The Magic Show.....

I just got the DVD in the mail yesterday! And I put it on and about 10 min into the DVD....I felt like shooting myself it was so horible! BUT I sat through the rest and it got better. It was to 80s for me and I LOVE The Wedding Singer! lol. Frenchy from Grease (for some reason right know her name escapes me) was annoying in the show. Hearing her voice non-stop and hearing her sing was killing my ears! I couldn't really tell the music was by Stephen Schwartz. Did anyone see this on broadway? Did they re-write it for TV?

Thanks!

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I got that one also....but I haven't watched it yet.

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What did they cut out of Pippin?

I didn't see the original on Broadway but from what I've read, they cut the song, "I Guess I'm gonna Miss the Man" (which to be honest is not a great song) and they cut some of the choreography on Glory as well as scenes with the duck.

Updated On: 8/6/06 at 09:36 AM

It is unfortunate that the TV version was so butchered. I liked the original stage version a lot and although it seems goofy and innocent now, it was the first time in a long time that magic had been taken out of moth balls and made exciting and fun again.

Henning was certainly not an actor (though he did Merlin after that) but the magic onstage was fun.

The songs they cut for the taped version were some of the best in the show unfortunately. I have the vinyl OCR, and should pull it out and listen to it sometime.

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The Magic Show in its original production, was a fluke. No one had any great expectations for a show with no star opening at the end of May and at the Cort which is so far out of the mainstream as to be a road house.

Critics dismissed the show, but raved about the illusions.

However there was a clever televison commercial and word-of-mouth was good ("Good for the kids and you won't be bored") and it went to capacity and ran 5 years.

One of the reasons it worked well on stage is that the illusions happened right in front of you. On film, tv or dvd the immediacy is taken away.

Anyone who worked on The Magic Show, on stage or off, had to sign an agreement not to reveal how the illusions were done and not to perform them on their own.

Grover Dale staged the show and it was well done.

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Cutting "West End Avenue," the best song in this show, is reason enough to boycott the TV version.

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is there another PIPPIN video besides the Chita/William Katt one? my understanding was that one was shot at the Kennedy Center.

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I *think* they were both shot in Hamilton, Ontario. Or Burlington.

Updated On: 8/7/06 at 05:05 PM

I've asked this on other threads but haven't gotten a response. Did anyone see Anita Morris in the original production of this show? How was she? I can imagine she was devine performing Dale's staging.

Producer2 - ooooo! You posted a link to yout-......u know. You're gonna get in trouble! lol

I have seen it though.

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Actually, the PIPPIN production that was taped was not from a tour, it was done specifically for that shoot. I think it played a week or two in that theatre (Toronto?) before the taping, with that cast.