Vari-Lite announced that the first units of the much-anticipated VL500™ Wash luminaire have left the building.

Shipping for the VL500 commenced on December 1, 2005, with the first units being delivered to Clearwing Productions in West Allis, WI, to be used on the 79th Annual Concordia Christmas Concert in Moorhead, MN.

“We are very excited to be shipping the VL500,” says Vari-Lite product manager George Masek. “The market demand for the light had been tremendous and it gives us all at Vari-Lite a wonderful sense of accomplishment to see the first units being delivered.”

“Clearwing Productions, Inc., is honored to be the first to receive the latest product from Vari-Lite,” states Aaron Hubbard, Clearwing Lighting operations manager. “Through our direct experiences with the launch of the VL3000™ automated luminaire, we have come to expect nothing less then the excellence in engineering and customer service from Vari-Lite and had no doubt that the VL500 would meet our expectations. Which it has!”

Hubbard went on to state, “It’s better than a VL5™ Wash luminaire with faster head and color speed. There are noticeable intensity increases, especially through the more saturated color range. The onboard IGBT dimming and electronics brings this fixture up to the industry standards on power and data distribution, making it for quick and easy integration into existing rigs. As a long time fan of the VL5™ Wash luminiare the VL500 is exactly what I expected.”

The VARI*LITE® portion of the lighting rig for the Concordia Christmas Concert consists of 32 VL500 Wash luminaires and 8 VL3000 Spot luminaires. The Holiday Spectacular is being taped in HDTV by PBS for television broadcast and DVD distribution.