Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts and G-PASS have announced that due to a new initiative, 1.1 million New Yorkers and 56 million Americans with disabilities will have the opportunity to enjoy more Broadway shows than ever before. The Broadway Accessibility/Audience Expansion Initiative sets a new standard for collaboration between producers and accessibility specialists at all stages of production. The program kicks off with Broadway's Tony Award-nominated new musical, Catch Me If You Can, June 8, 2011.
"The Initiative enables more theater-goers with disabilities to enjoy as complete and captivating an experience as their non-disabled peers," says Sharon Jensen, Executive Director, Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts. "The Alliance and G-PASS have worked closely with the entire Catch Me If You Can team--producers, marketing, media, web designers--as well as the Nederlander Organization and Neil Simon Theatre staff to create accessible and comprehensive services."
"As a result of the revolutionary technology by Sound Associates, we have been able to introduce special accessibility services to every performance of select Broadway productions," states Anne Tramon, President of G-PASS. The services--I-Caption for deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons, D-Scriptive for blind and low-vision theatre-goers and ShowTrans for non-English-speaking audience members--are available free of charge at every performance. "In collaboration with the Alliance, we can expand these services to more productions, and hopefully, one day, to become standard."
With the Initiative, Broadway strengthens its position as the gold standard for theatre access and demonstrates how increasing access can facilitate new areas of economic growth. "Thanks to the efforts of Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, G-PASS and their partners, a whole new audience will have the opportunity to experience Broadway in an innovative way," says Commissioner Katherine Oliver, Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment. "We salute their hard work in making theatre accessibility a priority and are thrilled about this new initiative."
The Broadway Accessibility/Audience Expansion Initiative is supported by funds from The City of New York Theater Subdistrict Council, LDC and the City of New York.
To purchase tickets to Catch Me If You can, visit www.catchmethemusical.com. To then reserve I-Caption, D-Scriptive or ShowTrans services following ticket purchase, log on to www.G-PASS.org, or call (888) 876-0801.
Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, 2011 Tony Honor recipient for Excellence in the Theatre, is the nation's leading advocate for full diversity as a key to the vitality and dynamism of American theatre, film and television. We promote authentic dialogue about race, culture and disability that embraces the complexity of underlying social and historical issues. Our principal aim is to achieve full inclusion in American arts and entertainment, such that what we see on our stages and screens truly reflects the society in which we live; where each artist is considered on his/her merits as an individual; where the stories being told are drawn from authentic and diverse experiences; and where our individual humanity can be celebrated. To this end, we actively engage artists and decision makers, forge partnerships and create opportunities. For more information, visit www.inclusioninthearts.org.
G-PASS is an organization focused on bringing new waves of audiences to the Broadway theatre with groundbreaking computerized systems by Tony Award-winning Sound Associates, Inc, creators of the original Infrared Listening System. G-PASS develops and implements accessibility services to theatre patrons who are deaf, blind, or non-English speaking. With Sound Associates' exhaustive research and development, G-PASS has been able to utilize the latest technologies to reach the widest audience. For more information, visit www.G-PASS.org.
