CAPTIONING ADVOCACY: Playbill from the first Open Captioned Broadway Performance - 1997!

I was sorting through my papers, and came across a stack of old Playbills.  These weren't just any old Playbills - they were all from open captioned Broadway shows.  What is distinctive about these Playbills is that the Theatre Development Fund (TDF), which arranged the open captioning of these shows, always had an insert stapled into the Playbill, just under the large advertising centerfold. 

I kept all the Playbills of the shows I had seen over the years because they represented a triumph - to be able to attend a Broadway show, without missing a word - a mission that I had spearheaded back in the 1990's.  Although I hadn't looked at these Playbills in years - they were stashed away in a box - I knew what was in that stack - the Playbill from the very first Open Captioned Broadway performance - Barrymore, a one-man show starring Christopher Plummer - on Wednesday, September 24, 1997.  And it turned out that I had saved two copies of this Playbill! Here's what it looked like:






Playbill from the very first Open Captioned Broadway performance.

 

 



It turned out that I saved more than just the Playbill - I also saved the ticket stub!  And here is the insert from the Playbill, announcing that this is the very first open captioned Broadway performance.




Special Playbill insert announcing the FIRST Open Captioned Broadway performance and the ticket stub - September 24, 1997. Historic!




And here are the insert pages that explain about open captioning, the captioner, TDF, and the audience that benefits from captioning.

Program Notes about Captioning and the Captioner



Program Notes about TDF and the people who helped make this captioned performance happen. Note my name mentioned, recognizing my "advocacy and perseverence"!

This is such a significant find - as it documents a milestone in captioning advocacy and accommodations for people with hearing loss.  And it also represents a dream of my own - to be able to walk through Times Square late at night, carrying a Playbill - a souvenir of a wonderful theater experience - just like everyone else.

Additional documentation:
The New York Times ran an article about this event, entitled "Device Opens the Theatre to the Deaf" , published on September 16, 1997.

My second book, Listening Closely: A Journey to Bilateral Hearing (Charlesbridge/Imagine 2011), contains a brief history of captioned live theatre advocacy, on pages 24-25. Click here to access the Amazon website for the book, and click on the "Look Inside" feature to find the excerpt.



 

 

Cochlear Implant Miracles: Opera! Bravo! Encore!

I'm no novice with cochlear implants, having gotten my first CI in 1997, and being bilateral since 2008.  I always was able to enjoy music with my CIs - it took a while to adapt back in 1997, with some music genres taking longer than others to sound "normal."  I had never been an opera buff prior to losing my hearing, though, but being deaf and enjoying music has made me want to try it all.  I do listen to classical music, so opera wasn't exactly a huge leap.  I learned about the Metropolitan Opera HD simulcasts a few years ago - these are live performances that are beamed by satellite into local movie theaters. The ticket price is a fraction of a live Met performance, and in some respects, the simulcast experience has additional benefits unavailable in the live theater.  

With that as background, I looked forward to the first opera of the season - Verdi's Otello - which had Renee Fleming in the leading female role - a wonderful opportunity to see the best!  This opera would run 3 1/2 hours with one intermission.  The interesting part about going to the opera is that it is wonderful music practice.  Even though I do well listening to music, it still does get "better" after listening for 3 1/2 hours.  

There were several movie theaters in my area showing this performance - a few of them sold out.  Arriving a bit early  ensures getting the pick of seating location - no extra charge!  And so, waiting for the 1 PM curtain, I always pack a picnic lunch - the theaters don't mind, understanding that popcorn and Verdi aren't really made for each other.   The countdown to the opera begins about 5 minutes before, with this on-screen update: 

Waiting for Otello to begin 

Knowing that this is being broadcast live is exciting. There are rebroadcasts at other times, which I've attended.  But there's something special knowing that a mere 10 or so miles away in NYC, all this is happening "live from New York"!    And then, the focus is on that massive curtain and stage!

Metropolitan Opera awaiting the beginning of Otello

There are several benefits to attending these simulcasts:  

• Subtitles are placed right on the screen, in perfect sync with the lyrics, in easy-to-read font size.
• They always have some famous opera star doing interviews with the performers at the intermission (but not captioned). 
• The cameras zoom in on the performers so you can see them up close - much closer than even front row orchestra seats!
• The camera also zooms into the orchestra pit to highlight the instrumental passages.
• The cameras are behind the curtain during scene changes, showing the incredible infrastructure that allows for these elaborate stage sets. And they interview the production personnel as well.
• And, my absolute favorite part, which begins the excitement, is when the production manager speaks into the intercom, "Maestro to the pit!" - signaling that it is showtime, the production is ready to begin, and the conductor is needed to start the overture!

And now to the music!  This was the first time I was going to be listening with my new software program, ClearVoice, set on my processors.  I've listened to music with it, and actually prefer the sound with ClearVoice on, but this was my first opera, so I was curious about how everything would sound.

And  . . .   I liked it!  ClearVoice seemed to give greater clarity to the instruments and to the voices.  I switched back and forth to my non-CV program, but CV won every time.   The bass voices are the ones I have the most difficulty with, as each ear hears that register slightly differently. But as I expected, I was doing better with this during the last act than in the beginning. The tonality was still good, it was just hearing the baritone as low as it really was. The sopranos were angelic, as usual.

When I first started going to these performances, I thought I'd never be able to sit through hour upon hour of opera.  But the sound, the sets, the costumes, the subtitles, the camerawork, the interviews - all make it a most enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.  And with each opera, I sit there in utter awe, never forgetting that I am a deaf person, enjoying the enchantment of the Metropolitan Opera - and I still can't quite believe it.

Cochlear Implant Adventures Part V: LIVE - Jeopardy & Opera!

My whirlwind week in California continued to go according to plan (except for the Los Angeles traffic jams.)   What an amazing experience to see my expectations met and exceeded!  A quick recap - Advanced Bionics visit, Nethercutt Collection, Palm Desert weekend, Huntington Library and Gardens - plus brunches and dinners with friends in Rancho Mirage and Pasadena.  (I like saying the word "Pasadena" - makes my mouth happy.)  Now back to Los Angeles for Jeopardy in the morning, and the LA Opera in the evening - with the beach in between. 

Remember that I'm a deaf person with bilateral cochlear implants, with a long history of dealing with hearing loss.  I have always chosen carefully where I planned to visit and what I planned to do, never forgetting what my preferences are, and my limitations.  Although I watch Jeopardy on television, I always watch it with the captioning on, and I knew that going to a live taping of Jeopardy would have no captions and no assistive listening system available.  I had my eyes wide open on this.  I was confident enough now that I would be able to function reasonably well there.  And as for opera - I have been attending the Metropolitan Opera simulcasts in the movie theaters, so I knew I was ready to experience it live and that I would hear it well enough to enjoy it  - and  invest in the price of the tickets (our live opera tickets cost six times the price of the movie theater version).  It was ironic that both events ended up on the same day, especially considering that the opera and Jeopardy are not every-day occurrences. 

Here's a picture of me right outside the Jeopardy sound stage at the Sony Studios in Culver City, near downtown LA.  

Arlene outside of the Jeopardy studio

Those sound studios are BIG.  We had our tickets in hand, but had to wait and wait until we were allowed to enter the studio and take our seats.  As we were waiting, I struck up a conversation with a woman who was in LA visiting her son.  We chatted up a storm, and discovered we had so many things in common.  I guess it's not surprising to find like-minded people on a line for Jeopardy - but still, it was delightful to make a new friend, something I surely couldn't have done at all without my CIs, and certainly easier to do with my bilateral equipment.  

Here's what the Jeopardy set looked like. We were seated more to the right, so could see behind the contestants.  We learned that they are standing on little elevator platforms that could be raised or lowered, so that all their heads would be at the same height from the front.  

Jeopardy TV stage set

When the show started, I could watch the stage, or view the video screen off to the side. There were no captions, of course, as those are added post-production - and no assistive listening devices.  I was on my own.  I actually did quite well - and interestingly, I could understand the announcer, veteran Johnny Gilbert, best of all.  I could understand his voice without looking and without concentrating.  I couldn't really understand some of the contestants all the time, but if I knew the answers, then I did better than when I didn't.  Verdict on my decision to see Jeopardy?  WIN!  Yes, I would do it again.  Maybe next time as a contestant!  (NOT!)

Having a little fun at the Jeopardy studio

Interestingly, Wheel of Fortune is also taped in this sound studio, so we had our picture taken with this poster as well:

Arlene & Ira at Sony Studios

We spent the rest of the afternoon looking at the Pacific Ocean at Venice Beach, and then realized that getting back to our hotel would involve getting stuck in more LA traffic!  Oh no!  We left too little time to get back to the hotel to change our clothes, so I went to the opera wearing my jeans and sneakers!  (Oh, my!)

Arlene outside the LA Opera

When I researched the LA Opera, I couldn't believe that one of the few performances by Placido Domingo would fit exactly into our plans.  He was playing the title role in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, an opera I had already seen in the Met movie version, so this gave me an opportunity to compare. 

Placido Domingo as Simon Boccanegra

This opera house looked a bit like the Met in Lincoln Center in NYC - similar outside architecture. 

LA Opera

Inside, it had what most opera houses have now - supertitles over the stage to display the text line by line.  (By comparison, the Met has seatback captions - and the Met broadcasts in the movie theaters display the text as subtitles on the screen.)

LA Opera with supertitle screen over the stage

They also had display screens on the side of the orchestra, near my seats.  

Screen on the side to display the text

I always enjoy visiting theaters I've never been to before, and observing the audience.  Each location seems to have its own style and rhythm.   I could hear the music quite well - the orchestra sounded better to me in person than the Met movie version - a fuller sound.  The soloists, however, didn't have as robust a sound as the movie theater experience.  It seems as though they didn't have the balance right between the orchestra and the soloists. It could have been the sound mixing, the voices, the microphones, or just me.

At the intermission, we looked out from the terrace, and were able to see Disney Hall, the new Frank Gehry building with its avant garde architecture.

Disney Hall by Frank Gehry

That was on my "to see" list as well, so I'm glad we had a chance to see it up close!  

I was really thrilled to have had the chance to experience opera like this - live and in person is like nothing else.  I especially like the curtain calls - the standing ovations, the bravos - on and on and on.  I loved being part of it, live and in person!  And because I had the confidence to purchase these tickets, that I knew I would be able to hear it, I was able to experience the excitement of it all.  Priceless!

Cochlear Implant Adventures Part IV: Headphones, T-mics and Dolls

My week in California continued - and I was loving every minute of it! The day I spent at Advanced Bionics had been so special, meeting and talking to the entire staff - the very people who created my miracle of hearing.  

I had researched the activities for the rest of the week very carefully - planning to visit friends and places - with practically every moment accounted for.  The Nethercutt Collection, with its vintage cars and amazing music machines, had exceeded my expectations - I loved everything I saw and heard.  From there we headed east to visit friends in Palm Desert.  It was then that we got an education in Los Angeles traffic jams!  What should have been a two-hour drive ended up taking four hours! 

But it was worth the drive - visiting with friends from college, and taking in the fabulous views from their house on the hills.  

Palm Desert Vistas

These friends knew me before I lost my hearing, and kept up all the years since.  The last time we visited them in Palm Desert was when I visited Advanced Bionics last time, in 2009, to do the Connect to Patient presentations (Click here to see that video.)  The weekend was very relaxed - and there's no doubt that improved function with my bilateral cochlear implants contributed to the increased ease of socialization that I felt.  I found myself catching casual comments right away - feeling more connected, not needing repeats. It changed the dynamics of the visit - at least for me, anyway.  

After a relaxing weekend, we headed back towards Los Angeles, stopping to tour the marvelous Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens just south of Pasadena.  This was another "diamond" attraction in the AAA book - and I brake for diamond attractions!  We had just two hours to spend here, so thankfully, we had no traffic problems this time!  We walked straight to the mansion that housed the main art collection.  

Main hallway at the Huntington mansion

When we entered, it was more impressive than I had imagined - seeing that grand staircase, and knowing what treasures those rooms held.   The very first stop was where they gave out the recorded tour guides and headphones.  I always love following recorded guided tours. I always heard them so well with my CIs, just like the recorded books I used for listening practice.  But what happened next was intriguing and unexpected. 

The woman behind the counter handed me the digital tour guide recorder, and then proceeded to put the headphones on me.  My husband looked at me - I looked at him - we both knew that my "ears" were really my Harmony processor t-mics - the ear-level microphones of my cochlear implant processors that allow me to use headphones just like someone with normal hearing.  I thought for an instant to tell the woman about my equipment, but then I thought WHY?  So I just let her put the headphones on me, just like a person with normal hearing.  This is what people looked like walking through the galleries, and I looked just like that, too!

Visitors using the recorded tour guides with headphones

This was actually the first time I had used headphones with two CIs for a guided tour, and I knew immediately it sounded better than I had expected. The sounds were merging as one, and made listening easier.

The Huntington mansion had some very famous paintings, namely Pinkie and Blue Boy:

PINKIE

BLUE BOY

I was expecting to see those paintings - I had read up on this museum, but it was this little treasure that caught me by surprise - Girl Holding a Doll by James Peale, done in 1804.  

Girl Holding a Doll - Peale

I collect dolls, and I also collect pictures of girls holding their dolls.  I had never seen this oil painting before, or even knew about it.  I was intrigued.  One of the most interesting pictures I had ever come across of a girl holding a doll was the one of Helen Keller, taken in 1888, when she was 8 years old.  It was the only one ever found of her with a doll, and it only came to light 120 years after it was taken - in 2008 - the week that my first cochlear implant stopped working.  I wrote about this in my book, Listening Closely (page 38).

Helen Keller with her doll in 1888

I knew I had to buy a postcard of that Girl Holding a Doll painting, and was so glad that the museum's gift shop had them available.  What was rather curious, though, was that when I went to purchase two of these postcards, the cashier asked me about them. I found myself discussing "girl with doll" pictures and my doll collection. What occurred to me later was that even in that noisy gift shop, I responded immediately to that cashier without asking for repeats. My behavior was just "normal" - thinking about what I was talking about rather than wondering if I would hear her.  And I only realized this afterwards, and am still marveling at this experience, because it was so odd to be asked those questions in that busy shop - and unexpected dialogue is the hardest speech to understand.  Score another little victory for my bilateral cochlear implants!

Cochlear Implant Miracles: Music to my ears

I went to the local movie theater yesterday to see and hear the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Gounod's FAUST.  These broadcasts are either live simulcasts or rebroadcasts of live Met Opera performances, available in movie theaters throughout the world, and are subtitled. I've done this before, always wondering if I'm going to be able to sit through hour upon hour of opera. Last night was no exception - arriving at 6:30 and finishing up over four hours later, including two intermissions - and the result was the same - enthralled!  What's really amazing about going is that the cost is so reasonable for opera (about $20), but it's also a great way to do music listening practice.  When the opera begins, my brain is always a little tentative about the voices, especially now that I'm bilateral and it has to balance both sides. It sounds good to start, but gets even better the more I listen.  Last night, the closing act and scenes were so intense - both subject matter and music - it was spine-tingling.  One thing about my CI processors, they do a really great job of separating the instruments in the orchestra and the voices as well.  This is a wonderful and natural way to get in that music practice, and it has opened up an entirely new interest for me - and my husband.  Never would have believed it - a deaf person listening to opera for four hours, and loving it.   

WICKED captioned at the Kennedy Center

I promised to talk more about the captioned live performance of WICKED at the Kennedy Center - one of the highlights of the HLAA convention held in Crystal City, just outside of Washington DC.  This was also an enormous challenge for the Kennedy Center, as it had to prepare for 600 convention attendees, eager to enjoy the show - with captions!

As I've mentioned, and is noted in my book, "Listening Closely", I've been involved with advocacy for live theater captioning since 1996 (prior to getting my cochlear implants), when we were successful in getting the first open captioned performance at Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey.  I've also been attending the LEAD arts access conferences, sponsored by the Kennedy Center. Here's the brochure from the 2010 conference - flip to Page 5 to see me using a neckloop and infrared receiver, while trying out a handheld device for museums -
 http://www.kennedy-center.org/accessibility/education/lead/LEAD-ConferenceBrochure.pdf

The captioned performance was a sight to behold - as the show's stage set and the theater itself are grand and impressive.  There were LED signs on either side of the stage, and 5 more hung from the balcony so that people in the rear orchestra could also read the captioning.  The theater was looped temporarily for this occasion (so people with t-coils on their hearing aids or cochlear implant processors just had to turn them on), in addition to having 600 receivers available for the infrared system.  It was all taken care of so professionally that no one suspected what grandiose preparations had taken place behind the scenes.
According to Betty Siegel, Director of Accessibility at the Kennedy Center, this was like planning for D-Day.  And for David Chu of C2 Caption Coalition, he had the daunting task of coordinating seven LED screens - some with two lines of text and some with three - aside from all the electronics involved.

Betty borrowed LED signs from everyone they knew - George Mason University, Gallaudet University, National Museum of the American Indian, C2, Inc and from as far away as VSA Arizona.  David Chu, C2, Inc. worked his way thru countless technical glitches, and then did an absolutely stellar job with the captioning itself, ensuring that the timing and scrolling was precise on all 7 signs (so good that two hardened stage hands were overheard to say it was "amazing" and the best they'd ever seen). And, of course, there were support staff collecting the signs, coordinating with the production office, dealing with tickets, and so much more.

So when the final curtain fell to a standing ovation, it all looked as though they do this kind of thing all the time.  Well, yes - they do open captioned performances all the time - but to pull this off without a glitch for 600 people - this is one for the Guinness Book of Records!  Memorable and wonderful!

Bravo to all who made this happen - allowing 600 people with hearing loss to attend an incredible show "with dignity."