Fox Cities Performing Arts Center to Present Accessible Performance of MARY POPPINS,

By: Kelsey Denette Feb. 28, 2012

The Fox Cities Performing Arts Center will welcome a group of students and their families to a special performance of Mary Poppins on Friday, March 9 during the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing's (WESP-DHH) annual professional and family conferences.

More than 125 professionals and 100 families from around the state with children who are deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind will attend this year's conference in Appleton, and the Center anticipates that 185 group members will take advantage of this special opportunity to experience an accessible Broadway production.

For Tammy Ebben, director of event management and access services, this partnership creates a special opportunity to welcome families who may not know that the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center's performances are accessible to people who are deaf and hard of hearing. "Our mission is to serve the community and that includes people who have different physical abilities. By partnering with this conference and expanding our standard access services, we will be helping these professionals, the students and their families create some special memories together at Mary Poppins."

Ebben leads an access committee comprised of Center staff and community volunteers, and she emphasized that the partnership simply expands the Center's existing access services. "We offer a number of services to make the performing arts more accessible and enjoyable, from large-print programs to multiple accessible seating locations. For most Broadway performances, we offer open captioning for the Saturday matinee and American Sign Language interpretation during Sunday matinee performances."

To accommodate such a large group, the Center will be expanding its services by providing two open captioning screens and a total of six American Sign Language interpreters for the Friday evening performance. Several volunteer interpreters will also be on hand to assist students and families in the Center's lobby areas with concessions and general questions.

Marcy D. Dicker, director of WESP-DHH Outreach, believes this is a special opportunity for the group's students since many travel from rural areas of Wisconsin. "So often, these events are inaccessible to our students, and, for many of our families, this may be their first opportunity to attend a Broadway performance which is fully accessible to individuals with hearing loss."

The WESP-DHH Outreach program will be incorporating Mary Poppins into several aspects of their conference, which is titled "All Under One Umbrella" drawing on Mary Poppins'signature mode of transportation. Some of the speakers will incorporate themes from the show into their presentations, and WESP-DHH educators have already begun brainstorming how to adapt the Mary Poppins study guide for students who are deaf and hard of hearing.

For more information about the Center's access services, visit foxcitiespac.com or contact the ticket office in person, by phone at (920) 730-3760 or via email at info@foxcitiespac.com.

Tickets are on sale now for Mary Poppins and start as low as $48. Tickets are available at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center's ticket office and online at foxcitiespac.com. To charge tickets by phone, call Ticketmaster at (800) 982-2787. Orders for groups of ten or more may be placed by calling (920) 730-3786.

In the Fox Cities, Mary Poppins will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m., a Saturday matinee at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday performances at 1:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The Fox Cities Performing Arts Center's engagement of Mary Poppins is a Season Ticket Package offering of the Kimberly-Clark Broadway Across America - Fox Cities Series, which is supported by the title sponsor Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Mary Poppins is locally supported by Community First Credit Union. Partial support for open captioning during the Saturday, March 10 matinee is provided by Octoberfest.

For more information about Mary Poppins, please visit MaryPoppins.com.

For more information about the Wisconsin Educational Services Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, please visit wesp-dhh.wi.gov.

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