The Lamplighter Event at Columbia State Park

I was invited to bring the Lantern to the Lamplighter event at Columbia State Historic Park in Columbia, Ca. The lamplighter event is a guided tour where folks are taken around the park and told a story as they go. I was stop #8 on the tour and gave a contemporary 1800's style show about traveling to California for the gold rush. Although I used period slides and lantern, the Magic Lantern Show I created was specifically curated and written for the event.

The event had dozens of costumed reenactors playing parts in the different skits around town as well as musical performances. 

Photo by Michael Sharps

I was set up in the "Bowling Alley" which is meant to reproduce an 1850's gaming hall. Visitors to the park normally can come and set up bowling pins and use the alley free of charge. Though for this event, the entertainment venue was converted to a theater.

I use a 700 Lumen MR style LED bulb in my lantern powered by a 5 amp hour 12V sealed lead acid battery. This gives a similar level of brightness to 1800's limelight.  As the lamp uses only 9 watts, one battery was enough to keep the lantern going for the entire evening. Even with the lights on, the image of my title slide came through on the white painted wall. Though, I was able to get them to turn off the lights to brighten the image.

With the lights turned off, the images really started to pop and it gave a much more authentic 1800's experience. The only lighting I had was what was shining in from the outside. This was a little awkward though as I had no way to turn them back on in-between shows but I used the lantern to illuminate the room.

The bowling alley made for a decent theater and I gave shows every fifteen minutes to groups of 20-30 people. Working in a historic venue really gave a feeling of time traveling into the past.

I left the lantern turned on and projecting on the entire evening. This gave folks a chance to get a glimpse as they walked by. This helped build anticipation and show that something interesting was happening.
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Overall it was a fun event and a great chance to build an event-specific show totally from scratch and I really enjoyed performing over the two evenings