Review: THE ILLUSIONISTS Bring Their Magic Skills from B'way to Segerstrom Center

The wildly diverse collective of magical practitioners and artisans known as "The Illusionists" recently left the Neil Simon Theater on Broadway to resume its 45-city national tour of theaters normally reserved for other traveling Broadway musicals. The first stop of this new leg of THE ILLUSIONISTS - LIVE FROM BROADWAY is Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, where it will attempt to wow local audiences for a strictly one-week engagement until February 7 (that final word in its title is perhaps its sole justification for being included in the "Broadway" offerings of several theaters this season).

Conceived by co-creative producer Simon Painter and directed by co-creative producer Neil Dorward for MagicSpace Entertainment, the globally-successful magic showcase is executive produced by Tim Lawson with creative direction provided by Jim Millan, costume design by Angela Aaron, lighting design by Jared A. Sayeg, choreography by Jenn Rapp, illusion design by Don Wayne, and video design by NICE Studios.

Filled with eye-popping visuals, optical trickery, risky stunts, hilarious audience participation, and lots of hammy showmanship (complete with Solid Gold-style background dancers-slash-magicians' assistants), THE ILLUSIONISTS is a supremely entertaining if occasionally cheesy stage show that's like several caffeinated Vegas magic shows on steroids all mashed together.

There are certainly plenty of genuinely thrilling moments throughout, particularly its jaw-dropping, Harry Houdini-inspired centerpiece: a live, in-the-(wet)-flesh escape from a water torture chamber that had the audience holding their collective breath at the edges of their seat. This act, performed by "The Escapologist" of the troupe, Andrew Basso, had the charmingly handsome Italian illusionist holding his breath underwater for more than 4 rapidly-ticking minutes while handcuffed and suspended upside down inside the water-filled glass enclosure. Spoiler alert... He, as we all hoped, writhes his way from bondage and emerges victorious to thunderous cheers.

Of course Basso, as the title suggests, is just one of seven total featured Illusionists in the show. One by one, each featured artist from this magic squad takes his turn in the spotlight (wait, they couldn't conjure up even one female Illusionist?), armed with his own label and specific magical specialty.

Dubbed 2014's Magician of the Year by Academy of Magical Arts and the Grand Prix winner at the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques, enigmatic and debonair card-shark Yu Ho-Jin---"The Manipulator"---fascinated the audience with his mastery with just a deck of cards.

"The Deceptionist," James More, first balances his entire body on the tip of a sword before getting more impaled by it as his body succumbs to gravity (ouch! but wow!), then later in the show returns to shove himself in a body box---not to be sawed in half but rather be squeezed within this accordion-like box so his neck appears mere inches from his feet (again, ouch). In between the actual wow-moments of his act, the rather good-looking Brit loves to mug and smolder for the audience as if perpetually taking an Instagram gym selfie. As one can imagine, the squeals of delight from theatergoers were generous.

His visual opposite is "The Anti-Conjuror," Dan Sperry, an Illusionist that the press materials describe as a cross between Marilyn Manson and David Copperfield (!). But proving that you can't always judge a book by its scary-goth-macabre cover, the darkly funny Sperry impresses with a rather pleasant magical live-birds routine. Yet, funny enough, true to his intimidating outward death-metal appearance, he does cross over to PG-13 scary theatrics in the second act by slicing his arm to pull out a bloody quarter that apparently made its way down there after first being shoved right into his eye socket---with the help of an audience "volunteer." The unexpectedly gross-out moment was totally icky, yet totally awesome at the same time (Be forewarned, parents with children under 10).

"The Inventor," Kevin James, presents magic acts that are half-whimsical, half-strange. Soft spoken like your introverted nerdy uncle, James---dressed like a modern-day Professor Marvel from The Wizard of Oz---is a much more subtle, quieter performer than his peers, choosing instead to wow the audience with visually-intriguing tricks that straddle technical wizardry and theatrical inventiveness. At one point, he hypnotizes the audience with a virtual snow storm he conjures from just a piece of paper.

Ben Blaque, "The Weapon Master," has his own "wow" moment when, blindfolded, he shoots an arrow with his crossbow across the room that started a chain reaction of other crossbows that culminated in an arrow hitting an apple resting atop his head. (More impressive? When absolute silence was requested in order for him to perform the trick, he did so flawlessly even with a few drunken hecklers in the audience).

And, finally, acting as the show's connective master of ceremonies as well as provide some of the biggest laughs of the night, the super funny Jeff Hobson---dubbed "The Trickster"---is a delight throughout. In my head, Hobson is the long-lost love child of Paul Lynde, Liberace, Phyllis Diller, and Steve Martin all rolled into one wonderfully bedazzled host. As incredible and extraordinary each of the magic acts were, I found it remarkable that the most enjoyable parts of the evening were the brief moments when the affable host brings much-needed levity to the otherwise by-the-numbers magic showcase. With his mix of old-school tricks and game show host banter with audience members, Hobson could really headline his own show, frankly.

Unabashedly loud and bombastic but admirably enjoyable nonetheless, THE ILLUSIONISTS has plenty of astonishing experiences for magic show lovers, with something to offer for whatever discipline one prefers. If you can stand a little Vegas-y showmanship with your magic shows, then this one will have you applauding. And judging from its rapturously-received press performance earlier this week, it's no wonder the show has been a well-liked worldwide hit.

Follow this reviewer on Twitter/Instagram: @cre8iveMLQ

Photos of the Broadway/National Tour Company of THE ILLUSIONISTS by Joan Marcus.

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Performances of the first national tour of THE ILLUSIONISTS - LIVE FROM BROADWAY at Segerstrom Center for the Arts continue through Sunday, February 7, 2016. Tickets can be purchased online at www.SCFTA.org, by phone at 714-556-2787 or in person at the SCFTA box office (open daily at 10 am). Segerstrom Center for the Arts is located at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. For tickets or more information, visit SCFTA.org.

The show will also be at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles February 23 - March 13, 2016.

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