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The Genesis of Vari-Lite — PLSN (Projection, Lights & Staging News)

Revision 214c7d38-2ae9-40ea-bb11-9a5913952407 · 10/6/2026, 4:32:07 PM UTC
Key
moen-2021-plsn-genesis-of-vari-lite
Authors
Moen, Debi
Issued
2021-9-10
Type
article-magazine
Container
PLSN (Projection, Lights & Staging News)
Raw CSL JSON
{
  "URL": "https://plsn.com/articles/backstage-history/the-genesis-of-vari-lite/",
  "type": "article-magazine",
  "title": "The Genesis of Vari-Lite",
  "author": [
    {
      "given": "Debi",
      "family": "Moen"
    }
  ],
  "issued": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2021,
        9,
        10
      ]
    ]
  },
  "accessed": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2026,
        10,
        6
      ]
    ]
  },
  "container-title": "PLSN (Projection, Lights & Staging News)"
}

Claims

  1. Vari-Lite's first automated luminaire grew from a fall 1980 suggestion by Showco partner Jack Maxson to add motors so a fixture would move, and premiered on September 25, 1981, in Barcelona on Genesis's ABACAB tour; the VL1 had three colour wheels and one gobo wheel giving sixty colour combinations, plus pan, tilt and dimming.
    "Add two more motors and it moves."
    Locator: section: Article body · Quote language: en
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