Don’t Worry, Deafie, It’s Plenty Loud
The same night last month when news broke that the MGM Mirage had settled with the Department of Justice in a lawsuit regarding the lack of certain accommodations for people with disabilities at the Mandalay Bay, I had a very typical, very relevant experience.
At Steve Wyrick’s new magic show at the Miracle Mile Mall, I asked an usher if the theater, a new $35 million showroom, offered hearing-assistive devices. I suffer significant hearing loss and have worn hearing aids since I was 7; live theater is the most challenging circumstance for people like me.
The usher was puzzled, told me no but then tried to reassure me with this idiotic – yet routine! – refrain: “No, but it’s REALLY loud in there.”
It would be one thing if this were an isolated instance. It is not. I have been to almost every theater in this city and without fail I am informed first that no such devices are available and second that I won’t need one anyhow.
It’s not always true. I asked Wyrick himself about this on my podcast a week later and he insisted the usher must have been new or ill-informed. And after I started writing about this on my other blog, Hunter Hillegas of RateVegas.Com undertook a remarkable effort of calling each theater to ask about the availability of listening assistance for the hard of hearing.
The following shows, according to Hillegas’ research, don’t: “Celine Dion…A New Day,” “Tournament of Kings,” “Legends in Concert,” “Amazing Johnathan,” “American Superstars,” Gordie Brown, Toni Braxton, Second City, George Wallace, “Crazy Horse Paris,” Lance Burton, “Crazy Girls,” “An Evening At La Cage” and Folies Bergere.” Each is begging for a lawsuit.
Hillegas did find that most theaters do provide this assistance; they just don’t let anyone – including their own staffs – know about it. There’s no signage at almost any box office on the Strip. And that’s as bad as the alternative.
Of course, this isn’t just a matter of my own inconvenience. Staff attorney Lee Rowland of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada wrote this to me in an email: “Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, public places such as theaters and special events venues have a duty to ensure that such places are accessible and enjoyable by all. The ADA requires places of public accommodation to provide reasonable auxiliary aids and hearing devices to individuals with who are hard of hearing or deaf. Unless a particular venue can show that provision of assisted hearing devices places an undue burden on their business, the ADA requires that they be provided to the hearing impaired.”
Well, it can’t be a cost issue; it’s a barely noticeable line item when you’re erecting a multimillion-dollar showroom. What’s more, every movie theater in Las Vegas has hearing-assistive devices as does every Broadway theater in New York City.
At the premiere of “The Beauty of Magic” at the Planet Hollywood earlier this month, I asked again. And again, a numbskull employee told me that it’s “really loud” in there. This time, I didn’t take it.
"You're really going to stand there and tell a hearing-impaired person what's loud?" I snarled. He apologized, then went somewhere to get me a headset. He took my driver's license as collateral, which is customary. Not surprisingly, the headset didn't work once the show was underway, but I think that saved me from hearing some of the abysmal repartee between Hans Klok and momentary co-star Pamela Anderson anyway.
After the show, I went as instructed to the mysterious door in the theater lobby where I was told to knock and turn in the worthless device to get my license back. Nobody answered. So I asked a worker in the lobby and she radioed someone. Ten minutes later, a man comes along to tell me my license was in the Lost-and-Found at the security desk across the casino.
I went to get it. Just for kicks, since I knew he'd have no idea what I was talking about, I asked the guard at the L&F desk what I ought to do with the hearing device. He shrugged.
I walked back to the theater and handed it to the first employee I could find. She was puzzled, of course. I couldn't care less. And, clearly, neither could the folks who operate the theater.
Steve Friess is a Vegas-based writer who contributes regularly to Newsweek, USA Today, The New York Times, Vegas and many others. Contact him at [email protected]