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  • 1.  EL Wire

    Posted 11-30-2014 16:59
    Has anyone use EL (electroluminescent) wire in a set design? I'm thinking about using it in our upcoming production of Xanadu. I was wondering how hard it is to work with, how costly, and if it stands up under stage lights.

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    Suzanne Smith
    Temperance MI
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  • 2.  RE: EL Wire

    Posted 12-01-2014 07:54
    We are in the process of staging Xanadu as well and we are going to try LED Ribbon behind a ribbed plexi. I have EL Wire at home and what I have found is that most EL Wire is short and rather expensive. You can find LED Ribbon on Ebay for fairly cheap and you can also purchase a controller to change the lighting if you purchase the kind that has that function. 

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    Matthew Ward
    Piano and AP Music Theory
    Carolina Forest High School
    Myrtle Beach SC
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  • 3.  RE: EL Wire

    Posted 12-08-2014 12:34
    I've used EL wire before a few times.  It is not too tough to use, especially if you order it with the connectors ("quick-connect") already soldered in place.  I order from elwirepros.com when I use it.  I've used it to create a broom that glows for Cinderella's Godmother, and to create a neon sign for Bye Bye Birdie.  For the sign I used 5mm wire, but I layered two thicknesses next to each other, so that it appears thicker.  Keep in mind that you can not make sharp corners with the elwire.

    The effect works much better when the lights are dimmer, for sure.  For the neon sign, I had the sign come on slightly before the rest of the stage lighting, to establish that it did, in fact, glow; that perception continued throughout the scene.

    EL wire is fun stuff.  I'm looking forward to another project that would warrant its use.

    Best of luck,

    Josh

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    Josh Belk
    Director of Theatre
    Monument CO
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  • 4.  RE: EL Wire

    Posted 02-16-2015 16:46

    So I don't know if I'm way to late to this discussion, but I'm fairly familiar with EL products and will be using some EL Tape for backstage lighting in an upcoming production of Arsenic and Old Lace.  All EL products suffer from lack of brightness, when compared to other forms of lighting like LEDs and NEON, and such.  However, there are new inverters coming out which can drive the EL wire or Panels at up to 24V, significantly increasing their brightness.  So that is an option for future set designs worth keeping in mind.  Again, I probably missed when you needed more info for Xanadu, but worth knowing for future reference.

    Peace

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    James Wierson
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