Could THE MAGIC SHOW be revived?

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 11:25am

Since Doug Henning has passed and he performed all of the illusions for the show, could it still be revived? I know that he was replaced in the show. I guess he passed on the tricks to other people. So couldn't the other people pass on the tricks to another person, and then the show could be revived?

It will never happen, I know, but it's just a thought.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 11:40am

No. It's a weak show with an ok score at best.

[ggersten]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 11:52am

Criss Angel, Mindfreakin' broadway star!

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 11:55am

"No. It's a weak show with an ok score at best."

Have you only seen the one on DVD? If you have, the show is really different from that. Also, didn't it originally run for like, seven years?

And the score is better than Wicked's. And that's still playing.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 11:57am

Didn't the original get panned save for Henning's illusions?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 12:25pm

It was a product of its time. It was based on a cultural interest in magic in the 1970s. I don't think the show holds up well today and don't believe it would draw much of an audience.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 12:43pm

Although it might make a good choice for Mufti, or Encores! or Musicals Tonight!

[Mr. Tuttle]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 12:50pm

It a weak show with a score that has been made "popular" because women belters think they can pull off "West End Avenue."

[Piercemn]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:12pm

The reason it ran so long is that it played four student matinees a week, and they could sell it to school groups.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:18pm

I saw the show ... it had its charms, but it everything was built around the magic and illusions. If there was a surge in interest in magic, perhaps ... though Henning's original illusions might seem antiquated today.

BTW, "West End Avenue" comes off better on record than it does on stage, where the lyrics fly so fast, it is often hard to grasp. "Lion Tamer" is the one that steals the audiences' hearts.

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:34pm

I REALLLY hate "Lion Tamer". That's probably the only song I don't like in the show.

[jarretSF]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 1:38pm

It would be interesting to see, as an interest in magic is what led to my interest in theatre. First time I sat in a large theatre was to see David Copperfield. But the DVD is just OK at Best. The illusions as they were presented then wouldn't hold up as well today.

Even if you look at the old Copperfield show compared to todays, it has evolved with the MTV generation. In the early 80s he was all about Fred Astaire style dancing and his assistants wore the flowing gowns. In the late 80s and 90s he evolved into a more music video style presentation of his illusions.

Someone mentioned Criss Angel- he is developing a show with Cirque Du Soleil for the Luxor in Las Vegas - I believe it is going to be kind of a Criss in wonderland type of concept. Sounds interesting to say the least....

[WOSQ]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 2:40pm

Rather than revive this show, why not write another using illusions as the centerpiece? The 'show' isn't very good. The illusions were great.

The Magic Show was a genuine sleeper coming in in late May with no fanfare, just a terrific tv commercial, and it built as a word-of-mouth hit since it was the kind of show kids loved and their parents weren't bored in the least. It ran 4 1/2 years at the Cort which was then as now, a backwater house. The theatre you took as a last resort.

It is a slight score and a non-existant book and had some snappy staging and good performers. As sweet as Doug Henning was, he had no charisma.

Anyone who did the show either as an actor, stagehand or musician had to sign something stating they would not reveal how the illusions were done nor would they recreate the illusions for 5 years after they left the show or the show closed or some date well into the future.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 5:47pm

I doubt it

It was a pleasant diversion at the time

[D2]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 5:51pm

Why bother? Even as a kid, I was bored silly by it.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 5:54pm

I have a signed playbill with Hennings autograph on it

No idea what, if anything, it may be worth

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 6:02pm

And the score is better than Wicked's. And that's still playing.

Gosh, with that argument I could justify reviving about 100 different shows. If only it were so simple.

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 6:45pm

^ True.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 6:47pm

I did like the score more than Wicked's come to think of it

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 7:08pm

I do too. Stephen Schwartz's score for Wicked isn't as good as Godspell or The Magic Show. Pippin was just okay.

[LI Larry]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 9:37pm

The score was ok. And Someone like Darren Romeo who did an afternoon thing in Vegas under Seigfried and roy's banner could do it. He can sing and is a great musician but in 1974 when "The Magic Show" opened tix were $8. No one would spend $110 to see it. Maybe off Broadway or something limited as people have suggested such as encores.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 9:48pm

I really like Schwartz' 70s scores (Pippin and Baker's Wife tops though of course--by a large margin) but as mixed a score as Wicked is--Magic Show is better music wise? umm?

"It a weak show with a score that has been made "popular" because women belters think they can pull off "West End Avenue." "

Not popular enough to keep the CD in print for any real length of time...

I'd like to know what was up with the changes made for the DVD tho

[wickedfan]

Posted: 5/24/07 at 10:32pm

Eric-I agree about Pippin and Baker's Wife. With the exception of the lyrics in "Magic To Do", I find Pippin's score quite pleasant with a few ingenius rhymes. Yes, I said ingenius. I think Schwartz's rhymes have never been better than in "War is a Science" and he has greatly depicted sarcasm in "Spread a Little Sunshine" all in a simplistic manner. Not to mention there are many great melodies. Baker's Wife is great, too. "Meadowlark" is a brilliant soliloquiy and sounds gorgeous to boot.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/25/07 at 2:50am

I wish he hadn'tmade some of the changes to lyrics for Baker's Wife's London production--while a bit over the top songs like Proud Lady and Treasures of Yours had much better working lyrics originally (so off topic but I recently foudn this great youtube of Proud Lady http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw_H1kZ97Pg )

*anyway*--I don't think he's topped Baker's Wife though even if Suskin, as always, loves to mock the lyrics--I think most are quite good to great

E

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 5/25/07 at 6:41am

Actually, with a bit of production emphasis, I think it might work. The score isnt great, true, but it's not a show where the score is all that important: it's all about the magic. Brush them off, give them a 21st century sensibility with a retro 70s look, and you just might have a tourist-trap hit.