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___________________________________________________________________________________________ About Limelights, Limes, Sunspots and Followspots
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Right - At the highest point of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, at roof level and to the rear of the balcony, is the Theatre's Followspot Box, or Lime Box. Here you can see one of three Followspots used in the production of 'The Producers' in 2005 - Photo M.L. Well, a Limelight was the very early predecessor of what is now known as a Followspot, which if you still don't know what I'm talking about, is a light that follows a person about on stage. In most people's minds this is the hard edged bright round circle of light which can be seen on Television, and many stage productions, when an actor, presenter, musician etc. needs to stand out from the crowd. Actually this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Followspots. In Theatre productions nowadays, especially in Musicals, Followspots are used almost continuously throughout the performance but you probably wouldn't notice them unless you knew what to look for as they are usually in soft focus and/or using Frost, which softens the edge of the beam. This allows the lighting designer to concentrate on lighting a scene so that it looks exactly how he or she wants the overall mood of the scene to be. The Followspots will then fill in and subtly highlight individual performers so that they will stand out from the rest of the performers and scenery. |
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Limelight itself is the name given to the original Followspots used in Theatres and Music Halls of the early to late 1800s. The word comes from the light produced when an Oxyhydrogen flame was concentrated onto a cylinder of Calcium Oxide, otherwise known as Lime. The light which resulted from this action was then focused onto the stage using a series of lenses, which is exactly how modern Followspots work, except that they use electricity and HMI (Hydrargyrum Medium-Arc Iodide) or Xenon lamps to produce the light. Above - Video discussing the element Calcium, with
information on Calcium Carbide, and Calcium Oxide which was used in
Limelights - From the The
Periodic Table of Videos - University of Nottingham. (You will need to have the Macromedia Flash Player plug-in installed to be able to view this Video) |
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Another predecessor to the modern Followspot was the Carbon Arc Followspot, or Sunspot, which used two carbon rods whose tips would be manipulated so that they were within millimeters of each other and so produced an intense arc light. The rods would have to be continuously manipulated so that they were always at the same distance from each other, otherwise they would either touch and sometimes fuse together, or they would be too far apart and the arc would fail and the light would go out. The manipulation of the rods was originally done by hand by the operator whilst he or she also operated the Followspot, which was quite a challenge. Later the process of fine tuning the Carbon Rods was automated, leaving the operator to get on with the real job of Followspotting. I worked Sunspots myself when I first started in Theatre back in 1975 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, on a production of the musical 'Hair.' You can see some Carbon Arc Followspots in the photograph and advertisement below.
Above - A Postcard showing three girls, elaborately made up, and standing beside three Carbon Arc Followspots at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Hollywood in the 1920s. The back of the card reads 'Usherettes at Grauman's Chinese Theatre' but quite why usherettes, dressed like this, were photographed beside Followspots in what is clearly a Followspot box is a mystery. - Courtesy Sue Hart. |
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Strand Arc Spotlights The Stelmar High Intensity Spot And Flood
Projector - From The Strand Electric catalogue 1936
The light source is projected by means of the now well-known STELMAR PROJECTION LIGHTING SYSTEM. The beam is controlled with remarkable ease to give any desired shape of spot, flood or effect. The quality of the light is of such a nature that it brings out colour values better than other types of lamp. Whatever the shape of the desired spot, be it square, round or strip, there are no ragged edges, the spot being well defined, it is quite simple to produce any degree of sharpness at will. The whole projector can be tilted and swiveled through any angle of tilt with finger pressure, perfect counter weighting gives wonderful balance. A special gun sight is a feature of every Stelmar spot, enabling the operator to pre-set his spot for any desired position before opening the dowser. Left - Image and above Text from the Strand Electric catalogue 1936 - Courtesy Roger Fox. |
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The job of Followspotting is one which you can either do, or you can definitely not do, there is really no in-between. The job requires high levels of concentration, good eyesight, a good memory, a good sense of musical timing, and preferably something of an artistic flair.
In a modern Musical Theatre production there are commonly three, four of sometimes six Followposts in operation at any one time and the operators must know who the characters in the production are, who they are supposed to be lighting and when, which colour they should be using, the size of the beam on stage, such as head & shoulders or full body, and they must also be aware of the intensity of the light that is designed for any particular scene. All this information is printed in Cue Sheets which are individual for each Followspot. Although this sounds a bit daunting it doesn't take long, when you are doing eight shows a week, before you find that you have actually memorised the entire Cue Sheet and can concentrate on the art of Followspotting itself. I say art because although you are following the design as laid out by the lighting designer during the production of a new show, in order to make what you do look good it is necessary to have a feel for how your work is impacting on the general look and feel of the production. Subtle changes in timing and light levels can make the difference between simply lighting an actor, and making them look good, and the production itself look and feel slick.
Above - The Projection Room, previously the Lime Box / Followspot Box , at the Clapham Grand in the late 1950s - Courtesy Tony Rogers. Generally Followspot operators are the unsung heroes of any production. If they are doing a good job the audience will most probably be totally unaware that they exist at all. However, mistakes will obviously be very visual and quite jarring to an otherwise oblivious audience. Repetition is the hardest part of being a Followspot operator as in a long running show you will commonly see the entire production eight times a week and over 400 times a year. Also Followspots, by their very nature, are hot, and the rooms they are housed in, are often even hotter, and sometimes the show or actors you are lighting can be less than enthralling. In fact even the most engaging and wonderful show can soon lose its appeal under these conditions. The once famous Music Hall song writer and performer Albert Chevalier sums up the situation nicely in his 1903 song about working the Limes, which is reproduced below. |
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The Music Hall Song 'Limelight' by Albert Chevalier - 1903
I've worked the limes I've throwed a lime I work them limes Albert Chevalier (1903) |
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Above - The original Lime Box at back of the Balcony of the London Hippodrome - From a photograph taken in 2009. ML
Above - The second Followspot Box in the lower part of the disused balcony of the London Hippodrome from when the Theatre was being used as the Talk of the Town, still with its final spots in place - The Stage 2008. |
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For more information on Limelight you may be interested in visiting This Website and This Website. See also Backstage at the Theatre |
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The
term 'in the Limelight' which is still used today means to be the focus
of attention, but how many people know where the word comes from originally?
A
new projector which eclipses all others by the amazing brilliance
of the projected spot.
Right
- The unusually large Followspot Box at the 
I
Work the limes,
