For anyone working on a marquee project for a theater, concert venue, or community space, there’s usually one big tension: how do you honor the historic look of a sign while upgrading its performance for today’s needs?
Whether you're restoring a classic or building something new, tech has changed what a marquee can do. And that shift has brought a big change in expectations at the same time. Most project teams today aren’t just asking for lights and letters. They want control, flexibility, and a sign that doesn't become a maintenance headache a year down the road.
Here’s how marquee lighting and design has evolved, and what that means for your project.
Incandescent bulbs and neon tubing used to define marquee style, but that style has changed over the years. Now, these lights are mostly replaced with LEDs — not to cut corners, but to improve reliability and lower costs.
Modern LED systems can match the warm, vintage feel of traditional marquee lighting, but offer way more flexibility to introduce color changes, dimming, and programmed effects that weren’t possible with old-school setups. This means your marquee doesn’t just sit there; it comes to life! It responds to the calendar, your programming, and even the causes you care about, like going pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month or adapting your display on the fly to support a local cause.
And if you’re trying to replicate the look of neon, LED-simulated neon lights get you there without the fragility or the regular service calls of the past.
Gone are the days of marquees lighting up with the flip of a basic switch. DMX lighting controls, originally designed for theater and stage productions, are now a standard part of larger sign projects. These systems allow precise, real-time control of lighting effects using a software interface, a physical board, or even a phone app.
DMX light controls put the power in your hands. You can set schedules, automate changes, and fine-tune effects in a way that older mechanical setups just couldn’t match.
This also applies to traditional effects like chasers and flashers. The mechanical versions are mostly gone. Today’s electronic controllers handle the same effects but with better reliability and far more flexibility. For people managing a venue, that’s a big deal. Less time troubleshooting the sign means more time focused on events and operations.
Remember the days of standing on a ladder to swap out the messaging on your marquee, digging through your alphabet stash to find the right letter in a set that seemed to get smaller by the day? What used to be a static sign or a changeable letter board is now more dynamic; it’s becoming increasingly common to see marquees with integrated electronic message centers. These displays allow staff to update showtimes, event listings, or community messages without the hassle (or the ladder).
We work primarily with Daktronics on these systems. They’ve become a go-to for venues that want modern functionality without losing the charm of a marquee. The displays can be configured to match your overall design so they don’t distract from the historical or architectural details you’re trying to preserve.
Behind every beautiful marquee is a structure that has to survive rain, snow, heat, and time. Older signs were typically built with wood framing and sheet metal cladding, which can wear down fast. Today’s marquee materials are engineered for durability and consistency.
Today, the best marquees are built using composite panels, high-grade aluminum, and weather-resistant coatings to make signs last longer and require less upkeep. These materials also make fabrication more precise. CNC routers and other computer-guided machines help us recreate decorative flourishes and lettering styles that match original designs down to the smallest detail, which is key when you’re working with a preservation board or applying for grant funding. You can offer a historically accurate appearance while still checking all the boxes for performance and code compliance.
Marquee technology, design, and materials have seen rapid change over the years, but this shift comes with a big upside: ongoing maintenance drops significantly. LEDs last longer than incandescent bulbs, composite materials don’t rust or rot, and electronic systems reduce the need for ladder climbs and late-night letter swaps.
And there’s more: you also gain more control over your branding. Whether it’s consistent lighting effects across locations or quick-turn message updates, your sign becomes part of your operations instead of a one-time design decision.
If you’re planning a marquee project, the biggest risk isn’t the font or the color palette. It’s ending up with a sign that looks the part but can’t keep up with your programming, your budget, or your operations. You need more than good design. You need reliability, flexibility, and control. You want marquee lighting that works on your terms. You want message changes that don’t require a ladder.
And you want the design to reflect your history and your story.
That’s exactly where Flexlume fits. We’ve helped restore iconic marquees across the country, including the Angola Theatre, where we rebuilt a beloved local landmark to capture the past while delivering modern performance.
We’ve been building signs like these for over a hundred years. That means we know how to satisfy grant requirements, meet preservation standards, and still deliver a marquee that performs like it was built in 2025. We can help you through the whole process, from brainstorming to implementation.
If you're ready for a marquee that honors where you've been and supports where you're going, we can help. Contact us today to start the conversation.