Review: THE OTHER SIDE at Alliance For The Arts Classroom Theater

From childhood, magic was Sebastian Gerhardt’s life. He was so good at it that as a teenager he was performing in Las Vegas. Then, at age 22, tragedy struck. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor and told he had six months to live. Spoiler: he made it.

Many people would have given up, but Gerhardt used what he knew and loved best and turned his experience into a show, The Other Side. In it, he weaves the essence of his survival story with magic. Though perfectly executed, his illusions are not flashy; they are instead thought-provoking.

After he gently enlists people from the audience to assist him in delivering a message of hope, he gives them carefully chosen prizes for participating that are metaphors for what he learned in his journey.

I’m not much of a magic fan, but I was impressed with the care that went into constructing this show. The “tricks” all worked as designed and drew oohs and ahs, even from me.

But even if magic is not your thing, you can learn a few important truths in this show about purpose, luck, resilience, and choice.

The Other Side repeats today at 5:30pm and Sunday at 1pm. For tickets go to ArtinLee.org/Fringe or call 239.939.2787.

photo by Tom Hall

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