Upcoming Audio Description Events

We are excited to once again be Audio Describing live theater events! After many years, we are thrilled to announce we are back in the Penn State Centre Stage School of Theatre describing shows at The Playhouse and The Pavilion theatres. We will continue to describe shows at Eisenhower Auditorium starting with the Winter and Spring theater season.

Below are the instructions for signing up for tickets, procedures for attending these productions, and a list of upcoming shows.

IT’S SHOW TIME!

Below are the instructions for signing up for audio description (AD), ordering tickets, procedures for attending these productions, and a list of upcoming shows. 


1. You must order your ticket(s) at least two weeks before the Audio-Described (AD) performance. 

For all shows you must call Josie Kantner at the Sight-Loss Support Group, 814-238-0132 or sign up at the monthly Sight-Loss Support Group Luncheon. Indicate if you will need a ticket for your companion.

2. Each VIP (Visually Impaired Person) and one companion will receive one free ticket to attend, courtesy of the Sight-Loss Support Group. If you receive a free ticket, you MUST use the AD equipment. 

3. When arriving at the venue for the show, report to the Audience Services Desk (Eisenhower) or the Audio Description table (The Playhouse and Pavilion Theatres) to pick up your AD receiver and earpiece. To pick up your AD equipment, look for a large AD Banner with the View Via Voice logo.

4. Remember to bring some form of identification to leave to obtain the equipment. If you do not have an ID, you may leave identification from your companion. 

5. It is very important to report to your seat at least 15 minutes before the show starts, 7:15 for a 7:30 curtain and 1:45 for a 2:00 matinee. At that time turn on your receiver and use the earpiece to listen to the preshow notes. These notes give important information about the main characters, a synopsis, a description of the set and costumes and any other pertinent information. This is an important step to make sure that your equipment is working properly. 

6. If you have any problems with your equipment, tell an usher, house manager or audio describer who will inform the Audio Description Equipment manager.

7. Notes for the second half of the show begin ten minutes before the end of intermission. 

8. At the end of the show please return the equipment to the area where you initially received it and retrieve your identification card. 

9. Rest assured that all equipment is sterilized after each use. 

Louise Victor, View Via Voice Administrator

Louise Victor, View Via Voice Administrator

View Via Voice audio describers have been making art accessible since 1999. Trained professionals allow the patrons to "view" stage performances as they listen to verbal enhancements through headphones. VVV also holds local garden tours as well as local arts festival and art gallery events.

Cindy with equipment at State High

Stage Performances

Audio description, at no extra charge to ticket holders, offers live verbal description of the visual elements of selected performances at the Center for the Performing Arts (Eisenhower Auditorium) at Penn State, as well as various local theaters in the State College area. View Via Voice's certified professionals use a transmitter and microphone to relay a pictorial description to patrons wearing earpieces attached to palm-sized receivers. Audio description clarifies details and provides background information, but it doesn't interfere with other key audible elements of a performance. 

Tickets to performances are often available at a reduced, or at no cost, for patrons with sight loss, and often for their driver/escort as well. The Center for the Performing Arts has funding to provide a limited number of complementary tickets under their excellent accessibility program. Inquiries may be made by calling Christine Igoe at 814-863-0234. Often, local theater companies provide discounted or complementary tickets to our members. Please inquire by phone with the appropriate ticket office for these offers when obtaining your tickets.

 

Nanette describing at the Robeson Gallery

Visual Arts

For art exhibits, describers detail individual works, their history, and often provide tactile samples that simulate the different types of media used. Tickets to these events are often provided free of charge to the visually impaired.

 

Susan describing at the Arboretum.

garden tours

Assisted by trained educators from the Master Gardeners program, once a year View Via Voice presents a tour of a local garden. Often held at the Arboretum at Penn State, this is the perfect opportunity for those with sight loss or other disabilities to experience the gardens using all of their senses. 

 

Upcoming audio described events

For a full list of scheduled Audio Described performances at the Center for the Performing Arts, please see the cpa's audio description page and purchase your tickets early!

Click for a full calendar list of past audio described events.

 

Dave Flick in Eisenhower booth.png

HELP MAKE THE ARTS ACCESSIBLE TO INDIVIDUALS WITH SIGHT LOSS

“VIEW VIA HEADPHONES” AUDIO-DESCRIPTION SERVICE

WANTS YOU!

Become a View Via Voice audio-describer and help blind and partially sighted people experience the arts beyond vision loss.

Audio-describers paint a verbal picture of the key visual elements of a play, musical, or dance performance that are often lost to blind and partially sighted people—scenery, costumes, and actors’ facial expressions and actions. View Via Voice also offers occasional tours of art exhibits, arts festivals, historic sites, museums, and arboretums.

Please consider this rewarding opportunity: Become a volunteer audio-describer. View Via Voice is a project of the Sight-Loss Support Group of Central PA and has been describing the arts for individuals with sight loss in the Centre region since 1999. For more information, or for a list of upcoming described events, please visit www.slsg.org or call the office at 814-238-0132.