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  • 1.  Radium Girls - Glowing on Stage?

    Posted 11-26-2021 13:21

    Has anyone done Radium Girls or another show that required "glowing" costumes on stage? I'd love to hear how others successfully made this effect work.

    Was glow in the dark paint strong enough to be seen off stage? What brand did you use?
    Did you use black lights? What substance can you put on costumes to make them glow under black light if it's not a white material?

    Any insight or success stories welcome. Thank you!



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    Leslie Kane
    Theatre Director
    Lemont High School
    IL
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  • 2.  RE: Radium Girls - Glowing on Stage?

    Posted 11-27-2021 10:22
    Hey Leslie!

    I haven't done Radium Girls, but we did use the Rosco glow paint for Seussical.  Yes, we used black lights  as well as used other color materials when we made the fish for under the water.  The color was strong and I am trying to remember what else we did.  But that glow paint shows up really well!  It is work the price you pay for it.

    That's about all I can help with.  It's the only time I have used glow paint, but Radium Girls is also on my "to do" list yet.  Let me ask a friend of mine who has done this show.  I saw it but never asked what they used for the glow. 


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    Natalie (Saunders) Dommer
    Pasadena Memorial High School
    Pasadena, Texas
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Radium Girls - Glowing on Stage?

    Posted 11-28-2021 10:06

    We did a different play, These Shining Lives, better written in my opinion, but the glow paint and glow make-up worked beautifully.
    Our background involved a clock and as the play went on the paint was charged by the lights and glowed brighter and longer in each scene change. It was very cool! We won lots of accolades that season. Kids' performances were nuanced and pretty brilliant! 



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    Nell] [Lynch]
    Notre Dame Preparatory School
    MDMaggie
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Radium Girls - Glowing on Stage?

    Posted 12-02-2021 23:20
    Good evening,

    I haven't done this show but we used glow paint for The Little Mermaid on the coral. It was such a cool effect as the paint was translucent and took on the color of the paint under. Also, with LEDs, we didn't have to use a black light but a deep blue which worked like a black light.

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    Crit Fisher
    Lighting/Sound Designer
    New Albany High School
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Radium Girls - Glowing on Stage?

    Posted 12-03-2021 08:19

    We tried a number of glow in the dark options. I found the best was purchasing glow in the dark pigment and mixing that with modge podge. Since it's clear the glow is not affected by the color pigment of the paint. Since I was mixing myself I was able to use a high concentration of glow pigment. We added black lights to our stage and part of our pre show checklist was running those for 15 minutes to charge up the glow. My crew also had UV flashlights. 


    the black lights were attached to the light board via Dmx so that we could turn them on and off throughout the show. 

    I also think there have been a few threads about this previously so I recommend a search. 



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    Aileen Zeigler
    Theatre Arts Director
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    Original Message


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