Seattle theaters announce schedule of captioned performances
Seattle's three largest live theaters will make a total of 18 different productions accessible this season to those of us who have a significant hearing loss but do not use sign language. The season begins this Sunday, September 19 at The Paramount, which apologizes for the short notice, and runs through July 31 of 2011, and includes old favorites like "Guys and Dolls" and "Oklahoma," and newer productions like the award-winning "God of Carnage."
The captions are displayed on an LED reader-board placed at the edge of the stage. Seats are set aside on the lower level near the stage, so that it is possible to see the reader-board and the on-stage action without excessive looking back and forth. The captions, including the dialogue and song lyrics, are prepared in advance, and displayed in synch with the pace of the production, enabling people with (and many people without) a hearing loss to understand exactly what is being said.
Best of all, the theaters almost always offer significantly discounted ticket prices.
Here is the schedule by theater:
"Burn the Floor," Sunday, Sept. 19, 6:30 p.m.
"Hair," Saturday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m.
"Rock of Ages," Sunday, Feb. 13, 6:30 p.m.
"Billy Elliot," Sunday, April 3, 6:30 p.m.
"Mary Poppins," Sunday May 29, 6:30 p.m.
Tickets for the captioning area can be ordered on line. Go to the main page, click on the icon for the specific show, then go to the "read more" button following the description. Scroll to the end of that, and you will see the announcement of the open-captioned date and time. Continue following that link. When it takes you to the "purchase ticket" page, the only options that will be displayed are tickets in the captioned section.
"In the Heights," Friday, Oct. 8, 8 p.m.
"A Christmas Story," Sunday, Dec. 19, 7 p.m.
"Vanities," Friday, March 18, 8 p.m.
"Next to Normal," Wednesday, March 2, 7:30 p.m.
"Nine to Five," Wednesday, April 13, 7:30 p.m.
"Guys and Dolls," Sunday, June 5, 1:30 p.m.
"Oklahoma," Sunday, July 31, 1:30 p.m.
Tickets in the captioned section may be purchased on line by contacting the box-office email address, ticketing@5thavenue.org
"God of Carnage," Thursday, Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m.
"Dancing at Lughnasa," Thursday, Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m.
"The Brothers Size," Feb. 2 (2011), 7:30 p.m.
"Of Mice and Men," March 24 (2011) 7:30 p.m.
"The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," May 5 (2011) 7:30 p.m.
Seattle Rep has devoted a special page to its captioned shows. Click on the ticket-order form, and it takes you to a diagram of the theater. When you then go to the button that allows you to see a diagram of the theater and select your seats, it limits you to only those seats from which the captioned reader-board is best seen.
This will the the third season that captioned live theater has been available in Seattle. The theaters have worked with the Washington State Communication Access Project and the Theatre Development Fund from New York to bring live theater to those of us whose hearing loss would otherwise prevent us from enjoying this art form.
