Limelight

Last updated

Diagram of a limelight burner Limelight diagram.svg
Diagram of a limelight burner

Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light) [1] is a non-electric type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when a flame fed by oxygen and hydrogen is directed at a cylinder of quicklime (calcium oxide), [2] due to a combination of incandescence and candoluminescence. Although it has long since been replaced by electric lighting, the term has nonetheless survived, as someone in the public eye is still said to be "in the limelight". The actual lamps are called "limes", a term which has been transferred to electrical equivalents.

Contents

History

Discovery and invention

The limelight effect was discovered in the 1820s by Goldsworthy Gurney, [3] [4] based on his work with the "oxy-hydrogen blowpipe", credit for which is normally given to Robert Hare. In 1825, a Scottish engineer, Thomas Drummond (1797–1840), saw a demonstration of the effect by Michael Faraday [5] and realized that the light would be useful for surveying. Drummond built a working version in 1826, and the device is sometimes called the Drummond light after him.

Early use in the United Kingdom

The earliest known use of limelight at a public performance was outdoors, over Herne Bay Pier, Kent, on the night of 3 October 1836 to illuminate a juggling performance by magician Ching Lau Lauro. This performance was part of the celebrations following the laying of the foundation stone of the Clock Tower. The playbill called it koniaphostic light and announced that "the whole pier is overwhelmed with a flood of beautiful white light". [6] [7] Limelight was first used for indoor stage illumination in the Covent Garden Theatre in London in 1837 and enjoyed widespread use in theatres around the world in the 1860s and 1870s. [8] Limelights were employed to highlight solo performers in the same manner as modern spotlights. [9]

Early use in the United States

During the American Civil War in July and August 1863 calcium lights were used during the siege of Fort Wagner, allowing Union forces to illuminate their artillery target at night while supposedly blinding Confederate gunners and riflemen. Calcium lights were also installed on Union Navy ships. [10]

Limelight was replaced by electric arc lighting in the late 19th century.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stage lighting</span> Craft of lighting at performances

Stage lighting is the craft of lighting as it applies to the production of theater, dance, opera, and other performance arts. Several different types of stage lighting instruments are used in this discipline. In addition to basic lighting, modern stage lighting can also include special effects, such as lasers and fog machines. People who work on stage lighting are commonly referred to as lighting technicians or lighting designers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calcium oxide</span> Chemical compound of calcium

Calcium oxide, commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline, crystalline solid at room temperature. The broadly used term lime connotes calcium-containing inorganic compounds, in which carbonates, oxides, and hydroxides of calcium, silicon, magnesium, aluminium, and iron predominate. By contrast, quicklime specifically applies to the single compound calcium oxide. Calcium oxide that survives processing without reacting in building products, such as cement, is called free lime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lighting</span> Deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects

Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight. Daylighting is sometimes used as the main source of light during daytime in buildings. This can save energy in place of using artificial lighting, which represents a major component of energy consumption in buildings. Proper lighting can enhance task performance, improve the appearance of an area, or have positive psychological effects on occupants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stagecraft</span> Technical aspect of theatrical, film, video production

Stagecraft is a technical aspect of theatrical, film, and video production. It includes constructing and rigging scenery; hanging and focusing of lighting; design and procurement of costumes; make-up; stage management; audio engineering; and procurement of props. Stagecraft is distinct from the wider umbrella term of scenography. Considered a technical rather than an artistic field, it is primarily the practical implementation of a scenic designer's artistic vision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas lights</span> Decorative lighting used at Christmastime

Christmas lights are lights often used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom goes back to when Christmas trees were decorated with candles, which symbolized Christ being the light of the world. The Christmas trees were brought by Christians into their homes in early modern Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gas lighting</span> Type of artificial light

Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, coal gas or natural gas. The light is produced either directly by the flame, generally by using special mixes of illuminating gas to increase brightness, or indirectly with other components such as the gas mantle or the limelight, with the gas primarily functioning to heat the mantle or the lime to incandescence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Buoy Wharf</span> Lighthouse

Trinity Buoy Wharf is the site of a lighthouse, by the confluence of the River Thames and Bow Creek on the Leamouth Peninsula, Poplar. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The lighthouse no longer functions, but is the home of various art projects such as Longplayer. It is sometimes known as Bow Creek Lighthouse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency light</span> Backup light source used in power outages

An emergency light is a battery-backed lighting device that switches on automatically when a building experiences a power outage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architectural lighting design</span> Field within architecture, interior design and electrical engineering

Architectural lighting design is a field of work or study that is concerned with the design of lighting systems within the built environment, both interior and exterior. It can include manipulation and design of both daylight and electric light or both, to serve human needs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbide lamp</span> Acetylene-burning lamps

A Carbide lamp or acetylene gas lamp is a simple lamp that produces and burns acetylene (C2H2), which is created by the reaction of calcium carbide (CaC2) with water (H2O).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Light fixture</span> Electrical device with an electric lamp

A light fixture, light fitting, or luminaire is an electrical lighting device containing one or more light sources, such as lamps, and all the accessory components required for its operation to provide illumination to the environment. All light fixtures have a fixture body and one or more lamps. The lamps may be in sockets for easy replacement—or, in the case of some LED fixtures, hard-wired in place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stage lighting instrument</span> Device that emits light to illuminate performers

Stage lighting instruments are used in stage lighting to illuminate theatrical productions, concerts, and other performances taking place in live performance venues. They are also used to light television studios and sound stages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floodlight</span> High-intensity electric light with a broad beam

A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. It can provide functional area lighting for travel-ways, parking, entrances, work areas, and sporting venues to enable visibility adequate for safe task performance, ornamental lighting for advertising, façades, monuments, or support perimeter security. Floodlights are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage lighting instrument in live performances such as concerts and plays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalén light</span> Automatic controlled acetylene gas lighthouse

A Dalén light is a flashing light produced from burning of carbide gas (acetylene), combined with a solar sensor which automatically operates the light only during darkness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herne Bay Pier</span> Former pier in Herne Bay, Kent, England

Herne Bay Pier was the third pier to be built at Herne Bay, Kent for passenger steamers. It was notable for its length of 3,787 feet (1,154 m) and for appearing in the opening sequence of Ken Russell's first feature film French Dressing. It was destroyed in a storm in 1978 and dismantled in 1980, leaving a stub with sports centre at the landward end, and part of the landing stage isolated at sea. It was preceded by two piers: a wooden deep-sea pier designed by Thomas Rhodes, assistant of Thomas Telford, and a second shorter iron version by Wilkinson & Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of the night</span> Architecture integrating and emphasizing electric light effects at the design stage

Architecture of the night or nocturnal architecture, also referred to as illuminated architecture and, particularly in German, light architecture, is architecture designed to maximize the effect of night lighting, which may include lights from within the building, lights on the facade or outlining elements of it, illuminated advertising, and floodlighting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Footlight</span>

A footlight is a theatrical lighting device arranged to illuminate a stage from the front edge of the stage floor in front of the curtain. Originally set in a row of hooded individual enclosures, electric footlights are presently set in troughs across the edge of the stage so that they are not visible to the audience. An indirect footlight uses a light aimed at a reflecting surface to diffuse the illumination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's Hall, Herne Bay</span> Concert hall in Herne Bay, Kent, England

The King's Hall is a theatre, concert hall and dance hall at Herne Bay, Kent, England. It was built as The Pavilion in 1903–1904, developed as the King Edward VII Memorial Hall in 1913 in memory of the late king, and was being called The King's Hall by 1912 while still at planning stage. Both building phases were designed by the local Council surveyor F.W.J. Palmer, CE. The year 2013 was the centenary of the completion of the second and final phase of this building and its grand opening by Princess Beatrice on 10 July 1913.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clock Tower, Herne Bay</span> Grade II listed landmark in Herne Bay, Kent, England

The Clock Tower, Herne Bay, is a Grade II listed landmark in Herne Bay, Kent, England. It is believed to be one of the earliest purpose-built, free-standing clock towers in the United Kingdom. It was funded by Mrs Ann Thwaytes, and now serves as a memorial to the fallen of the Second Boer War.

Ching Lau Lauro and Professor Ching were the stage names of a juggler and magician who performed outdoors and in theatres in London and the provinces. His real name is unknown; he was possibly Cornish and he was popularly known as Ching. He was the first magician in Europe to perform the aerial suspension illusion, and possibly the first to use limelight, and one of the earliest Western magicians to perform in Chinese costume. In 1834 he played at The Theatre, Leeds.

References

  1. James R. Smith (2004). San Francisco's Lost Landmarks, Quill Driver Books.
  2. "Chemical of the Week – Lime". scifun.chem.wisc.edu. Archived from the original on 17 February 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  3. Limelight – Leeds University Archived 19 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  4. Faraday, Michael; James, Frank A. J. L (1999). The Correspondence of Michael Faraday. p. 11. ISBN   978-0-86341-251-6.
  5. Carver, Craig M. (1991). A history of English in its own words. New York: HarperCollins. p.  158. ISBN   0-06-270013-8.
  6. Bundock 2000, p. 6.
  7. The Mechanic and Chemist: A Magazine of the Arts and Sciences. 1839. p. 354.
  8. Almqvist, Ebbe (2003). History of industrial gases . Springer Science & Business Media. pp.  72–73. ISBN   978-0-306-47277-0.
  9. Reid, Francis (2001). The Stage Lighting Handbook (Stage and Costume) (6 Rev ed.). UK: A & C Black Publishers Ltd. ISBN   0-7136-5396-5.
  10. In the Limelight: A Civil War Military Innovation

Bibliography

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Limelight at Wikimedia Commons