footlight

[foot-lahyt]

noun

1. Theater.,  Usually footlights. the lights light lights at the front of a stage that are nearly on a level with the feet foot of the performers.

2. the footlights, the stage; acting profession.

Word History and Origins

Origin of footlight¹

First recorded in 1830–40; foot + light ¹

Example Sentences

‘Footlight Parade’ A celebration of the legendary sibling theater producers Fanchon and Marco includes a screening of this 1933 Busby Berkeley musical starring James Cagney.

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“There’s a little nod,” he tells me, of encountering a fellow former Footlight on the circuit, “and you just know.”

Read more on The Guardian

This “Aliens” is a reprise by ReAct, which won a 2016 Footlight Award for the production, described in The Seattle Times as “an affecting study of a teenager learning life lessons from two loitering misfits.”

Read more on Seattle Times

The Footlight Awards, begun some 20 years ago by former Seattle Times theater critic Misha Berson, have served as a quick-hit, annual almanac of ups, downs and zigzags in Seattle performance over the previous year.

Read more on Seattle Times

Once, he slipped onstage, and his foot went through a footlight bulb.

Read more on Washington Post