Reviews
Audience has an easy job enjoying Seebach's show

By JAY JOSLYN
Sentinel critic

The easiest job in the theater is a magician's assistant. All you have to do is to buy a ticket.

At the Modjeska Theater, audiences for David Seebach's "Illusions in the Night" have an especially easy job. Try as you might to employ rational explanations, the illusions get you every time.

Seebach said magic meant having a good time. But when his hypnotized helper was impaled on a sword, or when she disappeared into thin air after being levitated about 25 feet above the stage, or when he robbed his wife of her torso, it was difficult not to take things seriously.

Seebach, a Milwaukeean who has taken his entertaining skill far afield, employs a fine sense of dramatic logic to his act, which is accompanied by more evocative music than patter.

The show's Halloween finale is the best example of effortless suspension of disbelief. After he incinerates one of his lovely aides, the theater is invaded by a scary tribe of soaring and diving ghosts and skeletons. Seebach's charm adds luster to even familiar gags of which the show has a considerable number.

"Illusions in the Night" will play the haunted Modjeska weekends through Oct. 31., During the day Saturday and Sunday, Seebach and company will be entertaining at the State Fair Park craft show.

It's magic: Seebach show builds to a ghostly finish

By JAMES AUER
of The Journal staff

MEN TEND to lose their heads over David Seebach, and women are aflame in his presence.

The guillotine and burning alive illusions are only part of magic show the Milwaukee-reared conjuror is presenting through this weekend at the Modjeska Theater.

Seebach, an equal-opportunity slicer and dicer, drills a hole in a princess, levitates a sleek model and even reincarnates a talkative old railroader.

Preferring an Alfred Hitchcock rather than a "Friday the 13th" approach, he builds this Halloween-oriented attraction slowly, from mild pumpkin tricks to roaring, hellish ghosts.

He winds up the show, which will be repeated at 8 p.m. Friday and 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, with an array of "spook" manifestations worthy of Bill Neff or Francisco.

At last Saturday's performance, kids and adults alike screamed in delight and, presumably, terror as skeletons danced, glowing skulls floated down from the balcony, and blasts went off.

Protoplasm was transformed into thousands of bits of torn tissue paper as a fountain of eerie white stuff erupted from the stage and spewed into the audience.

The appropriate use of recorded music heightens the effectiveness of Seebach's routines. His stage deportment has mellowed over the years, and is now suave and expert.

A running gag about a spirit capturing machine gone wrong, a la "Ghostbusters," heightens the fun.

Even the Polish-born actress Madame Modjeska, after whom the theater is named, appears on the stage, mysteriously, in appropriate costume.

The glorious old Modjeska, at 12th and Mitchell Sts., is a house of elegance and modest dimensions, ideally suited to this sort of family-friendly folderol.

Appropriately, a pair of stonefaced paramedics from Bell Ambulance stand by throughout the proceedings to deal with any emergencies that may be caused by ill-tempered spirits.

Tickets are $10 ($15 for reserved seats), and $5 for youngsters under 16 at Saturday's matinee.

By Mark Faris
staff writer

Like a lot of magicians, David Seebach has been doing tricks and illusions most of his life. (According to a biography, he was the first kid in the neighborhood to levitate his little friends.)

Now that he's a man, however, Seebach has left Milwaukee and taken his show on the road in the form of a two-hour production entitled Wonders of Magic.

The show, which made a stop Sunday at E. J. Thomas Hall, features Seebach, assistants June Gracious, Cathy Shutt and Richard Weber in a fast-moving display of flashy hocus-pocus that kept the tiny crowd of about 300 in a general state of amazement.

Tall, slender, complete with goatee and an assortment of tuxedos and black, flowing robes" Seebach certainly looked the part of magician - in the Blackstone tradition - as he glibly wove his spell.

HE TURNED scarves into flags and bouquets of flowers. He levitated his assistants and made them disappear into thin air, turned yellow liquid into black liquid and made three cards seem to jump mysteriously from one envelope across the stage to another envelope. He even guillotined a 12-year-old volunteer from the audience. The boy, however, who left the stage in one piece and under his own power, said he didn't feel a thing even though the two carrots flanking his head were cleanly cleaved.

For the most part at least, the illusions were appropriately mystifying. Even the few that weren't - particularly the one in which he repeatedly pulled bouquets of flowers from a suspiciously bulky quilt - were done slickly enough to be entertaining, nevertheless.

ALTHOUGH Seebach didn't appear to break any new ground in the world of magic, at least one of his illusions was done sensationally enough to all but the stop the show.

In an illusion he called "Black Magic," he conjured three writhing forms from an apparently empty booth then, himself, disappeared into the booth. Assistant Weber instantly removed the black cloaks enshrouding the ever-wriggling forms to reveal Gracious, Shutt and - you guessed it - Seebach!

In a word, Wonders of Magic was wonderful - perfect for a Sunday afternoon.

By Charles S. Ward
The Beacon-News

I still don't know how it's done. Maybe I'll never know.

Beautiful ladies disappearing in midair. Leaving an empty drum high above the stage.

All the while six singer-dancers sing. "How It's Done."

While, on the other side of the stage, a lion prowls a cage.

But how did he get up there?

David Seebach's "Wonders of Magic"
is a bright, jazzy, sparkling two hours.

It opened Wednesday night at the Paramount Arts Centre.

Seebach is the Bob Villa of magic.

He has the same, breathless delivery as Villa, star of the PBS home renovation show, "This Old House." But, instead of old houses, Seebach unveils a house of music and magic.

The six dancers with him are young and zestful. There are June Gracious, Frederick Kronk, Peggy Peterson, Elizabeth Hanley, Michael Ian Lerner and Cathy Shutt. Peter Davison and Kezia Tenenbaum juggle those tenpins with eye-bending, mind-boggling speed.

Seebach is the center of all this entertainment.

He acquired his first major trick when he was 13, the program notes say.

Wednesday night he invited 13-year old Jeff Peters of Elgin, to join him on stage.

Peters had the courage to stick his head in one of those guillotines that pulverize heads of lettuce.

Peters survived, but the carrots placed next to his neck became sliced for salad.

And I don't know how that's done, either,

Seebach dazzles the eyes with a variation on the bottle and glass trick, trading places as long funnels move from one to the other.

This time the bottles proliferate. They become eight, not one. And the red ribbon Seebach ties around one of them changes suddenly to green.

My favorite trick is the one Seebach attributes to Houdini: "Metamorphosis. "

Remember? The big wooden box. The svelte beauty disappearing into a black satin bag inside the box. Handcuffs are placed on her wrists,

The magician stands on the box. He counts..."One ... two..."

"THREE!" she says, and she is outside the box with the handcuffs on and he is inside the box and who will ever know how that one works,

Suffice it to say this show is salted with music through and through and peppered with some fine summer amusement park-type dancing.

Take a child with you when you see it,

It played again this morning. It will be performed at 7:30 p.m. today, at 10 a.m. arid 8 p.m. Friday and at 8 p.m. Saturday.

It surely is one of the brighter spots of 'the Paramount's luscious third season.

Next year we want them back.
Voila!

By James Auer
of The Journal Staff

Too few tricks and too much Terpsichore mar an otherwise exemplary attempt to launch Milwaukee's own David Seebach as a nationally important stage attraction in "Wonders of Magic."

The show, all dressed up and boasting some of the most baffling illusions in the modern conjuror's repertoire, vastly pleased a sizable crowd at its opening night at the Pabst Theater.

It continues here through March 26, then goes on tour under auspices of its originator, the Edgewood Agency Inc.

Seebach, 30, is, of course, the lanky, satanically bearded wizard formerly known as Divid

Under the tutelage of producer Lewis Friedman and director /choreographer Tracy Friedman he has been installed in a splashy, fast-moving vehicle ,with great promise but a few rough edges which will, one trusts, be honed away as the run proceeds.

Many good points

The production's good points are many - eye filling costumes by Linda Sarver, applause-wining sets by Stewart Johnson and a general sense of pace, color coordination and purposefulness that is sadly lacking in many magic shows.

Its weakness lies in a certain sensation of overproduction, of visual flash taking precedence over the basic business of magic.

And this, in turn, results in the impression that the star, normally an amiable, unpretentious fellow, is awash in such a rush of glitz and glitter, neatly staged turns and pre-recorded music that he isn't free to unleash the energy and spontaneity, that brought him to public attention in the first place.

All of which is not to say that "Wonders of Magic" isn't a pretty dazzling enterprise, overall.

There's a levitation, presented amidst spinning reflective globes, that is as far ahead of the effect as it is usually presented as "Star Wars" is ahead of "The Squaw Man."

Polish and panache

Many of Seebach's other specialties - the guillotining of a lad from the audience, the sawing of a woman in half, the transformation of a female helper into a jaguar - are offered here with greater polish and panache than I recall from previous outings.

And the use of not one but two "mis-made maidens," with portions of one neatly chopped-up lass being exchanged with sections of the other, is a stroke of positive genius.

Furthermore, the flow of the action, thanks to Tracy Friedman's firm and knowing hand, is inexorable, without the irritating delays and eddies of superfluous patter that sometimes becalm even the best intentioned magicians.

Where the evening suffers is in its effort to be not just a darned good magic show, but a tabloid musical as well.

Seebach, centerpiece of several of the production numbers, dances willingly but not terribly well, proving that sleight of hand is not necessarily accompanied by sleight of leg.

Fortunately, he has some real pros around him, among them June Gracious, Frederick Kronk, Elizabeth Hanley, Michael Ian Lerner, Cathy Shutt and the impish Peggy Peterson. All double as assistants.

Two excellent jugglers, Peter Davison and Kezia Tenenbaum, take over the spotlight briefly.

And Brian Lasser's original songs, neatly interwoven with the action, give the whole thing a distinctly showbiz air.

Given the necessary polish, "David 'Seebach's Wonders of Magic" may well take off in hot pursuit of Doug Henning, David Copperfield et al.

In the meantime, it's an awful lot of mirth, magic and melody, all wrapped up in a single, made-in Milwaukee package..

Curtain times are 8 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday,

Friday and Saturday; 2 and 8 p.m. Thursday; and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday.

THEATER REVIEW

By KEN NEUHAUSER
Louisville Times Critic

There was magic in the air last night as a professional illusionist and his eight assistants presented two hours of dancing, magic, juggling singing Illusions and yes, more dancing at the Macauley Theatre.

Except for some hokey choreography that seemed to last forever, "David Seebach's Wonders of Magic" was an enjoyable see-it-to-believe-it extravaganza. The show, produced with an entertaining blend of mystery, comedy and brightly colored costumes featured many of the illusions popularized on television by magicians Doug Henning and David Copperfield.

Like all prestidigitators, however, Seebach improvised on a variety of standard routines by injecting them with his own twists and surprises. Most turned out to be major miracles, others only minor ones. But all in all, the audience was impressed and amazed with his feats, especially the children who frequently asked, "How did he do that Mommy?"

For a while, it seemed that the highlight of the evening would be two extraordinary jugglers, Peter Davison and Kezia Tenenbaum, who managed to keep balls and clubs afloat with the greatest of ease. But after the intermission, Seebach came to life and proved he deserved the star billing.

The show got off to a shaky start with six bouncy dancers, who brought back memories of Ted Mack's amateur hour. When Seebach joined them, he did a few uninspiring tricks before getting a bit flashy.

Somehow or other, he guided one of the dancers through an apparently solid mirror. It was a good illusion, but not strong enough to grab an audience's attention. He needed something splashier and more visual.

Following an impressive production number whereby Seebach created a magnificent fountain of silks that was transformed into a beautiful woman clad in multi-colored leotards, he proceeded to magically transpose a rabbit (Harvey) from one box to another, rearrange the torsos of two ladies; and cut- and-restore a piece of rope with the aid of an audience volunteer.

In a clever, but drawn out, guillotine illusion, that same volunteer nearly parted with his noggin. Fortunately, Seebach knew what he was doing and the "victim" didn't suffer from a splitting headache.

Livelier and smoother, the second act enabled the young magician from Milwaukee to better demonstrate his skills, showmanship and style. From sawing a woman in half to the famous "Metamorphosis," the final 45 minutes were pure magic.

With the usual flurry of patter and puns, Seebach received the audience's "undivided attention" when an assistant's legs were separated from the rest of her body.

Lighting problems spoiled the levitation of a woman. The stage was so dark that one really couldn't see what was happening. The "Metamorphosis" which involved an assistant shackled in handcuffs, wrapped in a cloth bag and stuffed inside of a trunk, was a superb adaptation of Houdini's grand illusion.

I won't reveal the big finish, but it's worth waiting for.

With a few revisions in the dance numbers (make them shorter and tone down the cuteness) and a more awesome opener, "David Seebach's Wonders of Magic" should totally boggle your mind.

Shows will be repeated nightly at 8 through Saturday, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday.