I was wrong with respect to assuming that “London” was London, Ontario, Canada instead of London, United Kingdom. As I said, I wrote to GalaPro and received the below reply this morning:
From: Betsy Selman [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2024 9:18 AM To: Sieghard Weitzel [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: Your locations Hello Sieghard, Thank you for the feedback, and I’m so glad you were able to enjoy The Lion King. London in the app is indeed London, United Kingdom. I can see where the confusion comes from and we will work on updating the website language. If there are any other theaters where you regularly attend shows and would like them to install GalaPro, you can have them reach out to the same email address ([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>) and we can send them information on pricing and technical specifications. Thank you, Betsy -- Betsy Selman | she/her Project Manager Sound Associates, Inc (O) 212-757-5679 *109# [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2024 2:59 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: GalaPro - a fantastic new experience when attending a live performance I wrote to GalaPro for clarification, but I assume it does refer to London, Ontario because in their description they say among other things: Our product is used in the leading Broadway theaters and has been enjoyed by thousands of users across North America. Since it mentions “across North America” I assume that currently the US and Canada is where they provide their services. From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of CJ & AA MAY Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2024 1:05 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: GalaPro - a fantastic new experience when attending a live performance Yes, I’m pretty sure you are right, Tony, in that the theatre mentioned was in Canada. Alison From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> On Behalf Of Tony Sweeney Sent: 11 December 2024 21:04 To: [email protected]<mailto:[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]<mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected]><mailto:[email protected]> On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: 09 December 2024 21:38 To: [email protected]<mailto:[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]<mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Monday, December 9, 2024 12:09 PM To: Sieghard Weitzel [email protected]<mailto:[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 -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/BYAPR01MB4087E9BA9329456F110F54D0C73C2%40BYAPR01MB4087.prod.exchangelabs.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/BYAPR01MB4087E9BA9329456F110F54D0C73C2%40BYAPR01MB4087.prod.exchangelabs.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/006a01db4c0f%2427b69860%247723c920%24%40gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/006a01db4c0f%2427b69860%247723c920%24%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/5a4b7b8f-0e5b-9207-b444-624db335a293%40gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/5a4b7b8f-0e5b-9207-b444-624db335a293%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/00bb01db4c10%2453b7be20%24fb273a60%24%40gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/00bb01db4c10%2453b7be20%24fb273a60%24%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/BYAPR01MB4087949A63D982A732AD4154C73E2%40BYAPR01MB4087.prod.exchangelabs.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/BYAPR01MB4087949A63D982A732AD4154C73E2%40BYAPR01MB4087.prod.exchangelabs.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: [email protected]. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at [email protected] The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/viphone/BYAPR01MB408751455D3B638E2B85B11EC73F2%40BYAPR01MB4087.prod.exchangelabs.com.
