Kelly Hodgins
Kelly Hodgins is New Zealand’s leading theatre and concert interpreter devoting much of her career to providing access to the Arts for New Zealand’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community.
She began working as a qualified NZSL interpreter on the stage in 2004 after graduating from Auckland University of Technology in 2002 with a Diploma in NZSL/English Interpreting. Kelly also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in NZSL/English Interpreting (Australia) and is a BSLN Graduate (USA).
In 2014, Kelly was awarded ‘New Zealand Sign Language Interpreter of the Year’ for her leadership, passion and professionalism in the field of Sign Language interpreting. She was especially acknowledged for being instrumental in the establishment of theatre interpreting and for her extensive work in ensuring the Arts are accessible to the Deaf Community of New Zealand.
Kelly has been the Tim Bray Theatre Company’s resident interpreter for nearly two decades since her theatre interpreting debut performance of The Owl and the Pussycat and has interpreted over 40 performances to date. Including but not limited to; Mahey Magic, The Wind in the Willows, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch, Pippi Longstockings, Whale Rider, The Santa Claus Show and The Velveteen Rabbit
Kelly also had the honour and privilege of interpreting the company’s 2012 Royal Jubilee performance of ‘Hairy Maclary’ for HRH the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.
Since 2011, Kelly has been providing sign language interpretation services for Auckland Live’s accessibility programme, performances such as; Calendar Girls, RNZB performance of Swan Lake, Wicked, Mamma Mia, Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain, CATS, Phantom of the Opera, Matilda, West side Story, Chicago, Disney’s Aladdin, School of Rock, Mary Poppins, The Wedding Singer and Les Miserables
She has also delivered interpreting services for theatre companies such as Auckland Theatre Company
Single Asian Female, The Haka Party Incident , Life of Galileo, Grand Horizons, Scenes from A Yellow Peril, The Made and North By North West
North Shore Musical Theatre Company - Hairspray, Silo Theatre - Tribes and the Playhouse Theatre - Beauty and the Beast as well as Tauranga Musical Theatre - West side Story
Kelly has been providing interpretations for the Auckland Arts Festival since 2016. Performances include but not limited to; Everest Untold - NZ’s first ever shadow interpreted performance, Shortland Street -The Musical, The Mooncake and the Kumera, Astroman and The Naked Samoans Do Magic as well as non performance interpretations for a number of Art Gallery tours
As well as the aforementioned, Kelly has also been a regular interpreter since 2009 at The New Zealand International Comedy Festival interpreting beside both local and international comedians.
Kelly’s repertoire also extends to concert and music festival interpreting, Festival One and has interpreted for 9 hour marathon concert event - Celebrate Us and international star Tim Minchin’s 'Back’ NZ Tour
Her other notable work includes; Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park (Auckland Domain), GLOW (Vector Arena), A night with Oprah (Vector Arena) and The Wiggles NZ Tour 2020. Kelly has also made on-screen appearances on television shows, cult classic - Shortland Street as a character portraying a New Zealand Sign Language Interpreter and on national children’s programme - Studio 2 Live
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Kelly has extensive knowledge and experience interpreting other genres within the the Arts such as writer's festivals, poetry events, film and television, dance, conferences and art gallery tours.
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