More Theatre-Goers Will Enjoy Broadway Through Unprecedented Accessibility Initiative

NEW YORK, May 31, 2011 -- Thanks to the partnership between Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts and G-PASS, 1.1 million New Yorkers and 56 million Americans with disabilities will have the opportunity to enjoy more Broadway shows than ever before. The Broadway Accessibility/Audience Expansion Initiative sets a new standard for collaboration between producers and accessibility specialists at all stages of production. The Program kicks off with Broadway's Tony Award–nominated new musical, Catch Me If You Can, June 8, 2011.

"The Initiative enables more theater-goers with disabilities to enjoy as complete and captivating an experience as their non-disabled peers," says Sharon Jensen, Executive Director, Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts. "The Alliance and G-PASS have worked closely with the entire Catch Me If You Can team—producers, marketing, media, web designers—as well as the Nederlander Organization and Neil Simon Theatre staff to create accessible and comprehensive services."

"As a result of the revolutionary technology by Sound Associates, we have been able to introduce special accessibility services to every performance of select Broadway productions," states Anne Tramon, President of G-PASS. The services—I-Caption for deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons, D-Scriptive for blind and low-vision theatre-goers and ShowTrans for non-English-speaking audience members—are available free of charge at every performance. "In collaboration with the Alliance, we can expand these services to more productions, and hopefully, one day, to become standard."

With the Initiative, Broadway strengthens its position as the gold standard for theatre access and demonstrates how increasing access can facilitate new areas of economic growth. "Thanks to the efforts of Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, G-PASS and their partners, a whole new audience will have the opportunity to experience Broadway in an innovative way," says Commissioner Katherine Oliver, Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment. "We salute their hard work in making theatre accessibility a priority and are thrilled about this new initiative."

About Catch Me If You Can

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN captures the astonishing true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr., a world-class con artist who passed himself off as a doctor, a lawyer, and a jet pilot—all before the age of 21. With straight-arrow FBI agent Carl Hanratty on Frank's trail, we're off on a jet-setting, cat-and-mouse chase, as a jazzy, swinging-sixties score keeps this adventure in constant motion. In the end, Agent Hanratty learns he and Frank aren't so very different after all, and Frank finds out what happens when love catches up to a man on the run. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN is based on the book and hit 2002 DreamWorks film of the same name directed by Stephen Spielberg with screenplay by Jeff Nathanson and book by Frank Abagnale, Jr. The musical was recently nominated for four 2011 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

About Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts

Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, 2011 Tony Honor recipient for Excellence in the Theatre, is the nation's leading advocate for full diversity as a key to the vitality and dynamism of American theatre, film and television. We promote authentic dialogue about race, culture and disability that embraces the complexity of underlying social and historical issues. Our principal aim is to achieve full inclusion in American arts and entertainment, such that what we see on our stages and screens truly reflects the society in which we live; where each artist is considered on his/her merits as an individual; where the stories being told are drawn from authentic and diverse experiences; and where our individual humanity can be celebrated. To this end, we actively engage artists and decision makers, forge partnerships and create opportunities.

About G-PASS

G-PASS is an organization focused on bringing new waves of audiences to the Broadway theatre with groundbreaking computerized systems by Tony Award–winning Sound Associates, Inc, creators of the original Infrared Listening System. G-PASS develops and implements accessibility services to theatre patrons who are deaf, blind, or non-English speaking. With Sound Associates' exhaustive research and development, G-PASS has been able to utilize the latest technologies to reach the widest audience.