MUSIC HALL FAIR PARK
Bud Porter had attended Broadway Dallas (formerly Dallas Summer Musicals) at the Music Hall at Fair Park for over 20 years.
Suffering from hearing loss, he understood nothing—not even with the hearing assist headsets. Bud went to the theatre to be social with his wife. He took audience cues to know when it was time to laugh and when it was time to clap.
When the Music Hall at Fair Park began implementing upgrades to the acoustics and audio systems for the venue, they looked at the Music Hall’s hearing assist systems and the state of the art, looking for a system that would perform better using state-of-the-art technology, meet the needs of a broad base of users, and be affordable.
Barry Epstein, a Broadway Dallas Executive Committee member and long-time supporter, was concerned about the limited options available. With an extensive background in engineering and computers, his brain wouldn’t stop pursuing the problem.
“It bothered me that much of the technology dated back to the 1930s had quality, cost or use limitations and did not focus on the broad needs of the hearing impaired,” shares Epstein.
Epstein first collaborated with Ryan Knox of Idibri, the theatre consultants, in designing the audio upgrades for the Music Hall at Fair Park to develop a new approach that would offer sound enhancements to all hearing-assist users. The approach was eventually trademarked as Hear Us Now®, but rather than market as a brand, the solution is owned by a foundation that oversees its implementation and success in venues. Impressed by the dramatic favorable reaction of the first test users, Epstein and his wife, Paddy, decided to pursue the foundation approach to expedite understanding of the technical and operational requirements for hearing assistance in various venues and to provide a flexible and low-cost implementation.
Hear Us Now enabled The Music Hall Fair Park to benefit from a new approach to sound enhancement technology for its patrons of all ages. While it is unusual for a non-profit to apply for a patent, patents have been issued as part of Hear Us Now’s thrust to preserve performance quality.
One of the first tests in the development of the Hear Us Now system was in partnership with the University of Texas at Dallas’s Callier Center for Communication Disorders–a leader in providing advanced evaluations and innovative treatments for children and adults with a variety of speech, language, and hearing disorders.
The Callier Center facilitated the attendance of over 50 hearing-impaired schoolchildren, using updated equipment, to experience the Broadway Dallas performance of The Little Mermaid.
As children were interviewed about the experience after the performance, they responded:
It was amazing. Definitely a big difference…
I loved the songs.
It was beautiful…
One mother commented:
As the actors moved from one scene to the next, my son would jump or applaud. He was very excited to see what was happening when he would lose interest before.
Carol Cokely, PhD, CCC/A Clinical Associate Professor Coordinator of Clinical Teaching for the Callier Center, shares, “We were thrilled at this opportunity. For some children who tried the headsets, it was the first time they had enjoyed a show. I think the community's responsible for making all their treasures accessible.”
UTD Callier guides the hearing-assist programs for many area school systems, including DISD. The test's success based on the responses of the children who experienced the performance and their parents was one of the first steps in realizing just how significant the Hear Us Now breakthrough could be.
The next test was to go beyond the headsets and give hearing-impaired audiences options for experiencing the performance. As a result, Music Hall now offers four different hearing-assist options.
In classroom settings, hearing-impaired students often attach an FM receiver about half the size of a sugar cube to their hearing aids. The receiver receives an FM transmission of their teacher’s voice on a channel-specific to their classroom.
Hear Us Now wanted to determine if this system could be used effectively in an auditorium setting. So, the following substantial test was with a group of college graduate audiology students for a performance of The Little Mermaid using the first six sections of the balcony at Dallas’ Music Hall at Fair Park optimized with a transmitter on the same frequency as the school’s classroom system.
“We wanted a section that would be invisible. Kids could sit with their parents,” explains Epstein.





An audiology professor at UT Dallas/Callier Center, Linda Thibodeau, PhD, arranged for the grad students to test the section. The test was successful, and then a group of hearing-impaired students from the Dallas Independent School District attended a performance of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. All the students heard perfectly, most for the first time in a live theater.
Hear Us Now is working to bridge the gap between the theatre/auditoria/worship center technology and the hearing-assist technology. They have a mission to create better experiences for the hearing impaired than what is currently available in venues for the arts, sports, events, and worship—at price points and with multiple protocols such as headset, T-Loop, Streamer, and FM that make it easy for venues to offer the improved experience to virtually all of their guests.
Remember Bud Porter, who had to respond to visual cues? After experiencing the Hear Us Now solution, he shared this:
I just wanted to let you know that yesterday, I attended the Wicked performance at Broadway Dallas, and the assisted hearing system worked wonderfully! It was especially good when the actors were speaking.
In short, it was a great show with an even better sound system. We were in New York earlier this month and attended three shows. None of those theaters' T-loop systems worked as well as the Music Hall‘s. We are light years ahead!
And Ralph Caprio wrote:
As I told you, I have difficulty with word recognition when listening to a musical performance in a theater. My first experience with this difficulty was in Boston when attending a revival performance of Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. The words and music were extremely difficult to understand, even with my newly acquired hearing aids. Removal of the aids improved things somewhat because I could understand most of the words. I would not have known what happened had I not seen the original performance. In addition, during the first act of a performance of Matilda in New York, I had similar experiences because of muffled and muted sounds. Things improved during the second act when the theater supplied hearing assistance.
While visiting Dallas, I saw Kinky Boots at Broadway Dallas. Because of a hearing loss problem, I asked the theater if they had any assistance for the hearing impaired. They responded by lending me a newly developed headset, which made the performance extremely enjoyable. It was the best theater-supplied hearing assistance device I had ever received. The words and music were clear and fresh, and I enjoyed the performance from start to finish. During the performance, I varied the volume from very low to high with no loss of word recognition or clarity.

