The classic holiday screening A Christmas Story: The Musical will be released at the Chrysler Theater this month, with the rare inclusion of sign language interpreters.

For one of six scheduled performances, two members of Stage Hands Windsor will endeavor to share every noise, expression and song through American Sign Language.

Matthew Dumouchel, show director at Windsor Light Music Theatre, said the inclusion of performers was a long time coming.

“So I know that the organization itself has had the opportunity to work with interpreters before, and the last time was in the ’80s,” Dumouchel said.

He said they first attended a Stage Hands Windsor performance after hearing about their work through another theater organization.

The theater company jumped at the opportunity to make theater more accessible to the people of Windsor-Essex.

“So creating a relationship with an organization like Windsor Light and another organization like Stage Hands has revitalized that accessibility feature that I think we were missing.”

Stage Hands will present the platform interpretation for the November 22 performance. The theater said a specific section of seating had been set aside for those who needed interpretation.

Beth Marontate, co-owner of Stage Hands, told CTV News the business started last year after another theater company requested interpreting services for two productions.

Marontate, who began learning ASL from her mother who worked with deaf people, said her dream had long been to perform in theater.

“At that point we thought we were going to continue down this path and we are so happy and so lucky that we were able to do it,” Marontate said.

The stagehands read the entire script to assign characters and “understand the true essence of what they were saying” in order to translate it.

The company also worked with an ASL coach to ensure all of their interpretations were accurate.

“She’s going to be watching us tomorrow night for the dress rehearsal, just to make sure that what we’re putting in our hands is the message equivalence,” Marontate said.

Marontate said his hope is to use Stage Hands to make theater more accessible to those who are interested.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re deaf or hearing, you can still participate in a production, whether you’re on stage or enjoying the audience,” she said.

After about four decades without performing, Marontate and Dumouchel said they hope to see their collaboration continue for future performances.

The premiere performance of A Christmas Story: The Musical is scheduled for November 15.