Several of us attended the "The Little Mermaid" show in December 2016 and we had a very deaf-challenged experience. I held off posting this review in hopes of trying to work out things with 5th Avenue but we didn't get a very satisfying response from them in the next few months. There were issues with purchasing the ASL/OC tickets with different incorrect prices quoted to us at the ticket box office. For example, one person was quoted prices that were for the regular seats ($170) instead of ASL seats ($51). Then when that person followed up with it, she was informed that since she did not contact them within 2 weeks, the ASL tickets were no longer available and they were giving away the ADA seats to the public (even if she had called and emailed them within 2 week's notice). Fortunately, a very nice person named Ms. Isabel Dickey helped her get ASL tickets at last minute for the original price ($51) when they somehow became available again. When another Deaf person (who was the ASL coach) purchased another ticket in additional to the one that she already got earlier, she was given a different ticket price even if it was for the same area! She found that to be strange and concerning of how the prices suddenly changed for the same section. There were a lot of issues with visibility from the seats because the interpreters were not on a platform. One Deaf person who attended this show with her daughter were seated a few rows behind the stage and even they could not see the interpreters very well!
When these things were brought up with The 5th Avenue, it felt like we were hitting a wall with them not being very receptive to our constructive feedback. We communicated with Mr. Robert Phillips (Director of Sales and Guest Services) and found some things in his email(s) to be concerning. For example, he called the interpreters "signers" and tried to brush over it as if we had a misunderstanding about the ticket prices varying because of their "mini-theater" system. All of us had never heard of something like this in the years that we have worked and/or attended the shows at 5th Avenue. We've had no problems with purchasing ASL/OC tickets for years in the past prior to this show. Another part that jumped out to us from the email was this: "In line with the ADA, we do sell/release some of the accessible seats when all non-accessible tickets in the same designated price category have been sold." So basically, since they have enough ASL (ADA) seats, they can give away the rest if that section sells out and they want to have more seats available for non-ADA customers who are able to pay these high prices (ex. $200-$300) versus trying to make sure that customers who need these ADA seats are given the first opportunity to sit there first just because they have the required minimum number of ADA seats. That didn't sit very well with us when we saw that in the email.
The reason why I ended up leaving 2 stars instead of 1 star is because of Ms. Isabel Dickey's positive attitude and willingness to go out of her way to assist some of us with getting the ASL seats that we needed. I haven't been back since we communicated with them because I was disturbed with some things. Other theaters like The Paramount and ACT does an excellent job with providing ASL seats, great visibility with interpreters on a platform, and helpfulness with working things out for their Deaf and Hard of Hearing customers. However, I am giving 5th Avenue a second chance by attending their newest show, "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" after hearing positive raves about it and how there has been some improvements like better visibility of the interpreters. I'm actually looking forward to it and I hope to be able to leave a positive review about my experience as a Deaf consumer!
- Wheelchair Accessible
- Accepts Relay Calls
- Experience Hiring Interpreter
