Phyllis Frelich

As Phyllis Frelich grew up in the small town of Devils Lake, N.D., going to Gallaudet College in Washington was one of life's greatest aspirations-just as it was for many other young, deaf Americans. "The dream was to get out of wherever you were and to meet and mingle with the cream of the deaf world, all together in one place," Frelich recalled-and that place was Gallaudet, the most important school for deaf students in America, known as "the castle on the hill."

As Phyllis Frelich grew up in the small town of Devils Lake, N.D., going to Gallaudet College in Washington was one of life's greatest aspirations-just as it was for many other young, deaf Americans. "The dream was to get out of wherever you were and to meet and mingle with the cream of the deaf world, all together in one place," Frelich recalled-and that place was Gallaudet, the most important school for deaf students in America, known as "the castle on the hill."

Although she loved the stage, Phyllis Frelich grew up with little hope of becoming an actress. "I always enjoyed theater," she explains in an interview, speaking through her interpreter and husband, set designer Robert Steinberg. "But when I was young, it was hard to have those thoughts [of being an actress]. "There were no careers [in the theater] for deaf people," she continues. "And there was no way for a deaf person to study theater." That was back in the 1950s.

Although she loved the stage, Phyllis Frelich grew up with little hope of becoming an actress. "I always enjoyed theater," she explains in an interview, speaking through her interpreter and husband, set designer Robert Steinberg. "But when I was young, it was hard to have those thoughts [of being an actress]. "There were no careers [in the theater] for deaf people," she continues. "And there was no way for a deaf person to study theater." That was back in the 1950s.

Cloris Leachman, Mare Winningham, Phyllis Frelich, Ed Waterstreet and Sid Caesar head the cast of "In This Sign," a two-hour drama in production in Vancouver for airing on NBC as a "Hallmark Hall of Fame" special. "In This Sign," based on the novel by Joanne Greenberg, is about the collision of values between nonhearing parents and their hearing daughter. Dorothea Petrie is producing for Marian Rees Associates. Joseph Sargent is directing.

A Round of Gin: "The Gin Game" will be the first full production of the newly formed Deaf West Theatre Company in Los Angeles. Tony Award-winning Phyllis Frelich and Patrick Graybill will star in the two-character play May 2-26 at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood (previews April 25-27). Linda Bove, an Emmy winner for "Sesame Street," will direct.

* Alonzo King's LINES Contemporary Ballet performs a three-part program April 17-18 in Campbell Hall on the campus of UC Santa Barbara. $13 to $25. (805) 893-3535. * Ken Morris joins Adam and Laila del Monte in a fusion of jazz and flamenco titled "Pasados por el Mundo" April 20-22 and May 4-6 at the Fountain Theatre, 5060 Fountain Ave., L.A. $30. (323) 663-1525.

. . . The L.A. Civic Light Opera's selling its June revival of "Cabaret" as a nostalgia musical--"Return to a time when nothing was taken seriously and life was a cabaret." Nothing, of course, except the rise of the Nazis and virulent anti-Semitism, both prominent in the storyline. . . . American Ballet Theatre ads for the new "Giselle" (at the Shrine) prominently feature a photo of popular ballerina Alessandra Ferri.

"LOVE IS NEVER SILENT," 9-11 p.m. Monday (4)(36)(39)--What a knockout production this is. And what a welcome repeat. Deservedly winning 1986 Emmys for best special and best direction (by Joseph Sargent), NBC's "Love Is Never Silent" is the complete package: a warm, wonderful, cliche-smashing, acutely perceptive story and standing ovation-quality acting by Ed Waterstreet and Phyllis Frelich as a deaf couple and Mare Winningham as their daughter. It premiered last December.