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Lehigh Valley Arts Council
840 Hamilton Street, Suite 201 ◊ Allentown, PA 18101 610.437.5915 ◊ info@LVArtsCouncil.org www.LVArtsCouncil.org ◊ LVArtsBoxOffice.org |
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Tag Archives: Audio description
Training Workshop For Audio Description, Presented By The Lehigh Valley Arts Council
| On November 4 and 5, 2016, the Lehigh Valley Arts Council, in cooperation with Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance, will present a two-day workshop, “Audio Description for the Theatre,” from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. As an introduction to the training, attendees will also experience an audio-described performance of The Pirates of Penzance on Thursday evening, November 3rd at 8:00 p.m. in the Baker Center.
Audio Description assists patrons who are blind/low-vision to access the visual elements of stage productions through narration provided by trained describers. Patrons use headsets to hear the audio description. The Arts Council has contracted Mimi Smith, former Executive Director of VSA Pennsylvania, and her husband Steve Smith to provide the training. Both of them have been describers for more than two decades and were cofounders of Amaryllis Theatre Co., a professional Philadelphia theatre that regularly hired theatre artists with disabilities. They will introduce the class to the foundational skills—Observation, Analysis, and Communication—necessary to audio describe stage productions. $35 for members; $50 for nonmembers. For additional information on location and registration, visit LVArtsCouncil.org. |
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‘Gypsy’ Kicks Off Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre Season, June 15 – July 3
Allentown, PA — Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre’s 2016 season will feature some familiar faces for fans of last summer’s “Hello, Dolly!” Mia Scarpa and Jarrod Yuskauskas return this summer for “Gypsy,” the beloved musical the New York Times calls “the greatest of all American musicals.” The show runs June 15 through July 3.
“Gypsy” kicks off a summer season that will also feature the 2008 Tony Award-winning Best Musical, “In the Heights,” by Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer of the current Broadway smash “Hamilton,” playing July 13-31. The season also features the world premiere family musical “Growl!” an irreverent adaptation of the story of Goldilocks and the three bears, created by the theatre company Doppelskope. “Growl!” plays June 29 through July 30.
Arguably one of Broadway’s most beloved musicals, “Gypsy” adapts burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee’s sensational autobiography into a sultry, campy tour-de-force about show business, ambition, and motherhood. The score, with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, features such classics as “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” and “Together Wherever We Go.”
Mia Scarpa returns to the MSMT stage to play Mama Rose, the most notorious of all stage moms, after an acclaimed run in the title role of last summer’s “Hello, Dolly!” She plays opposite Jarrod Yuskauskas in the role of Herbie. Last summer, The Press Newspapers noted that “the repartee between Scarpa and Yuskauskas is priceless.”
In the starring role of Louise — based on Gypsy Rose Lee herself — recent Muhlenberg graduate Lillian Pritchard takes the stage following a turn as Roxie Hart in this season’s sold-out run of “Chicago” on the Muhlenberg stage.
The production also features MSMT mainstay Neil Hever, returning to the role of Pop that he first played in the 1993 MSMT production of the show.
Also featured in the cast are six young actors from the Lehigh Valley Community: Jenna Seasholtz as Baby June; Anna Edwards as Baby Louise: and ensemble members Elijah Albert-Stein, Aaron Finkle, Robert Pierno, and Robert Stinner.
“Gypsy” also reunites the production team from “Hello, Dolly!” — director Charles Richter, choreographer Karen Dearborn, and musical director Michael Schnack. Richter, the founding artistic director of the Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre, is in his 36th season with the festival.
Audio Description and Open Captioning will be available at the Sunday, June 19 performance of “Gypsy.” Call 484-664-3087 for tickets in the accessible section of this performance. Open Captioning displays lyrics and dialogue via electronic text display visible to the side of the stage, for the benefit of patrons with hearing loss. Audio Description uses the natural pauses in the play to provide a narrative that translates the visual image into an audible form for patrons who are blind or low-vision. Patrons use headsets to hear the audio description.
“Gypsy” runs June 15 – July 3; “In the Heights” runs July 13-31. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Both productions are in the Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance.
Ticket prices for both “Gypsy” and “In the Heights” are as follows. For the first four performances: $33 regular admission; seniors, $29; students and children, $18. For the remaining 11 performances: $39 regular admission; seniors, $36; students and children, $20. Subscriptions to both shows are available.
“Growl!” runs June 29 through July 30 in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance. Performances are Wednesday through Friday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m, and Saturday at 10 a.m. only. All tickets to “Growl!” are $10 for June performances and $12 for July performances.
Tickets and information are available at www.muhlenberg.edu/SMT or 484-664-3333.
Inclusive Arts – Calendar of Accessible Events for September (Lehigh Valley)
You can read an article titled “Disabilities Don’t Define Who People Are” https://lvartscouncil.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/disabilities-dont-define-who-people-are/
DANCE FOR PD WORKSHOP
September 15, 2015
Williams Center for the Arts
6:30pm – 7:45pm
Presented by Lafayette College
This community class led by Mark Morris dancers is designed for people with PD, caregivers, dance teachers, and other community members. Expect demo and movement class, with a Q&A at the end. Participants are empowered to explore movement and music in ways that are refreshing, enjoyable, stimulating, and creative. Free, reservations required 610-330-5203 or prentick@lafayette.edu.
Handicap Access • Cognitive Health
WOVEN WELCOME: MAKING COMMUNITY
Now through October 11, 2015
Allentown Art Museum
Open museum hours
A community-based art project that utilizes weaving as a way to connect community members through the creative process. Entrance and participation are free.
Handicap Access • Cognitive Health
ACCESSIBLE ART: PHASE II TACTILE DESCRIPTION
Now through June 1, 2017
Zollener Arts Center
Open gallery hours
Presented by Lehigh University Art Galleries & Museum
Teaching Collection of multiple artists’ work in Audio Description and Tactile Description (3-D image to touch) for the visually impaired. Gallery hours: Wed-Sat 11am-5pm; Sun 1-5pm; Closed Mon-Tues.
Handicap Access • Blind & Low-Vision • Audio Description
ARTIST IN RECOVERY – MONTHLY ART EXHIBITIONS
September 15, 2015
Recovery Partnership
1:00pm – 3:30pm
Featuring artists who express their journey with mental health. Held every third Thursay. Free.
Handicap Access • Mental Health
SPECIAL NEEDS ART CLASSES
Every Saturday in September
The Art Establishment Studios
1:30pm – 3:30pm
Open to school-aged people, these classes will be taught by Carol Parker, artist and Liberty High School Special Ed teacher. Classes are $20, which inludes all materials. Book early, they fill fast! 610-807-9201.
Handicap Access • Cognitive Health • Sensory Friendly
LECTURE & PRESENTATION – BEN YORGEY FOUNDATION
September 12, 2015
America On Wheels
11:30am
Presenter from the Ben Yorgey Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises funds for graduating high school students with intellectual disabilities across Lehigh Valley and beyond.
Handicap Access • Cognitive Health • Sensory Friendly
RAKER LECTURE SERIES – CPL. DANIEL LASKO, AMPUTEE & ATHLETE
September 29, 2015
Muhlenberg College
7:30pm
Presented by Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network
Presentation by Daniel Lasko, retired Marine corporal, accomplished athlete, and member of Wounded Warrior Amputee Football Team.
Handicap Access • American Sign Language Interpreted
“PATIENT VOICES” FILM SHOWING & TRAINING
September 27, 2015
Civic Theatre of Allentown
10:00am – 11:30am
The sccreening of “Patient Voices,” an informational video teaching disability etiquette, will help professionals, staff, and volunteers better serve people with disabilities.
Handicap Access • Cognitive Health • Sensory Friendly
‘Arts And Access’ Launches Program For Greater Accessibility
| Lehigh Valley arts and cultural organizations will be welcoming patrons with intellectual, sensory and physical disabilities as a result of the effort of the Lehigh Valley Arts Council (LVAC) and the Lehigh Valley Partnership for a Disability Friendly Community (Partnership).
They will host an “Arts & Access” reception on July 24, 2015, to launch the yearlong plan to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) through the lens of the arts. The event will be held 4:30-6 p.m. at the Good Shepherd Health & Technology Center, 850 S. 5th St., Allentown. It is open to the public, particularly to anyone with a disability. “Access to the arts is more than just building a ramp,” said Randall Forte, LVAC Executive Director. “To be truly accessible to those with disabilities, performing and visual arts groups need to make important changes in the way they have always done things.” With the guidance of VSA PA, LVAC has developed staff training and promotional programs to help local arts organizations learn how to remove the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from enjoying their offerings. More than 30 arts organizations have already agreed to move toward greater inclusion and make accommodations for people with disabilities. Workshops will continue this year on implementing open captioning and audio description for people with vision and hearing loss. Open Captioning provides the audience with an electronic text display to the side of the stage, displaying lyrics, dialogue, and sound effects in real time. Audio Description is a form of audio-visual translation, using natural pauses to insert narrative that translates the visual image into an audible form. Patrons use headsets to hear the audio description. Together, the arts council and partnership hope to accomplish the following goals: For more information, visit ArtsandAccess.org Addressing a need The 2012 U.S. Census estimated that more than 12 percent of the Valley’s non-institutionalized population lives with some kind of disability. That’s a potential arts audience of about 81,000 people. “Arts groups should realize that in the community with disabilities there is an untapped market for performing and visual arts,” said Forte. Members of the Lehigh Valley Partnership for a Disability Friendly Community, a coalition of organizations that serve the diverse disabled community, asked the LVAC to involve arts groups in addressing this issue. To date, more than thirty arts and cultural organizations have agreed to participate, including ArtsQuest, Allentown Art Museum, Lehigh University Art Galleries, Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, SATORI, and Williams Center for the Arts. Arts & Access is already responsible for important changes in the way the arts are presented. For example, this fall the Lehigh University Art Galleries will debut a tactile description program in their teaching gallery, which uses technology to create a three-dimensional relief of a portion of the image for the person to explore through touch. Many local service providers, such as Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living and the Center for Vision Loss, are offering customer service training free-of-charge. For instance, the staff at Center for Vison Loss will work with ushers and box office personnel on how to interact with a person with vision loss. In addition to providing them audio-description, theatres may offer a pre-show sensory tour, where patrons arrive early, meet cast members and handle props and costume accessories. The LVAC can connect presenters with affordable professionals who do American Sign Language interpreting, audio describing, and open captioning for live events and exhibitions. The council also offers audio-describer training and equipment for organizations who wish to train their in-house personnel. In addition, participants may apply to the council for a Greater Inclusion Grant, a matching grant for up to $300, to help fund a new initiative that meets the approved criteria. The Americans for Disabilities Act, passed on July 26, 1990, prohibits discrimination against the disabled. It set in motion a frenzy of activity designed to prevent discrimination against those who have difficulty navigating modern life, particularly in employment, transportation, and public buildings. But the act did not specifically address the facilities used by the arts such as theaters, galleries, and auditoriums. http://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm#anchor62335 L.V. Partnership for a Disability Friendly Community is a diverse network of more than 75 people and agencies in the Lehigh Valley united in the goal to improve the lives of people with disabilities. Their vision is to be a catalyst for change in making the Valley a disability-friendly community which is inclusive, accessible, and welcoming. http://disabilityfriendlylv.com/ The Lehigh Valley Arts Council acts as both advocate and catalyst to create new gateways, and bring people together to find solutions that advance greater arts participation. It promotes the arts, supports the development of artists, assists arts organizations, facilitates communication among its constituencies, and conducts research to measure the economic impact of the region’s cultural industry. http://www.lvartscouncil.org/ VSA ARTS in Pennsylvania shares its knowledge of inclusive arts education across Pennsylvania and works with artists with disabilities to develop professional careers. Schedule for July 24 Launch Party
5:15 p.m.
5:30 p.m.
6 p.m.
Free, wheelchair accessible parking is available in the Good Shepherd parking deck across from the Health & Technology Center on South 5th St.; it is connected to the center via a bridge on level three. A Partial List of Arts Organizations participating in Arts & Access Allentown Art Museum in collaboration with Via of the Lehigh Valley and artist Jill Odegaard ArtsQuest Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival Raker Lecture Series SATORI in collaboration painter William Christine at the Colonial Intermediate Unit #21 Williams Center for the Arts/ Lafayette College |
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Lehigh Valley Arts Council 840 Hamilton Street, Suite 201 Allentown, PA 18101 610-437-5915 / operations@LVArtsCouncil.org www.LVArtsCouncil.org / www.LVArtsBoxOffice.org |
Audio Description Training For The Visual Arts
| On April 24 & 25, 2015, the Lehigh Valley Arts Council, in partnership with the Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley, will present atwo-day workshop, ”Audio Description for the Visual Arts,” from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Allentown Art Museum. Audio description assists patrons who are blind or low-visionto access the visual elements of two- and three-dimensional works of art in the gallery or museum setting through narration provided by traineddescribers. More and more, museums in larger cities are offering to people with disabilitiesaccommodations that include audio description and staff training to help visitors with vision loss feel welcome.The Arts Council has contracted Mimi Smith, Executive Director of VSA Pennsylvania to provide the training over the course of two days. She has been a describer for more than two decades and is a founder of Amaryllis Theatre, a professional Philadelphia theatre that regularly includes artists with disabilities. She will introduce the class to the foundational skills—Observe, Analyze and Communicate— necessary to audio describe artwork. Additionally Street Thoma, Accessible Programs Manager at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, will attend and discuss the evolution of the museum’s program.
Typically, this workshop would cost $590. Thanks to the underwriting support of an anonymous donor, the Arts Council is able to offer it at a very reasonable price: $50 per person. Please purchase your tickets at LVArtsBoxOffice.org. |
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Audio-Description Training To Be Held In Allentown
The Lehigh Valley Arts Council is offering affordable audio description training to the theatre community in order to help them increase attendance to their productions by becoming more disability-friendly.
Theatre practitioners from all walks of life—actors, students, volunteers, educators—are encouraged to enroll in the upcoming audio description training sessions and acquire new performance skills.
Fee: $25. Typically, this workshop costs $590. Thanks to the underwriting support of LVCIL and an anonymous donor, the Arts Council is able to offer it at a very reasonable price. Audio description assists patrons who are blind/low-vision to access the visual elements of stage productions through live narration provided by trained describers. Patrons use headsets to hear the audio description.
This two-day audio-description training for the Performing Arts will be held:
- October 3 & 4, 2014 | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Lehigh Valley Arts Council
840 Hamilton Street
2nd Floor Conference Room (Suite 200)
Allentown, PA 18101
Includes Audio Described performance of “Harvey” at DeSales University (2755 Station Ave., Center Valley, Pa. 18034) on October 2, 2014 at 8:00 PM
Audio Description Training For Theatre Practitioners
July 18 & 19, 2014
Lehigh Valley Arts Council
840 Hamilton Street, Suite 201
Allentown, Pa. 18101
Increased Access = Increased Attendance
Allentown, PA –The Lehigh Valley Arts Council is offering audio description training to the theatre community in order to help them increase attendance to their productions by becoming more disability-friendly.
Audio description assists patrons who are blind/low-vision to access the visual elements stage productions through live narration provided by trained describers. Patrons use headsets to hear the audio description.
According to U.S. Census data estimates from 2012, the number of non-institutionalized people with disabilities living in the Lehigh Valley is 81,000, or 12.7%, which represents a significant number of potential new audiences for the cultural community.
The Arts Council has contracted Mimi Kenney Smith, Executive Director of VSA Pennsylvania, to provide the training over the course of two days, July 18 &19, 2014. Smith, a veteran describer for more than two decades, is also the producing director for Amaryllis Theatre, a professional Philadelphia theatre that regularly includes artists with disabilities. She will introduce the class to the foundational skills—Observe, Analyze and Communicate— necessary to audio describe a play. At the end of the first day, the class will experience an audio described performance of Monty Python’s Spamalot at Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre.
Theatre practitioners from all walks of life—actors, students, volunteers, educators—are encouraged to enroll and acquire new performance skills.
Reservations required, reserve your spot today!
Fee: $25. For more information and to reserve your spot:
Call: 610-437-5915.
Email: operations@LVArtsCouncil.org
Web: http://www.lvartscouncil.org/Access/training.html
Tickets: http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1821982&cobrand=lvartsboxoffice
Location: Butz Corporate Center, 840 Hamilton Street (2nd Floor conference Room), Allentown Pa. 18101
Date / Time:
July 18, 2014:
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Lehigh Valley Arts Council; 2nd Floor conference Room
7:30 PM – 10:00 PM: Monty Python’s Spamalot; Baker Theatre/Trexler Pravilon
July 19, 2014:
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Lehigh Valley Arts Council; 2nd Floor conference Room
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About the Lehigh Valley Arts Council
The Lehigh Valley Arts Council is a nonprofit 501(c)3, membership-supported organization that serves as a regional advocate and ambassador for the Lehigh Valley arts community. Its mission is to promote the arts; to encourage and support artists and their development; to assist arts organizations; and to facilitate communication and cooperation among artists, arts organizations and the community. Through collaborative partnerships, it continues to provide access to the local arts community through education, research, professional development seminars and cooperative marketing initiatives.
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Lehigh Valley Arts Council
840 Hamilton Street, Suite 201
Allentown, PA 18101
610-437-5915 / operations@LVArtsCouncil.org
http://www.LVArtsCouncil.org / http://www.LVArtsBoxOffice.org
COMING UP! Two-Day Audio-Description Training For The Performing Arts On July 18 & 19, 2014!
Audio Description assists patrons who are blind/low-vision to access the visual elements of stage productions through narration provided by trained describers. Patrons use headsets to hear the audio description. Trainees will also attend an audio-described performance of Monty Python’s Spamalot. Click HERE for more information on this training.
July 18, 2014 | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
July 19, 2014 | 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Lehigh Valley Arts Council
840 Hamilton Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room (Suite 200)
Allentown
July 18, 2014 | 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM:
Monty Python’s Spamalot (Audio Described Performance)
Baker Theatre/Trexler Pravilon, Muhlenberg College
2400 Chew St. Allentown
FEE: $25 RESERVE YOUR SEAT!
Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre – Accessible Performance Of “Godspell”
Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre
to present accessible performance of
“Godspell“
July 17 performance of “Godspell” at Muhlenberg
will feature Open Captioning and Audio Description
for hearing impaired and visually impaired patrons
Allentown, Pa. (June 13, 2011) – Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre will present a performance of “Godspell” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 17 with Open Captioning (OC) for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing and Audio Description (AD) for patrons who are blind or visually impaired. This performance is sponsored in part by the Tri-County Accessible Arts Coalition.
“The Tri-County Accessible Arts Coalition is working to accomplish several goals,” says Jessica Bien, general manager of Muhlenberg’s Theatre and Dance Department. “The first is to educate local organizations about the need for accessible performances and events in the region. The second is to educate the communities that the accessible performances will serve. Since many individuals have not ever experienced an open captioned or audio described performance, they need to understand what the performance will be like. Finally the Coalition is hoping to be able to secure the necessary equipment for these services so that any organization in the area may borrow the equipment to offer audio description or open captioning.”
Prior to the performance, there will be a tour and reception for audience members utilizing the services. The performance will be held in the Baker Theatre in the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance on the Muhlenberg College campus in Allentown, Pa.
“We are hoping that this performance provides the chance for other theaters and organizations in the Lehigh Valley to experience audio description and open captioning so that they can begin to offer these types of performances as well,” Bien says.
“Godspell,” Stephen Schwartz’s upbeat retelling of biblical parables, is one of Broadway’s biggest successes, featuring a beloved and sparkling score—including the international hit “Day By Day.” The show will run July 13-31.
“We are excited to bring the first audio described and open captioned performance to the Lehigh Valley community,” says Bien. “By offering these types of performances, we are hoping to provide a whole new audience with the opportunity to experience live theatre and some of America’s greatest musicals.”
Audio Description is a form of audio-visual translation, using the natural pauses in dialogue or between critical sound elements to insert narrative that translates the visual image into an audible form that is accessible to individuals who otherwise lack full access to live theatre. Using a single earpiece connected to an infrared headset, patrons who are blind or have low vision can listen to trained audio describers give live, verbal descriptions of actions, costumes, scenery, and other visual elements of a performance.
Open captioning provides the audience with an electronic text display to the side of the stage which displays what the actors are saying or singing in real time. The display also describes sound effects on stage.
To purchase tickets for the July 17 performance of “Godspell,” call Jess Bien at 484-664-3087 or email boxoffice@muhlenberg.edu. The number of headsets available for Audio Description is limited so it is suggested that reservations be made early. Tickets are only $10 for hearing impaired and visually impaired patrons and one companion can also purchase a ticket for $10.
Each year, Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre mounts major original productions of Broadway musicals featuring the work of accomplished directors, designers, performers and musicians. Tickets are still available for all three Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre shows – “The Music Man,” running June 15 – July 3; “Cinderella,” our children’s theatre show, running June 22 – July 30; and “Godspell.”
Tickets for regular performances can be purchased online at muhlenberg.edu/tickets, by calling 484-664-3333, or by visiting the box office located on the lower level of the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, Mon.-Sat. from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information contact Scott Snyder, at 484-664-3693 or scottsnyder@muhlenberg.edu.
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