Alison,
I don't think that it is yet available in the UK or Ireland but the app
is certainly available on the Ireland app store so fingers crossed.
On reflection I feel the London mentioned in the article may well be in
Ontariono Canada and not as I previously thouught, the UK.
The GalaPro people certainly have to be applauded for their initiative
for sure.
Tony, Dublin Ireland
On 11/12/2024 20:56, CJ & AA MAY wrote:
I was interested to read about this. I have heard about it, but not
actually had a chance to try it out.
But it has to be simpler than queueing to borrow special headphones
which only work if you are sat in the right area of the cinema or
theatre and which the theatre or cinema has to keep clean and in good
repair.
Also almost every time I have used the headphones, they have varied
and I’ve needed to be shown where the controls are.
I do hope this service becomes standard.
Alison
Actuial *:*[email protected] <[email protected]> *On
Behalf Of *Sieghard Weitzel
*Sent:* 09 December 2024 21:38
*To:* [email protected]
*Subject:* GalaPro - a fantastic new experience when attending a live
performance
Hello,
I wanted to share a recent experience I had attending the musical "The
Lion King" at the Princess of Whales theatre in Toronto which is one
of several theatres operated by Mirvish Productions.
And before people press delete or post irate messages why I am posting
this to the Viphone list, I am doing so because the main point of this
post is to review and make people aware of an app called GalaPro which
provides audio descriptions for live shows/musicals in a number of
cities in the US, in London and for Canada in Toronto at the Mirvish
Productions theatres.
Below is the description from the Gala Pro website
<https://www.galapro.com/>:
Entertainment For Everyone
Imagine travelling to a new city and enjoying a local event or show in
your native language. Now, imagine enjoying closed captions or audio
description
at any performance you would like to attend without having to wait for
the one scheduled accessible show. Our revolutionary, patent pending,
app enhances
the audience experience by delivering individual closed captioning and
audio description to the user's own mobile device. All content is
provided in real
time, using speech recognition technology, developed specifically for
live performances and shows. With GalaPro everyone can enjoy the show
at every single
performance.
Our technology is designed to provide an inclusive experience that is
discreet for the user and does not disturb the surrounding audience
members. Our
product is used in the leading Broadway theaters and has been enjoyed
by thousands of users across North America. GalaPro is a solution for
everyone, from
seasoned opera and theater lovers, to travelers who need accessible
solutions, for film festivals or films on your own TV, to exhibitions
and museums or
even live concerts, GalaPro’s innovative technology will provide all
content on demand. Go ahead and see any show in the GalaPro portfolio!
GalaPro will make sure you understand it all.
When I bought my tickets which I did by phone because Mirvish
Productions also offers a complimentary free ticket for a companion,
in my case my wife, I was told about this app. It is a straight
forward process, you download the GalaPro app and follow the simple
instructions when you get to the theatre. These instructions basically
are that when you are at the theatre you open the app, select your
city and the show you are attending, in my case "Toronto" and "The
Lion King".
Then you are instructed to turn on Airplane mode, but leave Wi-Fi
enabled which happens by default anyways.
Then you go to Settings > Wi-Fi and connect to the GalaPro network and
enter the password which is provided in the instructions, I think in
my case it was simply "galaPro1".
Once you are connected you go back to the app and tap "Next", I think
at thgis point I hd to select if I wanted audio descritions or one of
the other options which are subtitles and I think there is also an
option to hear the dialogue in other languages (didn't really explore
that).
Once you complete the steps a page loads and your phone does display
this in landscape mode even if you have orientation locked, but
essentially it only has a "back" button, it then says "Audio on" and
there was one other thing I can't remember, but you now have nothing
more to do except wait.
As soon as the show starts, audio descriptions automatically start and
I can only say it was an amazing experience.
One more thing I'd like to mention is that it will at some point say
that this only works with wired headsets, Bluetooth is not supported.
Of course you also want to listen to the music and everything else so
as usual, I just used my wired Earpods and I just put in the right
earbud lightly which allowed me to hear the audio descriptions but
this also did not block the sound from the stage significantly. Just
as in movies audio descriptions are of course not constant, sometimes
minutes go by with nothing until a new scene or background is described.
I did find that while some costumes were described, there could have
maybe been more detail and I provided some feedback to Mirvish
Productions regarding this. Below are two replies I received today, we
were at the show last Thursday evening, but I didn't write to them
until the weekend since we had an almost 12 hour travel day to fly
back to Vancouver and up to our little town in Northwestern BC on
Friday. In the first email the rep I spoke with previously thanks me
for my feedback, in the second email she gives me a bit more
information and a link where apparently I can hear a lot more details
about the scenery and characters.
I included her two emails below and here is what is said about this on
the website under the “audio descriptions” section:
In an effort to be economical with audio description during the
performance, we provide pre-show notes that describe the scenery and
characters in detail.
These pre-show notes are played on loop in the 30-minutes prior to the
performance.
They did not do this at the Princess of Whales Theatre, but as you can
read in her email, they will make sure this will happen in the future.
Anybody who wants to listen to this and get a sense of what it is like
can do so by clicking this link
<https://lionking-com.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/LionKing_BroadwayOnline.mp3>.
I certainly encourage anybody who may plan to attend a musical to
check with their theatre if they offer audio descriptions via the
GalaPro app. Supported cities at this point are:
New York
London
Washington DC Metro Area
Toronto (only city in Canada, supported shows are "Come from Away",
Moulin Rouge" and "The Lion King")
Richmond
Baltimore
Philadelphia
Providence
Los Angeles
Seattle
Boston
San Francisco
Des Moines
Pasadena
Dallas
From: [email protected] [email protected]
Sent: Monday, December 9, 2024 12:09 PM
To: Sieghard Weitzel [email protected]
Subject: RE: Feedback on GalaPro and audio descriptions [CSE: aFS10V,
TKT: TbXUTg]
Hello Sieghard,
Thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful experience
attending The Lion King and for your thoughtful feedback about the
GalaPro audio description service. We are delighted to hear that the
technology enhanced your theatrical experience and made the
performance more accessible.
Your observations about the audio descriptions are incredibly
valuable. We appreciate your specific suggestions regarding more
comprehensive costume descriptions, which we have passed along to our
production team and the GalaPro service providers. Your insights can
help improve the experience for future visually impaired audience members.
We are proud to offer technologies like GalaPro that make our
performances more inclusive and enjoyable for all patrons. Your
enthusiasm and appreciation mean a great deal to us, and we're
thrilled that you and your wife have made Mirvish productions a part
of your Toronto visits.
Thank you for being such a wonderful patron and for helping us
continually improve our accessibility services.
Warm regards,
Becky
Audience Services
Mirvish Productions
322 King Street West
Suite 325
Toronto, ON, M5V 1J2
________________________________________
Hello Sieghard,
Right after I had responded to you, I heard back from our GalaPro
representative.
She advised that you can access a recording of pre-show notes that
describe the scenery and characters in detail.
You can access it here on this page -
https://lionking.com/accessibility/
Please scroll to the section for Audio Description.
The link is here
https://lionking-com.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/LionKing_BroadwayOnline.mp3
I will also make sure that this recording is running pre-show at our
theatre.
Thank you again!!
Warm regards,
Becky
Audience Services
Mirvish Productions
322 King Street West
Suite 325
Toronto, ON, M5V 1J2
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