NEWSrelease

News from the the Wolf Trap Foundation

Date: July 28, 2003

Contact: Chris Guerre, Media Relations

703-255-4096 (V/TTY)

chrisg@wolftrap.org

Wolf Trap Foundation Announces First-Ever Audio Described Performance at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center, Saturday, August 2, 2003

Bugs Bunny and the National Symphony Orchestra — But That’s NOT All, Folks!

Vienna, VA—The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, in collaboration with the National Captioning Institute's (NCI) Described Media division and Audio Description Associates, will hold an audio described performance of the National Symphony Orchestra’s Bugs Bunny on Broadway live film and music event, conducted by George Daugherty, on Saturday, August 2, 2003 at 8:30 p.m. There is no additional cost to vision-impaired patrons for this service.

“Wolf Trap is pleased to provide an audio-described performance for the first time in its history,” said Terrence D. Jones, President and CEO, Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. “We actively seek to make the performing arts more accessible and enjoyable for the broadest possible audiences, and we are proud to offer this service at no additional charge for one of our most popular multi-media events of the summer.”

Using small earpieces, people who are blind or have low vision will have the opportunity to listen to descriptions of the on-screen projections of the lively antics of everyone’s favorite “wascally wabbit.” The visual is verbalized with language slipped in between portions of dialogue or sound effects.

“All of us at NCI welcome the opportunity to partner with Wolf Trap, our very distinguished neighbor in Northern Virginia, to provide descriptions for this magnificent performance by the National Symphony Orchestra,” stated Jack Gates, President and CEO, NCI Operations. “This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the skills of NCI’s Described Media staff and to demonstrate the importance of providing access to visual programming for people who are blind or have low vision.”

Emmy Award-winner, George Daugherty, will conduct this film and music event, featuring classic Looney Toons cartoons on giant screens in-house and on the lawn, with live accompaniment by the National Symphony Orchestra. Follow Bugs Bunny and his indefatigable cohorts Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Wile E. Coyote, Porky Pig, and more as they make their way through the classically scored film Bugs Bunny on Broadway, which combines such animated shorts as “The Rabbit of Seville,” “Long-Haired Hare,” “A Corny Concerto,” “What's Opera Doc?” and more!


The descriptions will be developed by the National Captioning Institute’s Described Media division, a leading provider of description for network movies and television series as well as nationally broadcast children's programs. The project is also made possible by Audio Description Associates and WilliamsSound.

For more information on audio description, visit www.audiodescribe.com.

Although there are no plans at this time to offer this service on a continual basis, Wolf Trap does arrange sign language interpretation for people who are deaf for any of its summer shows upon request, and FM Loop amplification headsets are available for people who are hearing impaired for most performances at no charge. Three weeks advance notice is required to arrange sign language interpretation.

Tickets for bugs Bunny on Broadway range from $18 to $34, and can be purchased at The Filene Center Box Office located at 1551 Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia; by calling Tickets.com at (703) 218-6500; or online at www.wolftrap.org. For more information, call Wolf Trap at (703) 255-1860.

The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts is a non-profit organization founded by Catherine Filene Shouse (1896-1994) that presents and produces a full-range of performance and education programs in the Greater Washington area, as well as nationally and internationally. Wolf Trap is home to two performance venues, the Filene Center, located in Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, and The Barns, which operate year-round; the Wolf Trap Opera Company, one of America’s outstanding resident ensemble programs for young opera singers; and The Center for Education at Wolf Trap, which serves as home to Wolf Trap’s education programs (including the nationally acclaimed Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, scholarships, master classes and internships), and Wolf Trap’s foundation staff. The Filene Center, operated in partnership with the National Park Service, is a 7,028-seat outdoor pavilion that showcases an extensive list of diverse artists, ranging from pop, country, folk and blues, to orchestra, dance, musical theater, and opera, as well as innovative performance art and multimedia presentations, from May through September each year. Terrence D. Jones is president and CEO of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts.

National Captioning Institute-With offices in Vienna, VA; Burbank, CA; New York, NY; Dallas, TX; and London, England, the non-profit National Captioning Institute is the global captioning leader, supplying the highest-quality closed captioning and related services, such as described video, for broadcast and cable television, home video and DVD, and government and corporate video programming

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