THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 10, 1997 TAG: 9701100501
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: REVIEW
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT THEATER CRITIC
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 54 lines
Anyone who buys a ticket to a magic show would also, willingly, play poker with a guy they know is holding a marked deck. They live to be duped.
With a high degree of predictability, such shows can often be put on automatic pilot - with a buzz saw bisecting some perfectly safe human being on schedule for two shows a night. It would seem that they require more skill than talent, but no more so than an actor who, after all, has rehearsed his lines.
For those who insist upon spending their evening trying to ``figure it out,'' they are doomed to be sent home feeling more stupid than when they entered.
The merit of David Copperfield's entertaining but non-thrilling brand of magic show is that it persuades us to relax and embrace some familiar illusions done up in new stylings.
Copperfield, who played two shows Thursday in Chrysler Hall, seems much more relaxed than he has been in previous outings - forgoing his deep-eyed mysterious vamp routine for a more friendly and ``clap along'' nicety.
Titled ``Dreams and Nightmares,'' his new show is heavy on talk of boyhood, and lifetime, dreams, while it produces virtually no nightmares - a light-hearted revue that is minus dark threats.
Obviously there is a big market for illusions. This show comes from an engagement in Broadway's Martin Beck Theater, where it took in more than $5 million in sales before it opened.
The show is best when it cuts to the chase and gives the fans exactly what they want: the familiar illusions of age-old magicians, done up with a bit of smoke and colored lights. Perhaps it is a reflection of Copperfield's star status, or his ego, that he does not saw a beautiful lady in half. He saws himself in half.
There are two quite shapely female assistants, though. In one segment they writhe a bit in a canopied bed for a production number called ``The Voyeur.''
The flying segment, which is at stage rear, is amazing to watch, although the flier seems limited to up and down and sideways, not out.
In another trick, two guys from the audience were levitated (sitting in a couch with seat belt fastened). One young lady literally ``flew'' in the arms of Copperfield, who held her as they both ascended.
The one illusion that is truly flooring is when Copperfield and his assistants disappear from the stage and show up, almost instantly, near the back of the auditorium.
Copperfield has developed an easy-going style that ensures his illusions will entertain, even when it is realized they are dressed-up old stuff. Forgoing the dark side of magic, he delivers the goods. ILLUSTRATION: File photo
David Copperfield starred in ``Dreams and Nightmares'' Thursday
evening at Chrysler Hall.