QolorFLEX NuNeon®, 24V

“QolorFLEX NuNeon was very easy to work with. QolorFLEX NuNeon has significantly increased the wow factor in this part of the mirror maze. The vibrant colors bouncing off the many mirrored panels looks amazing.”

- Nick Fazio, Lighting Designer, American Dream

The Mirror Maze at American Dream is a house of mirrors attraction that encourages guests to navigate their way through a maze full of interactive neon lights, electric beats, endless corridors, and twists and turns at every corner. Find out how American Dream’s Lighting Designer & Programmer, Nick Fazio, used QolorFLEX NuNeon®, RGB to add bright accents to this mind-blowing landscape in this American Dream Case Study Q&A.

“City Theatrical offered a perfect marriage of high quality LED and custom metal work needed for this installation at Brown University. The QolorFLEX NuNeon linear LED met the requirements for the running lights on the technical galleries. We needed a custom, heavy duty bracket to protect the LED, shield it from the audience, and simplify the installation. City Theatrical executed our design with a custom extrusion perfectly suited for the job.”

- Steve Rust, ASTC LC ETCP-CEE, Associate, Theatre Projects

Opening in October 2023, the Lindemann Performing Arts Center at Brown University includes a reconfigurable Main Hall that can be transformed into an immersive experimental media cube, a 388-seat recital hall, a 275-seat end-stage theater, and more. As a small component of this new construction project, Theatre Projects' Steve Rust was looking for blue LED lighting solution to provide the technicians with easy visibility while working or having to get around two technical areas. Learn how they used 500 feet of QolorFLEX NuNeon®, Blue to provide the bright, continuous safety lighting they needed without interfering with stage lighting in this City Theatrical case study.

Carrie Underwood launched her “The Denim & Rhinestones Tour” on October 15, 2022 with a sold-out show at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, USA. One of the scenic elements used on the tour is a set of LED neon wings, which are suspended to float behind Carrie while she sings Crazy Angels in midair, over the audience.

City Theatrical had a conversation with PRG's Technical Designer for Scenic Electrics Jay Woods, and PRG Set Electrics Team Lead R.J. Craig, members of the Scenic Electrics team from PRG North America behind this project, to find out more about the design and fabrication of the wings scenic element using QolorFLEX NuNeon, which will be used on tour through March 2023.

“I think it all came together so well due to the craftmanship of the Set Electrics team at PRG, and the versatility of QolorFLEX NuNeon as a low profile, highly flexible, super vibrant LED product backed by the team at City Theatrical.”

- Jay Woods, Technical Designer for Scenic Electrics, PRG

We used QolorFLEX NuNeon to create the large “FLS” sign that is mounted directly in front of the back wall, behind the performers on stage. We wanted a bright neon sign that could change colour, and be able to tour with the show. QolorFLEX NuNeon gives us what we wanted and needed – something bright, and colourful, with the flexibility and durability to last through our upcoming tour. We can have the sign stand out, or recede, based on similar or contrasting light colour of the back wall. It is super bright, and really pops when we want it to. It gives us many layers of options.

- Jeff Croiter, Lighting Designer, Freestyle Love Supreme

Das Rheingold was the first opera to re-open to a live audience in California’s Central Coast region. Everyone involved in the production process was very excited and anxious to flex our muscles again. I was not entirely sure if all my design and production reflexes would respond, but just like riding a bicycle, we stepped right into our roles with enthusiasm. Crystal Manich, the show’s director, and I decided to stage the orchestra in view, with the singers, as a celebration of this reunion with the audience. This proved to be immensely cathartic, especially as the lighting engulfed the whole theatre to form Das Rheingold’s climactic Rainbow Bridge.

QolorFLEX NuNeon was essential in the realization of this design. Since the Orchestra was staged on a series of risers, I decided to use QolorFLEX NuNeon to define and frame the negative space while bringing focus to the stage through a series of concentric portals. The lack of elaborate scenery was easily circumvented by the striking intensity, dynamic response, and colour accuracy of QolorFLEX NuNeon, RGB which, with the help of a well designed LED lighting system, allowed us to create rich visual and emotional landscapes. QolorFLEX NuNeon’s ease of installation allowed us to keep our load-in to one day, with two days of prep. It was a huge advantage for this production.

The Pink Sparrow team is constantly evolving the look and feel of their office space to cultivate creativity and exemplify their brand’s personality and the quality of products they design and install. At the Brooklyn office, the internal staircase provided the opportunity to showcase the team’s expertise in LED lighting products in a playful way that could inspire clients visiting the shop, and demonstrate how certain design elements, like linear LED lighting, and techniques can be applied to an experiential activation.

With a design encompassing a collection of symbols that represent facets of the shop’s unique culture, such as a CRUSHING IT! Hand to celebrate hard work, the Pink Sparrow team sought an LED tape solution that would look as bold and bright as traditional neon, with the LED benefits of ease of use, colour-changing automation, and interactivity.

City Theatrical’s QolorFLEX NuNeon was selected as the solution to create the staircase design installation at Pink Sparrow’s Brooklyn office. QolorFLEX NuNeon types used to create this installation include: 20 metres of RGB, 5 metres of Green, 10 metres of Cool White, 10 metres of Neutral White, and 10 metres of Warm White.

Ripley’s Myrtle Beach in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA is an attraction that locals and tourists have been enjoying since the 1990s. While its close proximity to the beach may be a perfect location for beach goers, the waterfront location became an issue for the building’s traditional neon signage over the years. In addition to the ongoing maintenance typically associated with traditional neon signs due to the outdoor elements, the constant humidity in the air was causing erosion to the sign’s copper leads.

To prevent these issues, the team at YESCO Myrtle Beach sought a LED linear lighting solution that could be installed easily, withstand the outdoor elements, and maintain its brightness day and night. Their ideal solution would help them upgrade the building’s sign with the benefits of LED lighting, maintain the look of bright neon, and also provide the flexibility and ease of use to set up and maintain the sign.

City Theatrical’s QolorFLEX NuNeon, Red was selected as the solution to replace the traditional neon of the Ripley’s Myrtle Beach sign. The team at YESCO created a 1/8” deep track that was 0.37” wide, in the exact layout of the Ripley’s iconic logo, which enabled them to press and click the QolorFLEX NuNeon into place. They secured the tape with silicone, and drilled holes for power

As part of an ongoing tradition to celebrate Christmas at St Michael’s Parish Church of Scotland, the production team at Blue Parrot was commissioned to refurbish the star that is installed annually above the church for the Edinburgh community to see and enjoy – just in time for Christmas.

The production team custom made an aluminium frame in the shape of a star and was looking for an LED product that would be flexible enough to cover it, yet bright enough to be seen throughout the city. They also required a power supply that could work seamlessly with the selected LED product.

At a height of 160 feet above the ground, the ideal LED solution would also be IP67 rated and rugged enough to withstand the winds and extreme temperatures of winter weather in Scotland.

City Theatrical’s QolorFLEX NuNeon, Natural White and 150w Mean Well Power Supply were selected as the solution for this project and can be seen shining above the church tower at night throughout the holiday season.

“There is no other product on the market that came close to meeting all of our needs. With QolorFLEX NuNeon, the star shines incredibly brightly, and comments have already started to flood in on how effective it looks. We are delighted with the final result.” - Mike Somerville, Head of Productions, Blue Parrot

As their seventh time creating the holiday windows for Macy’s Herald Square, the creative team from Standard Transmission worked closely with Macy’s Visual Merchandising department to develop a design concept that tied in with Macy’s national holiday 2019 marketing campaign, “Believe in Wonder”. This year’s aesthetic was meant to have a high end look and feel, using more accent lighting and neon as a central element.

With six 15’ x 8’ x 6’ windows to fill, the creative team was tasked with reducing the scale of their inspirations, like Times Square and opera in New York, to fit inside these “small stages” and tell a story. Half of the window designs required extensive use of neon, and they sought an LED neon replacement product that could bend easily, be bright enough to transition from day to night, and could be programmed to change colour upon button press by passersby.

City Theatrical’s QolorFLEX NuNeon was selected to provide the brightness and interactivity the team was looking for. Three of the windows called for a total of 32 reels of RGB and 11 reels of single colour QolorFLEX NuNeon - almost 300 feet in total. Ten QolorFLEX wireless DMX Dimmers provided dimming control to help bring interactive lighting effects to life.

Inspired by the neon artwork being created and displayed in New York in the 1960’s, the scenic and lighting designers for The Flamingo Kid at the Hartford Stage collaborated to design an “El Flamingo Beach Club” sign that would establish the setting of the show by hanging directly above the stage. It was designed to be a featured piece, and was one of the most important scenic elements of the production.

To maintain the integrity of the era for which it was designed, the designers sought to find a traditional neon replacement product that would provide the brightness and clarity of a neon sign and not only look good on stage, but also emit the same kind of glow that real neon does. They considered LED-based lighting solutions to avoid the delicacy of installation and maintenance of traditional neon, and incorporate the ability to change colours and dim the sign during the show.

City Theatrical’s QolorFLEX NuNeon RGB was selected as the lighting solution for the show’s “El Flamingo” sign, based on its ability to replicate traditional neon’s brightness and glow, change colours, and dim easily in combination with other QolorFLEX products

As a production about light, the creative team sought to communicate light in different ways - as infinite and expansive, harsh when created by Doctor Faustus, and tangible and welcoming when “Marguerite Ida and Helena Annabel” finds herself in control in Act II.

Yale senior undergraduate student and lighting designer for the production Ryan Seffinger drafted wall-sized LED lightboxes to represent the more abstract design concept, in a style reminiscent of light installations by American artists James Turrell and Dan Flavin. To make these LED lightboxes come to life with amber coloured light and mobility, he needed an LED tape solution that was bright, dimmable, and flexible. To create tangible-looking light, he sought a bright white LED linear lighting solution that could be folded easy into shapes.

City Theatrical’s QolorFLEX RGBA LED Tape controlled by QolorFLEX 5x8A Dimmers was selected for the lightboxes, setting the abstract space for each scene by changing orientation and colour. QolorFLEX NuNeon, controlled by QolorFLEX 24x3A Dimmers to create a pulsing effect, was folded into rounded rectangles and suspended midair to create a bold, linear look.

With a SHoW Baby 6 wireless DMX system already in place, the creative team for Freaky Friday was looking for a way to create an urban Chicago setting using bright, colour-changing LED products that could be controlled wirelessly. With limited transition time between scenes and a cast including 55 middle schoolers and an additional 45 students working backstage, the ideal solution would not only add dimension and visual interest, but also require minimal relocation after installation, and be simple and safe to use in a high traffic area.

The script called for an oversized hourglass that would be “broken” in half on stage. This presented one of the largest challenges of the show to the creative team: Designing a prop that could create a magical effect, while using two separate lighting and wireless DMX control systems.

City Theatrical’s QolorFLEX NuNeon was selected as the lighting solution to outline the Chicago skyline that spanned the 40-foot-wide stage. The skyline was set in two layers, one at each wireless DMX controlled portal, to add dimension with colour-changing RGB LEDs that have the look and brightness of traditional neon, but with easier setup and wireless DMX dimming control

The Hudson Hotel, known for its daring design aesthetic, has two prominent escalators at the focal point of its entrance on West 58th Street in New York City.

Yellowish green neon tubes were originally installed under the handrails, running the entire length of the escalators, to match the colour scheme and aesthetic of the rest of the hotel.

Over time, the neon deteriorated and faded significantly. The high cost of repairs and consistent foot traffic made it difficult to maintain the look of the entrance for hotel guests.

The Hudson Hotel reached out to City Theatrical dealer Barbizon Lighting Company for help with improving their main entrance and updating their escalator lighting.

City Theatrical suggested that QolorFlex NuNeon, an LED product that resembles neon tube, could be a solution for this project. As an extremely bright and flexible sealed LED linear product, QolorFLEX NuNeon was selected because it is unbreakable, with a high bend radius that allows for easy manipulation, and could be cut to length on site. Unlike traditional neon, QolorFLEX NuNeon, RGB can be controlled to produce any colour, including yellow.

QolorFLEX NuNeon could also run in a complete straight line over the length of the escalators rather than being broken up by power inputs for the neon tubes.