TDF's National Open Captioning Initiative Announces New Sponsorships Across the U.S.

TDF's National Open Captioning Initiative (NOCI), which offers two-year partnerships with regional theatres and performing arts centers across the United States to sponsor open captioned performances, has announced the theatres that will receive their first year of sponsorship to help expand their access objectives during the 2017-18 season.

The new theatres TDF will provide open captioning for are: Cleveland Play House, Cleveland, Ohio; Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles, CA; Goodspeed Musicals, East Haddam, CT; Laguna Playhouse, Laguna Beach, CA; Palace Theater, Waterbury, CT; and Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills, CA.

The mission of the program is to help theatres provide increased accessibility and expand their attendance by people who are deaf or hard of hearing over a two year period. The goal is that after the two years, the theatres will have developed a strategy to continue providing this much needed access for these audience members in their communities.

Theatres for which TDF will provide sponsorship for their second year participating in the program are: AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas, TX; Dallas Theater Center, Dallas, TX; Imagination Stage, Bethesda, MD; Slow Burn Theatre Company, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; and TimeLine Theatre Company, Chicago, IL.

"This is quite an exciting group of new theatres that have proven their commitment to further welcoming people with hearing disabilities to their productions," said Lisa Carling, TDF's Director of Accessibility Programs. "We're thrilled to provide open captioning for one performance of each show in their upcoming season. For the theatres in their second year with the program, we will not only provide the open captioning service, but also help them develop a sustainability plan so they can continue to serve their community."

Since TDF launched the National Open Captioning Initiative (NOCI) in 2004, it has provided open-captioning to 51 theatre companies.

TDF, a not-for-profit service organization for the performing arts, was created in the conviction that the live theatrical arts afford a unique expression of the human condition that must be sustained and nurtured. It is dedicated to developing diverse audiences for live theatre and dance, and strengthening the performing arts community in New York City. Since 1968, TDF's programs have provided over 94 million people with access to performances at affordable prices and have returned over $2.8 billion to thousands of productions.

Best known for its TKTS Discount Booths, TDF's membership, outreach, access (including the Autism Theatre Initiative) and education programs - as well as its Costume Collection - have introduced thousands of people to the theatre and helped make the unique experience of theatre available to everyone, including students and people with disabilities.

Recent TDF honors include a 2011 Mayor's Award for Arts and Culture, a 2012 Tony Honor for Excellence for its Open Doors Arts Education Program, a 2012 New York Innovative Theatre Award for its support of the off-Off Broadway community and a 2013 Lucille Lortel honor for "Outstanding Body of Work" in support of the Off Broadway community, a 2016 "Friend of Off-Broadway" honor from The Off Broadway Alliance, and New York City's 2016 TITLE II ADA Sapolin Public Service Award. With the Broadway League, TDF recently launched the website, Theatre Access NYC (www.theatreaccess.nyc) which assists theatregoers with disabilities in finding accessible performances of Broadway shows. To learn more about TDF, go to: www.tdf.org.

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