Stage magic made an unexpected impact on West End Theatre last year with two major productions.
Celebrity magician, Derren Brown wowed everyone with his usual trickery and deception, whilst IMPOSSIBLE employed a Vegas style cabaret format to become an unexpected hit without any famous TV names.
The show seems to have been a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic, I walked past a bill board in New York for the recent Broadway production the other day. It’s been a success in Beirut and now it’s back in London for another 60 performances from July at the Noel Coward Theatre.
The line up is a little different for 2016. The show was given a hard time by the critics last year for not featuring enough women so this time original cast members, mind-reader Chris Cox, escapologist Jonathan Goodwin and magician Ben Hart will be joined by female illusionists Josephine Lee and Sabine Van Diemen. Excited producer Jamie Hendry says “I'm proud to welcome two of the world's leading female magicians, Josephine Lee and Sabine van Diemen to the company, and am excited about seeing audiences' reactions."
Lee originally trained as a professional dancer in London but the chance to appear in a magic show has lead to ten years of travelling the world and dazzling audiences with illusions, performing for such luminaries as Prince Albert of Monaco, Stella McCartney and Germaine Jackson; so she ought to be able to keep your kids amused if you take them along! There’s not much information out there about Sabine van Diemen but another member of the IMPOSSIBLE line up is a “hip-hop magician” called Magical Bones who apparently does an impressive “back-flip” card trick. The mind boggles! And that’s exactly the point of this fun mixture of comedy, spectacle, illusions and close up magic.
It sounds like the perfect West End summer treat for all the family.
The new Artistic Director of the Globe Theatre, Emma Rice, has had a big success with her first production at the helm.