Alison, you are correct to highlight the fact that audio-desccription is
fairly wwidely available for films but not GalaPro as I statted.
I attended an AD film performance once or twwice with my wife who is
sighted and it was a lovely experience indeed as we both had access and
noting what you wrote herlierr.
It isn't fully operational I would admit but GalaPro when it arrives in
these shores hopefully will be.
Tony
On 11/12/2024 21:04, CJ & AA MAY wrote:
Yes, I’m pretty sure you are right, Tony, in that the theatre
mentioned was in Canada.
Alison
*From:*[email protected] <[email protected]> *On Behalf
Of *Tony Sweeney
*Sent:* 11 December 2024 21:04
*To:* [email protected]
*Subject:* Re: GalaPro - a fantastic new experience when attending a
live performance
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]>
<mailto:[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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