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Weaving magic
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Have you ever shaken hands with Mickey Mouse? You will get a chance, as Mickey and his friends will soon be visiting Bangalore, writes ANAND SANKAR
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Photo by author
Gags galore Our favourite Disney characters take centrestage
I had to join the chorus of “Abracadabra”. It probably took a while to shed my inhibitions but for about 90 minutes I became a five-year-old. The setting was a massive auditorium at one of the mega shopping malls in Bangkok and the show w
as Disney Live’s Mickey’s Magic Show — the act that brings you as close as possible to the legendary cartoon characters.
There was a definite buzz of excitement as I was waiting to enter the auditorium. The empty seats soon began to fill with parents who had come with their little ones in tow. The constant chatter of five-year-olds was soon silenced when Mickey Mouse took to the stage.
Disney Live is one of the many franchises of the Walt Disney enterprise. It is a show travelling around the world to give audiences a chance to see the characters in real life.
Dreams come true
Produced by Kenneth Feld, of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus fame, it merges Disney characters with world-class stage illusions.
The show has everything that a child can ask for — colourful characters, a sound-and-light show and lots of magic.
The format used for the show really does deserve credit. You have the full line-up of Disney characters that reads Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Aladdin’s Princess Jasmine, Cinderella, Alice and many more.
They combine with a cast of stage artists and two stage illusionists – Brad Ross and Alex Gonzalez, to come up with a really creative combination.
For starters, you have all the song and dance routines that Disney is famous for but that is given a twist with some slapstick humour.
What really takes the cake is the magic. It starts with the simple card trick and then moves on to a little more complicated ring sequence and finally the stage illusions.
True to the high-profile nature of the franchise, the stage illusions are of the very highest standard. The highlight is the levitation of Princess Jasmine by the magicians and the sawing-in-half sequence which really does manage to convince you that it really happened.
Credit must again be paid to the painstaking detail which is devoted to the costumes so that the characters are just as real as they are on screen
When the lights do come on at end of the show, it is time to grow up, but one can take a little bit of Disney home. A lot of merchandise was on sale at the show and my favourite was the little magic wand which I can use to weave my little spells.
Starting February 7, there will be multiple shows at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium. Tickets are priced at Rs. 500, Rs. 750 and Rs. 1,000. For bookings log on to www.ticketpro.in. Tickets will also be available at special kiosks in Sigma Mall, Garuda Mall and Forum Mall, Koramangala.
Duo with a spell
Photo: By author
Enchanted Brad and Alex
The men behind the stunning stage illusions are the magicians Brad Ross and Alex Gonzalez. Brad is from New Jersey and he says magic has always been his life.
“I started doing magic when I was a kid, about five years old. I was the magician at my birthday party. From there I started learning and decided to focus on stage illusions. I went on to do children’s birthday parties and school shows. I worked on cruise ships and theme parks before I got here,” he says.
Alex is from San Francisco and he started out as a hobby magician but soon turned professional.
“I started a bit late at about 13. My dad’s co-worker showed me a few card tricks and I had never seen magic before. My dad then bought me a magic book and it became my introduction to magic. It soon became a hobby and with practice I started doing shows. I first did close-quarter magic at restaurants, where I demonstrated card tricks to people while they were eating food,” he says.
The duo had a friend at Las Vegas who introduced them to the Disney Live tour and they were chosen from about 50 magicians who auditioned. “The reason we selected Disney is because it has a child-like quality and appeals to kids as well as adults. They just enjoy magic. And we combine classic Disney magic with world-class illusions. Magic is a very different feeling for everybody. Our perfect trick is making sure each and every member of the audience enjoys the show,” the duo say.
Larger than life
There is nothing small about Mickey’s Magic Show. Six 48-foot sea containers are used to transport the equipment. The stage uses 100 moving lights. Says Lisa Skubovius, Performance Director: “We always try to uphold the highest quality st
andards when it comes to production. There are standards for the technicians and the cast. We keep issuing notes on every performance to keep everything running ship shape. I am kind of like the resident critic of the unit. My notepad is full of ‘we could do this a little bit better’. Our illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer, who worked on the David Copperfield show, was with us during our rehearsal period. For a lot of us not involved with magic before, he gave us a crash course. It’s something that you learn as you go along. I can speak for everyone on our crew that we wouldn’t be doing this if we did not have a real big heart for kids. We want to bring joy to kids around the world. The message of our show is a positive, and hopefully inspiring one, for children that they are capable of anything if they believe in themselves.”
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