Limelight

Limelight (produced lahym-lahyt)

(1) In the lighting systems of live theatre, prior to the use of electricity, a lighting unit for spot-lighting the front of the stage, producing illumination by means of a flame of mixed gases directed at a cylinder of lime and having a special lens for concentrating the light in a strong beam.

(2) The light produced by such a unit (and subsequently by lights using other technology.

(3) In theatre slang (1) a lighting unit (also clipped to “limes”), especially a spotlight & (2) by extension, attention, notice, a starring or central role, present fame (source of the general use of the word).

(4) The centre of attention, interest, observation, or notoriety.

(5) As “limelight dress”, a designed to make the wearer the “centre of attention”.  Of late, “limelight” has been applied also in high street fashion to refer to garments made with neon-like fabrics which resemble a color under a bright light.

1826:  The construct was lime + light.  Lime (in this context) was from the Middle English lyme, lym & lime, from the Old English līm, from the Proto-Germanic līmaz, from the primitive Indo-European sley- (smooth; slick; sticky; slimy).  It was cognate with the Saterland Frisian Liem (glue), the Dutch lijm, the German Leim (glue), the Danish lim (from the Old Norse lím) and the Latin limus (mud).  In chemistry, the word described any inorganic material containing calcium (usually calcium oxide (quicklime) or calcium hydroxide (slaked lime).  In literary or poetic use, it was used of any gluey or adhesive substance, usually in the sense of “something which traps or captures someone” and sometimes as a synonym for birdlime.  It was used as a verb to mean (1) to apply to some surface a coasting of calcium hydroxide or calcium oxide (lime) & (2) to smear with birdlime or apply limewash.

Lime (chemical formula: CaO) is composed primarily of calcium oxides and hydroxides (typically calcium oxide and/or calcium hydroxide) and the origin of the word lies in its early use as building mortar (because of its qualities of sticking or adhering).  It was the interaction of lime with other substances which lent the concrete mixed in Ancient Rome (known to engineers as “Roman concrete”) unique properties that made it remarkably durable and long-lasting (though despite the legend, it was no more “sticky” that other concrete using the same quantity of lime).  A critical ingredient in Roman concrete was a type of volcanic ash called pozzolana (abundant in the environs of Rome) which was mixed with lime and small rocks or rubble to create a paste that could be molded into various shapes and sizes.  What created uniqueness was the chemical reaction between pozzolana and lime when the mix was exposed to water, this creating a mineral called calcium silicate hydrate, the source of Roman concrete’s durability and strength.  Unusually, it was able to harden underwater and for centuries resist the effects of saltwater (indeed such exposure triggered a kind of “self repair” reaction), making it ideal for building structures like harbors and aqueducts and, in a happy coincidence, the easy accessibility of pozzolana meant Roman concrete could be produced at a lower cost than other building materials.  Engineers note the chemistry but maintain the slang “sticky concrete” remains appropriate because its durability meant the stuff is still “sticking around”, centuries after other forms of concrete have crumbled to dust. 

Light (in this context) was from the Middle English light, liht, leoht, lighte, lyght, & lyghte, from the Old English lēoht, from the Proto-West Germanic leuht, from the Proto-Germanic leuhtą, from the primitive Indo-European lewktom, from the root lewk- (light).  It was cognate with the Scots licht (light), the West Frisian ljocht (light), the Dutch licht (light), the Low German licht (light) and the German Licht (light) and related also to the Swedish ljus (light), the Icelandic ljós (light), the Latin lūx (light), the Russian луч (luč) (beam of light), the Armenian լույս (luys) (light), the Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós) (white) and the Persian رُخش‎ (roxš).  The early uses (in this context) all were related to the electromagnetic radiation in the spectrum visible to the human eye (ie what we still commonly call “light”).  Typically, the human eye can detect radiation in a wavelength range around 400 to 750 nanometres and as scientific understanding evolved, the shorter and longer (ultraviolet light and infrared light) wavelengths, although not visible, were also labeled “light” because, as a matter of physics, they are on the spectrum and whether or not they were visible to the naked eye was not relevant.  “Light” in the sense of illumination was literal but the word was also productive in figurative and idiomatic generation (the “Enlightenment”; “leading light”; “negative light”; “throw a little light on the problem”; “bring to light”; “light the way” etc).  Limelight is a noun & verb, limelighting is a verb, limelighted & limelit are adjectives and limelighter is a noun; the noun plural is limelights.

Three exemplars of the art. 

The term “limelight dress” was coined to describe a garment designed to attract the eye (or a photographer's lens), making the wearing the “centre of attention” in the manner of a stage performer in the limelight: Rita Ora (b 1990, left), Ariel Winter (b 1998, centre) and Lindsay Lohan (b 1986, right) illustrate the idea; while there are often commonalities in the way designers do these things, there are many variants.  It has in recent decades become less easy to achieve the “limelight dress effect” because of the mainstreaming of the “nude dress” and it may be that a more modest cut, if well executed, might work better for clickbait purposes, just because of the novelty.  Rita Ora with some aplomb wore the dramatic gown designed by Donna Karan (b 1948) at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards in 2014 and while it was much admired, a similar creation in the same scarlet by Alexandre Vauthier (b 1971) Couture created a sensation when worn by Bella Hadid (b 1996) at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.  Perhaps the ultimate “limelight dress”, it remains still probably the dress of twenty-first century.     

In the limelight: In a marquisette gown, Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) sang Happy Birthday Mr President to John Kennedy (JFK, 1917–1963; POTUS 1961-1963) at a Democratic Party fundraiser at New York's Madison Square Garden on 19 May, 1962, ten days before his actual birthday.  Within three months, she would be dead.

The dress became one of the best-known garments of the Marilyn Monroe cult and it re-appeared at the 2020 Met Gala in New York City, worn by Kim Kardashian (b 1980) complete with blonde hair for the occasion.  It couldn’t be expected to cause quite the same stir as sixty years earlier because, cut from a sheer, silk marquisette that almost exactly matched Ms Monroe’s skin-tone, the 2,500 hand-sewn rhinestones intricately were positioned to respond to the particular gait she chose that evening and, under the limelight in the darkened amphitheatre, as she moved, the crystals sparkled and the dress came alive.  It was quite a design.  In the hard, white light of the Met Gala’s red carpet, it couldn’t be expected to work the magic it did all those years ago; not shimmering in the darkness, it seemed lifeless and perhaps it would have benefited from the contrast her lustrous natural hair would have lent but Ms Kardashian wore it well, attracting admiration (and criticism from the usual suspects) too for the reasonable achievement of in three weeks shedding a reputed 16 lbs (7¼ kg) to ensure a (close to) comfortable fit.

Limelight was the common name for the Drummond light (or calcium light), a lamp of then unprecedented luminosity created by the burning of calcium oxide (lime).  The process of creating light by burning lime augment by oxygen & hydrogen had been invented in the early 1920s and, generating an intense white light, it was developed in 1925 for use in mining and surveying by Scottish army engineer Captain Thomas Drummond (1797-1840) and soon adopted for lighthouses although it became famous from the use in live theatre where directional spot-lights were used to illuminate the principal actors on stage and although the technology has moved on, in theatre, film & television production, catwalks etc, “limelight” is still often used to describe both the physical lighting equipment and the effect produced.  In popular entertainment, limelight came into use in the UK in the mid-1830s and, cheap to produce and easily exported, were soon in use around the world, even the military finding them useful, the army to assist the targeting of artillery (an early example of applying technology to fire-control systems) and the navy found they were vastly more effective than any other spotlight.  Limelights remained in widespread use until replaced by electric devices in the late nineteenth century but in some far-flung outposts of the British Empire, they were still in use even after World War II (1939-1945).

Lindsay Lohan (1) "in the limelight", on stage with Duran Duran, Barclays Center in New York, April 2016 (left) and (2) "in the glare", arriving at LA Superior Court, Los Angeles, February 2011 (right) during her "troubled Hollywood starlet" phase.  

Although "glare" isn't vested with quite the cachet of "limelight", Ms Lohan illustrated how the catwalk was but a state of mind, pairing a white bandage dress (it’s not clear if wearing the color the Bible associates with purity influenced the judge but channelling the fashion choice of the 24 elders in Revelation 4:4 and the Roman Catholic pontiff may have helped) with a pair of Chanel 5182 sunglasses.  Speculatively, it’s at least possible a strut under the limelight on the catwalk wouldn’t have had the same simulative commercial effect as the stroll to a hearing, the the US$575 Glavis Albino dress from Kimberly Ovitz's (b 1983) pre-fall collection selling-out worldwide that very day.

New York Post, 11 February, 2011: Rupert Murdoch's (b 1931) editors always have a feeling for a good headline.  On X (then known as Twitter), Ms Lohan observed of the coverage: “What I wear to court shouldn't be front page news.  It’s just absurd.”  However, as a studious student of the modern media, she would have understood the place of absurdity in tabloid journalism and doubtlessly accepted it was best to work with the world as it is than worry too much about how it ought to be.

From the idea of the character on stage being highlighted by the limelight came the figurative use of the phrase “in the limelight” (noted since 1877) to refer to anyone on whom attention is focused.  From this evolved the related and self-explanatory phrases “steal the limelight”, “bask in the limelight” & “hog the limelight”, all from the world of theatre but later adopted as required just about anywhere (sport, corporate life etc).  “In the limelight” tends to be used only positively; those who are the focus of attention for reasons such as being accused of committing crimes or some transgression which might lead to cancellation are usually said to be “in the glare”.

1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda in Limelight (left) and 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye Jailbreak in Sublime (right).  Although today much prized, Chrysler's E-body pony cars (Plymouth Barracuda (& 'Cuda) and Dodge Challenger (1970-1974) were a financial disaster but, as Dodge's (2008-2023) revival proved, the styling was spot-on.   

Like other US car manufacturers in the strange, cultural twilight zone that was the dying days of the Johnson administration (Lyndon Johnson (LBJ, 1908–1973; VPOTUS 1961-1963 & POTUS 1963-1969)) and the first term of Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US VPOTUS 1953-1961 & POTUS 1969-1974), Chrysler had some history in the coining of fanciful names for colors dating from the psychedelic era.  What came from the once staid corporation included “Plum Crazy”, “In-Violet”, “Tor Red”, “Limelight”, “Sub Lime”, “Sassy Grass”, “Panther Pink”, “Moulin Rouge”, “Top Banana”, “Lemon Twist” & “Citron Yella”.  Although it may be an industry myth, the story told is that “Plum Crazy” & “In-Violet” (lurid shades of purple) were late additions because the killjoy board refused to sign-off on “Statutory Grape”.  Plymouth labelled their lime green “Limelight” while Dodge used “Sub Lime”.  The acid-themed shades so associated with the era vanished from the color charts in the early-1970s, not because of changing tastes but in response to environmental & public health legislation which banned the use of lead in automotive paints; without the additive, production of the bright colours was prohibitively expensive.  Advances in chemistry meant that by the twenty-first century, the look could again be achieved without the addition of lead so Dodge revived psychedelia for a new generation although “Sub Lime” became “Sublime”.  There was however, still a price to be paid, the new, environmentally less lethal, “Sublime”, “Red Octane”, “Sinamon Stick” and “Go Mango” all costing an additional US$395 while the less vivid shades listed at US$95.