Garden Theatre launches program to assist sight disabled

Brian Fallon said the Garden Theatre recognizes him for his abilities — not his disability. 

Fallon, who currently serves as the theater operations manager and has been with the venue since it opened, is sight disabled and was diagnosed with Stargardt disease when he was a teenager. 

Now, Fallon is helping to bring audio description to other local audience members who are blind or have low vision. 

“Theater is an amazing place, and it can bring so much to our lives,” he said. “To be able to share that with a group of people that have been left out I think is important. … It’s the right thing to do. We all should be doing it; blind people are people, too.”

INCLUSIVE FOR ALL

The theater has partnered recently with the Central Florida Audio Description Initiative to bring audio description to local audiences who are blind or have low vision.

To achieve its mission, the initiative’s leaders are “working to develop a community-wide system of theaters, audio description professionals, and local arts organizations — with accessible across-the-board technology — combined with local public and private support, to provide consistent, predictable access to live arts and culture events, and performances.”

The Garden Theatre is serving as the flagship venue for a new accessibility measure from the initiative. 

The technology starts with a describer who watches the show several times alone and takes notes. Then, during a live performance the patrons who are low vision or blind have an earpiece with a receiver, and the describer is up in the booth with a microphone and a transmitter. The describer explains the action taking place on stage that is not easily understood by just hearing. The voice helps to fill in the gaps. 

The technology is a relatively new concept for Central Florida, although it is a common practice in large theater communities such as New York. It’s similar to the technology used for assisted listening devices for people with low hearing.

Fallon said when Stasha Boyd, founder of the initiative, came to him with the idea, there was no doubt in his mind the Garden Theatre wanted to be involved.  

“I am very hopeful, along with Stasha, that we are leading the way in Central Florida for audio description at all the other theaters in town,” he said. 

Boyd said the Garden Theatre embraced the effort from a leadership perspective to remove the barriers that prevent or make it difficult for people who are blind to access the theater.

“Providing audio description is a critically important part, but before the person ever gets to their seat, they need to be able to find out what’s playing, when it’s playing and how much it costs,” Boyd said. “They often must navigate inaccessible websites, physically get to the theater, get inside and get to their seats. While at the theater, they will need to access restrooms and concessions, just like everyone else. Accessibility is all of those things, and Garden Theatre gets that. They aren’t checking a box; they are working to remove barriers, reaching out and welcoming the blind community to a Winter Garden jewel.”

Boyd said Victory Productions also has been committed to the efforts. 

“Their staff and leadership have not only worked with the theater to ensure blind patrons could access their shows, they have literally embraced these patrons, providing touch tours of sets and props, cast meet and greets, and taking cast photos,” she said. 

Fallon said there is a large number of blind and low-vision individuals in Central Florida who are eager to come see shows.

The theater tested the new accessibility option during the production of “Rock of Ages.” Nine guests, all of whom were completely blind, attended. For the most recent show, “Something Rotten,” six guests attended the first offering. Fallon said there were two more for those in need because of the demand. 

The theater also hosted a Breakthrough Leadership Training event in May in collaboration with Boyd and Sheila Young, president of the Florida Council of the Blind.

The event provided training for arts leadership, staff, volunteers and anyone who believes art should be accessible to all. 

“Accessibility is so important in everything, but especially the arts, theater, museums, parks, etc.,” Young said. “I enjoy these things, as much as sighted individuals do, and it fills my heart to know what is involved in the description of scenes, activity and action during these different events.”

About 30 guests, including representatives from local venues, several advocacy agencies for the blind, the theater’s producing partner Victory Productions and a representative from Orange County, all were present. 

Attendees learned how to welcome the historically underserved community to local theaters and art spaces. 

As the flagship venue, the theater will be used to host more training events. The theater also has been working with the initiative to make sure the theater’s new website, which launched recently, is accessible to blind and low-vision residents.