91Èȱ¬ Proms, live signed performance
Post categories: Arts and Entertainment
| 16:38 UK time, Friday, 16 July 2010
Roll up, roll up. 91Èȱ¬ Proms features a signed performance this year and has set aside 150 standing places for deaf patrons.
Sondheim at 80 - Saturday July 31st 2010, 7.30pm at London's Royal Albert Hall. Get more info on what proms are and how to buy tickets.
A starry celebration of Broadway marking the 80th birthday of famed composer and lyricist, Stephen Sondheim. Pieces include: excerpts from the horror-opera Sweeney Todd, the Ingmar Bergman-inspired A Little Night Music, the fairy-tale compendium of Into the Woods as well as Pacific Overtures and Sunday in the Park with George.
You're advised to get there early and queue.
150 'promming spaces' have been set aside to make sure that deaf customers get a good chance of seeing the performance. No more seats are available and you cannot prebook these standing only spots.
50% ticket reductions are on offer for all disabled people at the venue.
Paul Whittaker OBE, from Music for the Deaf, will be signing the event.
Read more about 91Èȱ¬ Proms, now in its 116th year.
Comment number 1.
At 17th Jul 2010, CB wrote:I am deafened, have a cochlear implant, but hear no music; I was an active singer and ardent concert-goer (Proms included) before I lost my hearing. I desperately miss music. I do not understand the value of signing a Prom concert where listening to music is the sole purpose.
Although I don't participate, I can appreciate the pleasure deaf people may derive from signed songs, hymns and carols, but to sign a musical concert leaves me puzzled.
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Comment number 2.
At 21st Jul 2010, janaltus wrote:Over the years I've met and chatted with quite a few d/Deaf people at the Proms and asked what they've enjoyed about the performance. Some, obviously, come to see Dame Evelyn Glennie perform and some to see and feel an orchestra at work (what better than to stand just a few yards away in the Arena?)
I think Evelyn Glennie has written a good essay on this subject, here:
I try to attend most of the Prom season but, as a tinnitus sufferer, I find heavily amplified music and loud microphone-enhanced singing unbearably painful and so will have to give the Sondheim at 80 Prom concert a miss!
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Comment number 3.
At 28th Jul 2010, sneezy7purple wrote:Some deaf people do feel/hear music but not the words no matter whether they are wearing hearing aids, CIs or neither. Seeing someone signing the words give extra meaning to the music.
I am not a fan of music but I know one thing for sure, Paul Whittaker is NOT the right person to sign the event, for numerous reasons, one being that he is not able to hear the music fully himself, secondly, his BSL skills are not at a high standard, not good enough for Deaf BSL-users to understand him comfortably, thirdly, he is not a qualified interpreter nor registered with Signature or ASLI!
I would suggest other interpreters with EXCELLENT BSL skills AND musical knowledge, e.g. Wendy Ebsworth, Susan Booth.
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