rec.arts.theatre.stagecraft

I had one made for some
> friends when they got engaged, a 3' square sign with a love heart and
> twelve letters cost $150, including a (non-UL) control gear. Even
> buying your control gear north of the border would get you UL and cost
> effectiveness.
>
> Calle Victoria is the Mexican center for the neon sign trade in Mexico
> city.
>
> All the best.
>
> Thomas

Real neon can be a complete disaster if you're flying it. Any bump
and the stage gets showered with glass, and the 10-15,000 volt
transformers are nothing to get close to with all the steel in a
typical fly gallery. Granted they're only a few milliamps of current,
but I got hit by one years ago and I still remember, it made that much
of an impression!
Side emitting fiber optic comes to mind, but isn't cheap. The sources
are controllable and some chase and/or change color with dichroic
wheels.
End lit bent lucite rods can be effective but might not be bright
enough.
Depending on the background and distance from the audience you could
get away with light boxes with milk plexi face masked off to leave
only the negative space open for light to pass.
I'm not a fan of rope light, it tends to have hot spots.
My 2 cents
LJ