Access at Overture Center

Overture has two Accessibility Hubs located in the Rotunda lobby (main level) and next to The Playhouse and Rotunda Stage (lower level). Guests can borrow a variety of accessibility items, free of charge, before a performance to enhance their experience. Our team is trained to answer your questions and fulfill your accessibility requests.

What can I find at the Accessibility Hubs?

• Accessibility materials and guides
• Sensory kits, weighted blankets, fidget tools, wobble seats and noise-canceling headphones
• Audio Description Devices (when previously requested) and Assistive Listening Devices
• Large-print and braille programs (when previously requested)
  • NOTE: Some show programs are digital
• Information on accessible parking
• Courtesy wheelchairs
• Restroom maps, including family assist and gender inclusive restrooms

Types of Seating in Overture

• Wheelchair seating locations – in all venues
• Transfer Seats – located in all major theater areas
• Lumbar Support – certain areas of most venues
• Size Inclusive Seating – Overture Hall and Capitol Theater
• Box Seats – Overture Hall and Capitol Theater
• Complimentary Booster Seats – pick up at the Accessibility Hubs or theater doors
• American Sign Language Seating – determined per venue and show

Transfer Seats

Transfer Seats are designed to provide access to guests with mobility needs, such as someone who uses a wheelchair, scooter, walker, crutches or cane.

One arm of the Transfer Seat will lift or be removable. These seats are usually marked with the Universal Mobility Symbol and are found along the aisles in Overture Hall, Capitol Theater and The Playhouse. An armless chair can also serve as an alternative in other venues.

Courtesy Wheelchairs

A limited number of courtesy wheelchairs are available free of charge on a first come, first served basis. Guests who attend public performances may check out courtesy wheelchairs from an Accessibility Hub at no cost.

Audio Descriptive Devices

Audio Description is the art of talking pictorially to enable audience members who are blind or have low vision to hear descriptions of actions, costumes, scenery and other aspects of the production not usually conveyed by voices from the stage.

FM receivers and headsets are available in each theater and can be obtained at an Accessibility Hub. These receivers are used in conjunction with a person who sits in a booth and describes action that is taking place in real time on stage. Guests also have the option of bringing their own (audio jack compatible) headset or earbuds to use with our receivers.

Audio Description is offered on the first Thursday and Sunday matinee of Broadway show weeks, and by request for other performances at least 4-6 weeks in advance.

Braille and Large Print Programs

Large print and braille programs are available free of charge for most shows and should be requested at least four weeks in advance through the Accessibility Assistance Line.

Assistive Listening Devices

Assistive Listening Devices are available for people who are hard of hearing. They work by amplifying and clarifying sound by cutting out ambient noise. Assistive Listening Devices come with an individual receiver—about the size of a small flip phone, which will be labeled for the specific venue where the guest will be seeing a performance—and a headset.

There are two types of headsets available:

• Headphones provide amplified sound to each ear. For quiet, acoustic concerts, the larger headphones are recommended to diminish sound bleed to other guests.
• Induction neck loop goes around the neck and amplifies sound through a guest’s hearing aid or cochlear implant which is already equipped with a telecoil or “T” switch. Guests should discuss with their audiologist whether their hearing aid or cochlear implant has a “T” switch and how to use it with an Assistive Listening Headset.

Guests also have the option of bringing their own (audio jack compatible) headset or earbuds to use with our receivers. All equipment should be returned to the Accessibility Hub after the show.

NOTE: Please keep all Overture-issued receivers away from cell phones. They will not work properly if they are too close to your phone during the performance.

Sign Language Interpretation

Sign Language Interpretation by certified interpreters is offered for select performances and is generated through in-house selection of specific Broadway performances or by guest requests on a first come, first served basis. All requests should be made through the Accessibility Assistance Line or email. (We strongly recommend 4-6 weeks lead time to arrange interpretation requests.)

For performances with multiple show times, only one show time will be interpreted. American Sign Language is always offered at the first Saturday matinee performance of each Broadway show run in Overture Hall, at the 1pm performance for Kids in the Rotunda events and at all performances for Duck Soup Cinema.

Why are there sometimes two interpreters?

Sign Language Interpreters may have to analyze and divide up the characters or portions of very complex ensemble performances to make the performance understandable to the guests.

Placement of the Sign Language Interpretation

It is important for the guest who is D/deaf to have both the stage and the interpreter(s) in their line of sight so that both the performance and the interpretation can be seen simultaneously. It is also important for the guest to be seated as close as possible to the stage.

Open Captioning

Whether a guest is D/deaf or hard of hearing, they may benefit from Assistive Listening Devices. Open Captioning can help with enjoying the performance. All requests for Open Captioning should be made through the Accessibility Assistance Line. (We strongly recommend 2-4 weeks lead-time to arrange Open Captioning requests.)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires all businesses that serve the public, such as restaurants, taxicabs, theaters, concert halls and sports facilities, to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals wherever customers are generally allowed.

The ADA defines a service animal as a dog or miniature horse. Wisconsin State Law expands upon this to include any animal individually trained to perform some of the functions and tasks that a person with a disability cannot perform.

Some examples include:

• Alerting persons who are hard of hearing to sounds
• Pulling wheelchairs or carrying and picking up things for persons with limited mobility
• Assisting persons with limited mobility with balance
• Guiding blind and low vision individuals
• Detecting low blood sugar for diabetics
• Sensing an impending seizure

When purchasing a ticket, a guest may request special seating, usually with extra leg room, for a service animal. If extra space is requested at an event, staff will try to accommodate if possible.

The care or supervision of a service animal is solely the responsibility of its owner. A service animal is “on-the-job” and must not be given any special attention (petting, sweet-talking, googly eyes, treats, water, etc.). In essence, a service animal should be ignored, and the guest not asked about the animal unless the guest brings it up first.

NOTE: Emotional support, therapy, comfort or companion animals are NOT considered service animals under the ADA and, therefore, not allowed into performances.

Sensory Kits

Overture Center for the Arts has recently partnered with KultureCity®, the world’s leading nonprofit on sensory accessibility and acceptance for those with invisible disabilities and sensory needs. Overture Center is now a KultureCity® sensory friendly certified venue. Overture provides sensory kits free of charge for all performances.

Our KultureCity® sensory kits include:

• Feeling thermometer
• Noise-canceling headphones
• Assorted fidget tools

Sensory kits, weighted blankets and strobe-canceling glasses are available in limited supply for checkout (at no cost) upon arrival for any of our performances. You can find these items at our two Accessibility Hubs located in the Rotunda lobby (main level) and next to The Playhouse and Rotunda Stage (lower level). These items can be used for all abilities and all ages.

Headphone Zones

Each of our lobby areas are considered bustling public spaces, and therefore, the use of noise-canceling headphones in these areas could be beneficial for guests.

Quiet Area

A private room, located on the third floor, just to the left of the entrance to Gallery 3, serves as a health and wellness area (quiet area) for all.

Amenities include:

• Lockable door
• Sink with hot and cold water
• Small counter space
• Electrical outlets
• Comfortable seating
• Paper towel dispenser
• Low, relaxed lighting
• Garbage can

This space can be used for those with health or anxiety-related challenges as a comforting, warm and safe environment to collect one’s thoughts before returning to one of our more public performance spaces or venues.

Guests are welcome to breast and chestfeed their child wherever they feel comfortable in our public lobbies. 

A more private room for feeding or pumping is located on the third floor, just to the left of the entrance to Gallery 3. The room serves as a health and wellness area for all.

Amenities include:

• Lockable door
• Small counter space
• Comfortable seating
• Low, relaxed lighting
• Sink with hot and cold water
• Electrical outlets
• Paper towel dispenser
• Garbage can

Restrooms are located on all four levels of Overture and typically fall into two categories: Family Assist/Gender Inclusive Restrooms and Gendered Restrooms. Detailed maps of our restroom locations can be obtained from our Accessibility Hubs. We encourage you to use the space that best fits your needs.

1. Family Assist/Gender Inclusive Restrooms

These restrooms are non-gender specific and available to persons of any gender identity and expression. 

Amenities include:

• Lockable door to provide privacy for individual users
• Ample room for an assistant/caregiver
• Accessible sink, stool and urinal (floor level)
• Changing stations
• Power-assist doors (Level 1 restrooms only) 

These restrooms are located in the following locations:

Lower-Level Rotunda: to the right of the stairway

First floor lobby / Overture Hall: near coat check

Second floor: Gallery 2—second door to the left off the elevators

2. Gendered Restrooms

• These restrooms are gender specific
• Power-assist doors can be found on Level 1 restrooms only
• They are equipped with accessible sinks and stalls

These restrooms are located in the following locations:

Galleries 1, 2, 3: along the lefthand wall

Lower-Level Rotunda: to the right of the stairway

Overture Hall: near coat check