Children in wheelchairs not only have special needs, they need special design consideration when they’re part of a show – getting them in and out of the audience, getting them onto the stage requires ramps, elevators and other accessibility features. For ABC’s MDA Show of Strength Telethon, which aired as a two-hour special Aug. 31, LD Lee Rose, who worked with production designer Joe Stewart and art director Tina Miller, took other steps, ensuring that fog fluids were hypoallergenic and strobe speeds would be well below the potentially seizure-inducing rate of 15-to-20 flashes per second. Performing artists can also have special needs, but in this case, the focus was on the kids, and the lighting looks for each performer were more or less consistent with the overall look of the show.
—Debi Moen, from “Designer Watch,” PLSN, Oct. 2014
