Star Trek cast about Deaf Culture. 



Howie Seago as Riva on the Right. Riva's Interpreters are in white. Also pictured, Worf and Riker.
 

Also because of Seago’s proactive conversations with an artistic director, the never-before role of an on-stage Royal Interpreter was created.

Seago’s most champ advice to his audience (which filled nearly every seat in Johnson Hall at the University of Washington)?

 "It’s important to remember where you come from. Don’t lose your values, like your family.”

Dave Morriosn and Tamara Moxham

Voice-interpreted by Dave Morrison and Tamara Moxham, the lively banter took place in a Good Morning America-style coffee table-and-couches. Some of the most memorable highlights:

He’s so happily married, he once turned down Gene Roddenberry’s attempt to play matchmaker (on behalf of Rodenberry’s fawning secretary). Twenty-five years later: “I have no second thoughts”.

A Sex and the City cast member once asked if she could try on his hearing aids (hint: She’s a fiery redhead).

Germany doesn’t have actor unions, meaning long 15-hour days on the set of Beyond Silence (Seago played the father of a CODA musician).

Howie Seago in Beyond Silence

A sly Star Trek joke: “’Hearing’: That’s an Earth issue, is what Riva would have said”.

Howie’s signature: A ubiquitous beard, a devotion to family (which includes two sons, two deaf siblings, and two “selectively deaf – deaf when they want to be” siblings), as a performing arts icon within the Deaf Community who keeps it real.  Unenthralled by Hollywood’s glitz and opportunist nature, he’s sought out deeper meaning in his roles and his community.


“(The play Ajax) was the best decision I ever made – it led to Star Trek and everything else,” he told the audience. “No wait, actually the best decision I ever made was marrying my wife – Ajax is the second best one,” he amended, smiling towards the back row where his wife, Lori, sat.

Howie Seago

Indeed, while residing for the last 4 years as a principal actor for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he has welcomed many friends at Ashland. This year, he performed as Duke of Exeter in Henry V, and Duke Senior in As You Like It. Re-enacting a scene from the former, he took us briefly to the Battle of Agincourt. In regal posturing, asking us to imagine a thick overcoat (the sartorial signature of Duke of Exeter). “OSF has many talented people in each play – like assistant voicing coaches, dramaturgs and interpreters to help with translating Old English to ASL, and stage managers who take care of the actors,” he said.


We learned of Seago’s uproarious “bloopers” in his OSF stage reel. Like stepping into a pile of poop during his first year.  Another was the moment he stood up on-stage, his rear end literally stuck in a too-small chair, the windy day that resulted in a mild hat malfunction.

Howie Seago in Henry V

Asked about upcoming projects and aspirations, he responded: “I would like to do more writing. It’s tough, it takes discipline. I would like to see more deaf playwrights.” Speak of writing, what are his muse(s)? He grew up in a household surrounded by “books, books, books everywhere,” and often read in bed, with a flashlight.  In the years before he truly began to learn sign language at RIT, books carried the visual poetry that lit his creative energies.

Howie Seago

“We have to fight to improve for the future,” he said, referencing the decades-long struggle for deaf actors to rightfully claim the roles of deaf characters in plays (such as “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter”).

Sharing candid words of encouragement from his wife, he ended the interview with a reflection on the biggest role he continues to play: “Build a fire, and others will come.”

 We sure did, on this cold and rainy November evening with Howie Seago.