“The Illusionists”
I was offered a ticket for a performance of the Broadway Series at the Fox Theater. The show was, “The Illusionists,” which has run on Broadway for several years and is now touring the country. My initial impression was that this was some kind of a magic show and I was not really very interested in attending. As you will learn from this commentary, I was wrong.
The show features seven world famous performers, some of whom could be called magicians and two who would be better described as physical performers. I will explain the differences later. First, the performers were: Dan Sperry, known as The Anti-Conjuror; Andrew Basso, known as The Escapologist; Darcy Oake, known as The Grand Illusionist; Yu Ho-Jin, known as The Manipulator; Colin Cloud, known as The Deductionist; Kevin James, known as The Inventor; Ben Blaque, known as The Weapons Master; and Jeff Hobson known as The Trickster. If you would like to read a detailed account of the performance I would refer you to the excellent review in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) of September 29, 2016.
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He then pulled off one of the rabbit’s feet and attached it to his key ring, which got a round of
If there is truly tradition to be found among the great theatres both on and off Broadway, then certainly the Sullivan Street Playhouse and its long running production of The Fantasticks rates as one of the most celebrated of New York theatrical traditions. Maintaining its place as the longest running production Off Broadway, The Fantasticks remains an enchanting and insightful tale of both young love and bitter disillusionment. It also reminds one, in this age of spectacle and the mega-musical, how powerful and truly inspiring theatre itself can be. Clearly, one of the great strengths of this production and a large part of its appeal for audiences over the last four decades lies in the fact that both the story and the style of presentation compliment each other so completely. Here we find the non-essentials are stripped away, and we are left to rely simply on the imagination of both the audience and the performers to create a magical evening.
“He’d look out from under his eyebrows, his cigarette a smoke screen between him and the rest of the world, and nobody knew what he was thinking” (Beddow xi). This is how Margery Beddow describes Bob Fosse in her book, Bob Fosse's Broadway. There is no question about whether or not Fosse was extremely innovative in the world of theatrical dance. His technique, style, personality, and achievements throughout his career speak for themselves. You may have seen him in movies such as Kiss Me Kate, My Sister Eileen, Damn Yankees, The Little Prince, and Thieves, however, he also helped direct and choreograph several of other films such as Sweet Charity, Lenny, All That Jazz, Star 80, and more. Although Fosse did contribute a lot to the film industry,
Angels in America is a play by Tony Kushner exploring themes of identity, power and stasis versus change in the setting of McCarthy era San Francisco. The play looks at homosexuality and homophobia, race, ethnicity and the AIDs crisis through exploring motifs of religion (especially Judaism and Mormonism), politics and law. This essay will explore how these themes could be examined and expressed through stage magic and circus arts in the context of a production inspired by Part One: Millennium Approaches of the two part play. A circus interpretation of Angels in America raises issues of casting skills and practical stunts performed live, demands consideration for set requirements and digital effects, music, and for style of process devising work. Kushner’s playwright’s notes for Angels in America describe “moments of magic”, referring to the appearance and disappearance of characters on stage, hallucination sequences and the dramatic conclusion of the play featuring an angel crashing through the ceiling of a small New York apartment. He states that “the moments of magic are to be fully realized, as bits of wonderful theatrical illusion – which means it’s okay if the wires show, and maybe it’s good that they do, but the magic should at the same time be thoroughly amazing” (Kushner, 1992, p11). It was this statement of aesthetic that inspired me to apply the themes of the play to creating circus and classic stage magic.
his head, whereupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers and set it back in
Shakespeare’s shows have been performed throughout the world including Great Britain. They have been seen in the Globe Theatre in London since the Elizabethan times.
Millions of people across the country roamed the streets in search of jobs, hoping to find some way to get the money they needed to feed their families. The Great Depression in the United States during the 1930s affected not only those who worked in jobs requiring physical labor, but those involved with theatre and the arts as well. The Federal Theatre Project was one of the Works Progress Administration (WPA)'s projects that was created to help deal with the economic turmoil caused by the Great Depression. Thousands of artists, whether it was in the form of writing, music, or performing arts, were put out of work. The Federal Arts projects were created to reinstate jobs for unemployed artists as well as create displays of art for the public. "The Federal Theatre Project, directed by the former head of the Vassar College Experimental Theatre, Hallie Flanagan, was the most important, the most controversial, and hence, the shortest-lived of the Federal One Projects" (Gerdes, 155). Though the Federal Theatre Project caused a large amount of controversy among people in America, it was very important because during its short life it supplied jobs for many people working in the arts and it brought free theatre to America.
gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back
One of the very first electrified streets in the United States was Broadway. This gave it many opportunities to become a large icon for our nation. As we know now it is one of the most well-known places for great entertainment. However Broadway was not always the iconic entertainment center it is today; it was stolen, had New York City emerge around it, and persevered through many difficult economic and cultural times.
It all began the previous summer. Lana, being a huge Broadway enthusiast, saved up enough money to buy tickets for BroadwayCon, which was a Broadway convention. There were no words that could describe how ecstatic she felt as she entered the building. Show tunes filled the air. To her right, Patti Lupone was signing autographs. To her left, they were selling Broadway merchandise. Up ahead, Lin-Manuel Miranda was performing “My Shot” from Hamilton. There were people sharing their different musical obsessions everywhere. Lana was truly in heaven.
In this magical experience, the volunteers that put on the enactment were extremely resourceful. The sets were a little intricate to acquire, especially when the donations, and fundraising, were few. The cast and volunteers were impressive on their improvisation for sets they couldn’t buy, like using a projector to set the atmosphere. However, some sets weren’t so great. They could have improved on some sets and the complications like the microphones being sometimes on and off. Overall, the sets were improvised skillfully, and the show was exceptionally concluded.
show, in second grade, he snuck up onto stage and he revealed the magician’s secrets, because they
The past week on October 1st I attended the play Tom Jones presented by the Butler community college musical theater cast. They did a wonderful job on opening night, I would definitely go see it again. The Butler Community College Theater Department produced this with the help of the Bob Peterson and the cast of the production. This play was performed at the Butler arts building in there theater. The audience I thought was focused on the play and loved the way they set up the stage. When Brandon McKinney (Partridge) came out he got the audience’s attention right away with his comedy. That was just enough to get the audience/actor relationship on the same page. The way the theater was set up made me think a lot about what this was going to be
... a way for audiences and performers to connect on a closer level. They are both experiencing the surreal, disassociating themselves from the performance taking place. They both become more introspective. The performance becomes a vehicle for self-understanding, metacognition.
Theatre serves to reflect society. From Shakespeare to Sophocles, a playwright’s work illustrates the different mechanics within a culture or time period or society. Theatre offers viewers the experience of taking a step back and looking in on themselves. In this way, theatre is a mirror for the world and the way it functions.
They stopped playing, so he jumped on to the nearby black iron pipe fence, hitting his feet toge...