(Photo courtesy Utah Opera) A young visually impaired music lover is equipped with a headset at a dress rehearsal for Utah Opera's production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" at Salt Lake City's Capitol Theatre. The headset allows the visually impaired to hear a translator deliver a play-by-play description of the stage action during the performance.
(Photo courtesy Utah Opera) Visually impaired patrons feel a flute prop at a dress rehearsal for Utah Opera's production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" at Salt Lake City's Capitol Theatre on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. Utah Opera, the Moran Eye Center and the Utah Council for the Blind organize the annual event for visually impaired opera fans.
(Photo courtesy Utah Opera) Visually impaired patrons feel part of a costume at a dress rehearsal for Utah Opera's production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" at Salt Lake City's Capitol Theatre on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. Utah Opera, the Moran Eye Center and the Utah Council for the Blind organize the annual event for visually impaired opera fans.
(Photo courtesy Utah Opera) A service dog sits by during a dress rehearsal for Utah Opera's production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" at Salt Lake City's Capitol Theatre on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. Utah Opera, the Moran Eye Center and the Utah Council for the Blind organize the annual event for visually impaired opera fans.
(Photo courtesy Utah Opera) A Braille translation of the supertitles for "The Magic Flute," on display at a dress rehearsal for Utah Opera's production of Mozart's classic, on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. Utah Opera, the Moran Eye Center and the Utah Council for the Blind organize the annual event for visually impaired opera fans.
Visually impaired music lovers and their companions got to experience the opera this week at a special dress-rehearsal event of Utah Opera’s production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.”
Guests on Wednesday got a chance before the show to feel props and fabric samples from the production’s costumes and learn about the set design. Translations of the opera’s supertitles in Braille and large-print copies of the opera’s synopsis were available — as were headsets through which guests could hear a translator give a play-by-play description of the action on stage.
Utah Opera holds this event every year, collaborating with Moran Eye Center and the Utah Council of the Blind.
The Utah State Library for the Blind and Disabled has Braille-translated supertitle scripts and libretti available for checkout. Contact Marie Parker at the library, 801-715-6789, to sign up for the service.
Performances for “The Magic Flute” are Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Monday and Wednesday at 7 p.m., Friday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 17, at 2 p.m. Tickets, from $36 to $114, are available at arttix.artsaltlake.org.
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Sean P. Means has been reporting and editing for The Salt Lake Tribune since 1991 — including 25 years as movie critic. Since 2018, he has reported on arts and culture reporter, and breaking news — and was part of The Tribune’s COVID-19 reporting team. He reviews movies for MovieCricket.net and X96’s “Radio From Hell” program.