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Lee Rose was selected by the producers to light the 42nd annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon live from The South Point Hotel / Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada this past Labor Day Weekend.
Rose had a daunting task lighting a large range of performances: 80+ during the 20+ hour production. He explains, “The automated lighting package allowed for quick programming of a multitude of looks for the various acts. With such a range of performances a large range of lighting looks had to be pre-built [as much as time would allow].”
Performances ranged from large to small including the 28 member Japanese dance/rhythm performers "Matsuri" to the 45 Universal Cheerleaders down to single dramatic musical performances by Ace Young (American Idol), John Ondrasik (Maroon 5), and Thelma Houston. There were band performances by John Tesh, with a full band and choir, Tiempo Libre and The Commodores. Comics and variety acts included Carrot Top, Bob Zany, Lance Burton, Ronn Lucas and Ed Alonzo.
The lighting package, provided by PRG with support by account rep Tony Ward, included about 80 Vari-lite 2500 spots, 50 Vari-lite 1000 spots and 100 Vari-lite 5 wash fixtures all running on a Virtuoso console programmed by Paul Lennon. Also used were 6 Morpheus XR2 wash lights, courtesy of Mark Fetto of Morpheus, used on the floor for effects on the larger performances. The conventional package was made up of ETC Source 4 ellipsoidals and Source 4 pars. In addition, the set for the production was completely red giving the challenge of making the set look different over the course of the performances and appeals. Doing this with a combination of uplight and VL5 downlight, a range of looks and tones were available during. Groups of MR16 strip lights were also used as uplight on the red set.
Also, the orchestra leaves the telethon stage during the overnight hours so it has been a challenge getting different looks for the 8 hours that the main proscenium is closed [hiding the orchestra equipment]. Lee’s ideas this year was “to fill that area with a SoftLED curtain. I worked with production designer Joe Stewart on a design utilizing a 16' high by 33' wide section of SoftLED in the high resolution variety, a single LED pixel on 4" x 4" squares (100mm x 100mm). Joe added a grouping of plasma monitors in front of the SoftLED and screens producer Allan Wells developed content to go into the curtain to provide a variety of looks.” Additionally the SoftLED curtain contained fiber optic cables which were used at various time without content in the LEDs. The fiber was illuminated by a VL2500 with a "jerry rigged" cardboard tube holding the illuminator cable ends into the end of the VL2500. The conventional lighting was programmed by Mike Updegraff. They system was installed by Chief Lighting Tech Kelly Waldman and Asst. Chief Lighting Tech Richie Steffa.
Unusual for a performance show, no smoke or haze was used on this production. Although the "look" of haze was missed, the decision not to use any was based on the needs of the MDA kids, some of whom use respirators.
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