5. The Lighting of the Vaudeville Stage

At the electrical switchboard centre all the lights of the theatre,
as well as those of the stage itself. Presided over by the
electrician, the switchboard, so far as the stage and its light
effects are concerned, commands two classes of lights. The first
of these is the arc light and the second the electric bulb.

_The Spot-lights_ are the lamps that depend upon the arc for their
illumination. If you have ever sat in the gallery of any theatre,
and particularly of a vaudeville theatre, you certainly have noticed
the very busy young man whose sole purpose in life appears to be
to follow the heroine around the stage with the focused spot of
light that shines like a halo about her. The lamp with which he
accomplishes this difficult feat is appropriately called a
"spot-light." While there are often spot-lights on the electrician's
"bridge," as his balcony is called, the gallery out front is the
surest place to find the spot-light.

_The Footlights_ are electric bulbs dyed amber, blue, and red--
or any other special shade desired--beside the well-known white,
set in a tin trough sunk in the stage and masked to shine only
upon the stage. By causing only one group of colors to light,
the electrician can secure all sorts of variations, and with the
aid of "dimmers" permit the lights to shine brilliantly or merely
to glow with faint radiance.

_The Border-lights_ are electric bulbs of varying colors set in
tin troughs a little longer than the proscenium opening and are