Columbia’s American Sign Language-English Interpretation Department is doing the “Time Warp” again-with black eyeliner, sequined outfits, feathered boas, teased hair and many pairs of fishnet stockings-to be featured in the Manifest Festival for their final “Rocky Horror Picture Sign Show” performance.

Since Manifest became tradition at Columbia, ASL students have participated only as interpreters for the many student showcases around campus. Now, the ASL Department is putting on their own theatrical exhibition for the first time.

“I think a lot of people were excited about it because a lot of ASL minors are theater majors, and vice versa,” said Leah Aboav, a junior majoring in ASL. “Most of the dancers [in the performance] are dance majors so it’s nice to get a lot of different programs incorporated in the show. This performance is also good because we can get recognition. A lot of people I’ve found don’t even know that [Columbia] has an ASL program.”

“The Rocky Horror Picture Sign Show” will feature students of all experience levels. The students will mimic every scene in the movie while using background sound and projected video on the stage at The Sherwood Conservatory of Music, 1312 S. Michigan Ave.

“Interpreting for deaf theater can be really tricky,” Aboav said. “You have to be more dramatic when you are signing and switch different emotions. Basically we have to shadow the actor.”

The Manifest performance will be the second time students have performed the show, the first being on Halloween in 2008 with a very low budget, and tickets sold out within minutes, Aboav said.

“The dean found out about [our show] and really enjoyed it, so he asked if we would perform it for Manifest so we could show our talent,” said Martha Hernandez, a senior ASL major playing Magenta in the first half of the show.

After the success of the fall “Rocky Horror Picture Sign Show,” more students wanted to be involved for the second showing. Doubles of almost every character will come out after intermission, so everyone could be involved, Hernandez said.

Since spring break, the actors have been refreshing their lines and rehearsing for their second performance.

James Van Manen, a professor and ASL interpreter at Columbia who is helping with the play, said he has noticed students involved with the play have further developed their sign language skills.

“These shows have been a really good teaching tool, which we weren’t really expecting, but we’ve also noticed that more students are interested in the program because they were in the audience of our Halloween performance and have decided to major in ASL because of what they saw in our first show,” Van Manen said.

Aboav said being a part of this show is a good thing to put on a resume and is also a good way to show people what the ASL Department is about.

“My friends rarely get to see me actually sign; it’s not like a PR major who can take me to an event or a friend who is a vocal performance major who can take me to a concert,” Aboav said. “It’s just a good opportunity to show friends and family what we’ve been learning.”

Van Manen said the department is less recognized because it is a small program trying to compete with all of the large programs Columbia offers. He said in the national scope, Columbia’s program is very well known.

Aboav said the department hopes to begin performing more shows in sign language, possibly one in the fall and one in the spring, to raise awareness about the program and showcase their talent.

“Peter Cook, the director, didn’t think the show would be a success, so when it was [a success] we [started] planning on doing a show every year,” Aboav said. “There have been rumors about doing ‘Grease’ and ‘Cabaret’.”