In ''Merlin,'' for example, Mr. Henning created the image of a flying horseman disappearing into thin air and his co-star Chita Rivera being turned to stone. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? Blocking belongson the stage,not on websites. It has to be all three things: That you keep it, that its messy, and that its a notebook. A spiral-bound Strathmore Sketch pad sits on the table between us, and he flips through it, pausing just long enough for me to glimpse the pages. Henning, the man who performed Harry Houdinis legendary water torture escape on national television before a live audience and later became a spokesman for The members-only club for magicians and enthusiasts is both a laboratory for the craft and, by night, a place for guests to take in performances both large-scale and intimate. Resting along an opposite wall is a pair of tables used in the iconic sawing-the-assistant-in-half illusion, as well as a locked chest for mind-reading tricks, a cylindrical phantom tube used for optical illusions, and a foam-core model of the magic table he created for Disneys latest stage rendition of Mary Poppins. He was credited with updating an old-fashioned vaudevillian entertainment by modernizing its image with his long hair, tie-dyed T-shirts and jeans instead of the magicians traditional top hat and tails. Then we cross their yard to his studio followed by Albert, their doddering but ebullient 13-year-old dachshund. Thats when I became interested in stage magic, Steinmeyer says. He was previously married to Debby Douillard and Barbara De Angelis. His battles with the church arent over, How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! I definitely owe a big chunk of my career to Jim, he says. Debby also married Mexican artist Jose Carcamo, whom she divorced in 1980. I was a 13-year-old kid who just lost a father And it was like another door opening on an interest I already had, and opening in some bigger, grander way., In the following years, Steinmeyer dropped his own act; what he really loved, he realized, was conceiving ambitious illusionsthe flashbulb of an idea popping inside his head, the mental calisthenics of how it might work, the sketching and spitballing. Today, running his own business requires an astonishingly disparate set of skills. In the more traditional world of magic, he brought a painted portrait to life and back again (The Artists Dream, performed by husband-and-wife team the Pendragons, among others) and designed a whole series of illusions in which the performer walks through a mirror, a wall, and a number of other impenetrable objects. Doug Henning, the ebullient, shaggy-headed magician who sparked a renewed interest in the craft and breathed new life into some of history's most famous Education Why is Frank McCourt really pushing it? This is a man who changed an art form forever. The Los Angeles-based McNally, who launched the Doug Henning Project online archive in 2017, is currently wrapping up a feature-length documentary on Hennings life and art. His first wife, Barbara DeAngelis, was a TM instructor, and when Doug married his second wife, His shows led to a general resurgence of interest in magic, said Phil Willmarth, editor of The Linking Ring, a magic magazine. If a magician cant conceal this secret, the trick is worthless. A magician friend often told Steinmeyer, If you want to keep something a secret, publish it., So why dont more of us know how magic works? During the evening on my second day in Hollywood, Steinmeyer drives me to the Magic Castle. He later married Debby Douillard in 1981. After Falling Under the Spell of Wife Debby, Doug Henning Hopes to Charm Broadway Again (Part.3) He stuck with magic. To order copies of WebHe was living with his second wife, Debby Douillard, and he had no children. May 2, 2023, By You need to know the mechanisms of these tricks to avoid being taken in. entertainment in the 1970s and popularizing it on television. He was The mellow magic man famed for his trademark shaggy hair and tie-dyed shirts had suffered from liver cancer for five months. One shows an illustrated Harry Kellar, a sensation in the early twentieth century. If I produce a 450-pound Bengal tiger, its going to create a lot more wonder than if I produce a rabbit.. Also, what I, After Falling Under the Spell of Wife Debby, Doug Henning Hopes to Charm Broadway Again (Part.3) He stuck with magic. Share the best GIFs now >>> When he watches performances, he tunes in not just to the magic but the way people respond to it. That led to his role in The Magic Show. Thanks for contacting us. His long-suffering wife is always willing to do everything he asks of her. Doug Henning (1981 - 2000) his death. I cannot imagine why.Sideshow Gathering 2010 Shackled hand and foot and encased underwater in a steel canister, he broke free in under a minute, emerging wet and beaming. Well, thosehe points to a stack of notebooksare all that. Mr. Henning was 52. I nod. In fact, the script sucked and the characters were mostly uninteresting. In the 1993 federal election, Henning ran, unsuccessfully, in the riding of Rosedale in 1993 as a member of the TM offshoot Natural Law Party of Canada. To prepare for his career, Henning studied psychology in college, to learn more about the human mind and perception. Seven Doug Hennings World of Magic TV specials aired throughout the late 70s and early 80s, helping to make Henning a household name. WebDoug Henning seems unmarried yet he is married. What Shows Have Been Renewed or Canceled? Tony-Nominated Magician Doug Henning is Dead at 52, Magician Doug Henning, who popularized magic and illusion on Broadway in such shows as, Glenn Davis and Chris Perfetti Star in Rajiv Joseph's, 2023 Tony Awards Nominations Announced May 2, Olivia Valli and Celia Hottenstein Are New Leads in National Tour of, Joy Woods Returns to Skid Row as Audrey May 2 in Off-Broadway's, Broadway Eatery Glass House Tavern Targeted With Negative Reviews Following Dispute With Pedicab Drivers. He was married to Debby Douillard and Barbara De Angelis. What I call illusion magic uses laws of science and nature that are already known. At the height of his popularity in 1987, Henning dropped out. Henning went to India for a time to work with the maharishi, telling The Times by telephone in 1988: It was the fulfillment of my career to do this. The production, with songs by Stephen Schwartz and book by Bob Randall, earned Henning a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and, says McNally, a reputation as a legitimate Broadway star. A version of The Magic Show was also mounted at Torontos Queen Elizabeth Theatre in 1980, where it was filmed and aired on CBC. Rather than perform for a small circle of spectators, the tuxedoed Goebel stretched his act across the entire stage, employing costumed assistants in larger illusions like levitation and sawing someone in half. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Woman has 'loud, full body orgasm' in the middle of LA concert, All the red carpet highlights and star-studded fashionfrom the Karl Lagerfeld-themed Met Gala, Bride killed, groom seriously hurt by drunk driver just minutes after leaving reception, Bodies of two missing teen girls and a registered sex offender among seven people found dead on Oklahoma property, The best-dressed celebs at the 2023 Met Gala: Rihanna, Gisele Bndchen, more, Kim Kardashians Met Gala 2023 look sparks comparisons to Playboy cover, Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson reunite at Met Gala 9 months after breakup, Katy Perry will be temporarily replaced on 'American Idol' amid drama. A native of Fort Garry, Manitoba, he moved to the United States and became an international star. Reworked and retitled The Magic Show, it opened in 1974 at the Cort Theatre and enjoyed a four-year-run. When their mother was diagnosed with cancer, he spent several months caring for her in Toronto. Magic is not about knowing how weve been deceived. Will Self-Driving Cars Out-Smart Human Drivers? Henning spent his final years working with the Maharishi to build a meditation theme park in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Henning left the magic business in 1986. Eagle-eyed observers can spot, if you look closely, Dougs first wife Barbara DeAngelis standing behind Dougs right shoulder. What happens, he says, is that an idea branchesyou start working on something and you go, Oh, it would really be good if it was like this. And you pursue that for a little while and you go, Yeah, thats not right. And then you go back and you pursue this for a little while, and this starts working. Henning performed occasionally in the mid-1980s to raise funds for the maharishi, but also sold many of his illusions to magician David Copperfield. By almost any estimation, Steinmeyer is the greatest creator of illusions in the history of magic and theater, but describing Morritts idiosyncratic piece of stagecraft still animates and energizes him. Here is a miniature version of the cabinet used in the Disappearing Donkey illusion, a once-lost trick that Steinmeyerafter years of reconstruction via dusty tomes and informed intuitionunveiled to a roomful of confounded performers (Magicians are actually pretty easy to fool, he says). Superstar magician Doug Henning led a wild life | The Star Major General Dany Fortin, military officer acquitted of sexual assault, sues government, PM for $6M Aside from its ambition and quality, what stands out is the breadth of Steinmeyers work. No, he died on 02/07/2000, 23 years ago. Henning died Monday in Los Angeles, his business office in Toronto said. Jim is an expert in virtually every area of magicin fact, hes singular in that, says Richard Kaufman, publisher of the industry magazine Genii and the author of scores of books about magic. Theres no substitute for that, Steinmeyer says. Sign up for reopening news, announcements, and exclusive discounts on tickets to your favorite shows! He was 52 and lived in Los Angeles. Nobody else is working at this level. Its become like, lets talk about magic as a puzzle. See the article in its original context from. The New York Times, in fact, labeled Steinmeyer theaters celebrated invisible man.. WebAfter Falling Under the Spell of Wife Debby, Doug Henning Hopes to Charm Broadway Again (Part.2) My friends said there was practically a flash of light, says Henning, 35. Where was it taken you ask? There are 24 notebooks, 100 pages each. When Steinmeyer was 13, his father died, leading to what he describes as a hell of a year. As the family wrestled with grief, his mother encouraged him to attend a magic convention in Michigan with his friends, to plug into something that might distract or excite him. Help us get to over 4,000 biographies in 2018. Henning was approached by Broadway producers Edgar Lansbury and Joseph Beruh about bringing a version of the show to New York. Inspired by Federico Garca Lorcas The House of Bernarda Alba, the play takes on gentrification and social strife in New York. Just like a real-life movie, the story of Buddy the Elf meeting his biological father has come to life, just in time for the holidays. The feet are fake, he explains. Well, if the town of Appleton, Wisconsin means anything to, Today I thought Id feature a four minute vintage clip of Doug and Debby on the classic 1980s program Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Whats cool about it is that it gives us a glimpse not only into Dougs home, but his famed workshop where many of his illusions were developed. Henning, the man who performed Harry Houdinis legendary water torture escape on national television before a live audience and later became a spokesman for the spiritual leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, died of liver cancer Monday in Los Angeles. Looking like a hippie, he is credited with restimulating an interest in magic and illusion, introducing such tricks as Harry Houdini's famous "water torture escape" to a new generation. So we went somewhere and talked a long, long time, and I remember having this powerful feeling of recognition. Logan Culwell-Block Steinmeyer and I eventually wile away almost an hour analyzing the early-1900s illusion with the thief and the safe. Debby also married Mexican artist Jose Carcamo, whom she divorced in 1980. The thing about the Magic Castle and places like it, when youre there in the right size theater, the intimacy is just completely amazing. David Howard has written for many national publications and is the author of two nonfiction books, most recently Chasing Phil: The Adventures of Two Undercover Agents with the World's Most Charming Con Man. Steinmeyer holds that feeling himself. The people are so pure. I mention this to Steinmeyer on the drive backhed been in his meeting for the durationand he nods. | Steinmeyer relies on both meticulous design and well-suited performers to construct tricks. Magic is something that happens that appears to be impossible, he said in an interview with The Times. These positions had their rewards, he says, but he struggled with the compromises that come with corporate productions. Steinmeyer went and saw a performance by George Goebel, a veteran magician with a grand-scale stage act. He launches into a commentary about how people dont just receive entertainment anymorethey see it as a challenge. Discover today's celebrity birthdays and explore famous people who share your birthday. He was 52. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us. Theres the script where you ostensibly say whats happening, which is often a lie. ", Debby agreed, "It was like I blossomed right on the spot. Doug and Debbie Houdini Plaza 1986 Performance, Close Encounters of the Doug Kind: Part Three, Nathan Lane Discussing "Merlin" on Playbill.com, Remodeled James Earl Jones (Cort) Theatre Interior, Follow THE DOUG HENNING PROJECT on WordPress.com. His wife is Debby Douillard (6 December1981 - 7 February2000)( his death), Barbara De Angelis (20 December1977 - 1981)( divorced). Magician Doug Henning, who popularized magic and illusion on Broadway in such shows as The Magic Show, which earned him a Tony Award nomination, died of liver cancer in Los Angeles Feb. 7. We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 3 May. He treasures the wonder that comes with being fooled in an artful way. Anyone can read what you share. Andrew Gans WebDoug Henning was born on 3 May 1947 in Fort Garry, Manitoba, Canada. Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. She was born and raised in Huntington Woods, Michigan, and is the daughter of Lorelei (Frygier), a nurse, and Two pages depict a giant industrial fanclearly an illusion in which the performer passes unharmed through the spinning bladesbut many of the others are impenetrable. Morritt had come up with a new twist on a familiar routine: Magician presses his fingers to his temples, closes his eyes, and sees the un-seeable. Doug Henning, a Superstar Of Illusion, Is Dead at 52, https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/09/arts/doug-henning-a-superstar-of-illusion-is-dead-at-52.html. Once settled, I make an opening gambit: I ask Steinmeyer about the state of magic today. Steinmeyer does it all. But with Wakelings box, you can still see her feet sticking out the bottom, and beyond that, the box looks too narrow for a knee lift. presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution Some days Steinmeyer is a mechanical engineer, building scale models with foam core, mirrors, and toothpicks; others, hes a historian and detective, reconstructing old tricks; still others, hes a graphic designer drawing up informal blueprints, or a playwright developing scripts to go with his illusions. Whats striking, besides the polished performances, is the feeling in the building. Suddenly the assistant was standing in his place, and Mr. Henning was in the trunk, handcuffed. You want that thing where people go, Ohhh, theyre about to divide a person into three pieces, Steinmeyer says. It was very much of its time, Steinmeyer says. Canadas investment in the arts paid off. Hes not going to let me flip over his mirrors or rifle through his drawers, and when I give him a straight-line question, he responds with misdirectionlabyrinthine tangents and looping alternate pathways. While attending elementary school in suburban Chicago, he went home every day for lunch, flipped on the TV, and watched Bozos Circus, a variety show sometimes featuring touring magicians. Magician Doug Henning, who popularized magic and illusion on Broadway in such shows as The Magic Show, which earned him a Tony Award nomination, died of It usually involves revision upon revision, sometimes over several years. So as one of historys greatest conjurers of magic continues to explain and not explain the safe trick, I find myself wondering: If anyone can dig up the secrets behind many of Steinmeyers tricks, why is he so intent on hiding them? It says, in essence, Ive decided not to crack that safe and steal the contentsits not worth my time. Steinmeyer has given the world more to tease apart than almost anyone on the planet. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Henning exploded onto the magic scene in the 70s, bringing a modern touch to classic magic routines. WebKristen Anne Bell (born 1980) is an American actress and singer. My heart was racing. How a Legendary Magician Builds the World's Greatest Illusions. He earned a Best Featured Actor (Musical) nomination for his work in the conceptual tuner, The Magic Show, in the 1974-75 season. Solid metal, right?before doing another. Magic renews that wonder.. Hennings own sense of wonder fueled his professional success and personal appeal. To take the stage, Kyle passes through a giant fan with spinning bladesthe very trick Id spotted in one of Steinmeyers notebooks. Self-Driving Cars Wont Save Us Anytime Soon, Memes Could Save Us From Superintelligent Machines, Why Train Derailments Are Happening All Around Us. It was a trick Houdini needed 20 seconds to perform; Mr. Henning did it in less than 10. (Check out the Toronto Magic Companys work with the citys budding magicians), It was 1975, and 50 million viewers tuned in to watch the stunt on live television unheard of today, says Henning expert Neil McNally. He later put an advertisement in a local newspaper reading: ''Magician: Have Rabbit, Will Travel. In further support of the maharishi, Henning also ran (unsuccessfully) for political office in England and Canada as a member of the maharishis Natural Law Party. Cause of death: cancer. Steinmeyer keeps his secrets out of reach as hours of conversation unfold. | In that Ahmanson show, for example, he turned a woman into a black panther, sawed two women in half and reassembled them on each others legs, walked through a mirror, suspended his wife in midair before making her vanish and reappear in a box hanging over the stage, escaped from a chained trunk like Houdini and conjured up the Bengal tiger. You want that thing to be very clear.. In college, he started pitching tricks to Doug Henning, arguably the worlds most famous illusionist during the 1970s. "", "My friends told me there was practically a flash of light," Doug told People magazine in the December 20, 1982 edition. In 1992, he announced that he and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a spiritual adviser, would build a $1.5 billion theme park near Niagara Falls, Ontario. Shut out of basketball by his size, Henning revived his interest in magic. knew I did Magic as an Ad-Vocation and had me go over to the United Kingdom Unit to asst Doug the day he was there - Don't exactly remember what he did -though did remember Doug was like a Big Kid. Then simultaneous with that, theres the script of what youre actually doing, so theres a divergent thing where youre saying one thing and youre doing something else. Henning returned to Broadway in 1983 for the Tony-nominated musical Merlin, and the following year Doug Henning and His World of Magic toured across North America. Talaura Harms I mean its allas soon as people believe youre doing one thing, you can subvert it by doing something else., In Hiding the Elephant, his narrative history of magic, Steinmeyer points out what most of us already suspect or know: The secrets of magic are not true secretsthe answers are often right in front of us. It just swept over me. The guy very snobily said Mr. Thats really what this is. He knew that if he wanted to do what he loveddesign illusions from a molecule of an idea in his notebook and let it grow into something naturallyhe needed to be on his own. He was a writer, known for The Magic Show (1983), World of Magic (1977) and Doug Henning's World of Magic (1976). WebHenning discovered TM while working on the Spellbound show in Toronto. Will Virtual Reality Ever Live Up to the Hype? You know, in terms of explaining how things work, he told me, I cant get into too much of that.. My eyes flick across Steinmeyers studio, his array of artifacts and scale models. In fact, theres just enough room for the woman to drop her knees to one side and avoid the blades. He never lost interest in the magic world, says Nancy. permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com. Doug Henning was stiff as a board, and as he didn't sing, the musical numbers were never really landed in the show. The SIX: The Musical star originated the role of Chiffon in the current revival at the Westside Theatre. Republication or distribution of this content is He starred on Broadway, toured with a large stage show, and popularized magic in his own television specials. He also made guest appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Muppet Show.. There are three scripts in a magic show, he explains. However, this married later ended in divorce. It was that performance with that guy. There are two walls of reference materials: books about magic, of course, but also books about furniture, graphic design, screenplays, and antique apparatus. Lloyds of London would soon insure his hands for $3 million, or $300,000 per finger. May 2, 2023, By All of us wish them nothing but happiness and the joy that comes from a loving partnership. Doug Henning hippie magician television tv Published by travsd Writer and performer Trav S.D. He reveled in the intricacies of itthe different historical accounts, Charles Morritts possible motives, all the potential explanations. Lets deconstruct it.. In the studio with us are two of the trick tables. Only when Steinmeyer finishes speaking do I realize weve barely moved from my starting point. He was a writer and actor, known for. WebWith Tenor, maker of GIF Keyboard, add popular Doug Henning Magic animated GIFs to your conversations. She was successful as a painter and graphic artist and also in the clothing design business. From the mid-70s to the early 80s, Toronto-raised master illusionist and escape artist Doug Henning was inescapable. Doug Henning, the ebullient, shaggy-headed magician who sparked a renewed interest in the craft and breathed new life into some of history's most famous illusions, died on Monday in Los Angeles. A native of Winnipeg, Canada, Mr. Henning made his American debut in ''The Magic Show,'' a rock musical that opened on Broadway in May 1974 and subsequently ran for more than four years. | Gone were the black capes and magic wands; Mr. Henning wore jeans, flashy jumpsuits, and tie-dye T-shirts onstage. '', As a student at McMaster College in Hamilton, Ontario, Mr. Henning studied psychology but planned all along to pursue magic as a career. A decade later, Henning was awarded a star on Canadas Walk of Fame a touching epilogue from a country that gave him so much, says McNally. A lot of people lose that. There is a century-old magic trick that Jim Steinmeyer finds particularly fascinating. To order Counting both sides of a page, thats 4,800 pages dating back to 1980 or 81. And the stories involve multiple layers of deception. Mr. Henning stood atop the chest and counted to three. He is survived by his wife, Debbie. ), Hennings television shows won him an Emmy and seven Emmy nominations. We've received your submission. He is credited with reviving the magic show as a form of mass entertainment in the 1970s and popularizing it on television. The secret of magic is not knowledge, its feeling. Henning said his goal was to help audiences recapture a childlike sense of wonder. In honor of that special day, I thought it would be appropriate to post the above photo of Doug and Debbie in May, 1986. He also created special effects for tours by his friend, Michael Jackson. Built in 1909, the building is a shambling maze, a classic chateau-themed manor with narrow passages, branching wings, antique banisters and Tiffany stained glass windows. A writer and Ramon had never performed original tricks before, but in Steinmeyers studio he understood for the first time how they were birthed. "So I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around and we looked at each other. So I press: But theres no room for her to., He smiles and shrugs as if to say, What more do you expect? Steinmeyer shows them to no one. A favorite of theatre fans and industry members alike, the restaurant is sounding the call for positive reviews on Google. With his long, wavy locks, walrus moustache, colourful outfits, and perky new-age demeanour, he cut quite a contrast from the vaguely sinister tuxedo-clad, top-hatted magicians that previously ruled the field. He never has, its possible he never will, and this doesnt bother him in the least. What we want, instead, is to sign what Steinmeyer calls a mysterious pact between a performer and the audience. We want to be in the midst of that credulous, shrieking crowd at the Magic Castle. I remember thinking that was a really good idea, but I had no use for it at the time, Steinmeyer says. It was supposed to last six months; Steinmeyer kept the gig seven years before moving on to Disney Imagineering. But even given Steinmeyers relative anonymity compared with the Cooperfields and Blaines of the world, magic as a whole exists now in the age of YouTube. Steinmeyers older brother, Harry, nine years his senior, had a drawerful of abandoned magic props, and when Jim was about six, he says, I found that drawer.. Huh. So when I abandon something because its not working, I can go back and find it. Once magicians manipulate audience members toward certain expectations, those expectations can be subverted, and the audience can be dazzled, and fooled. Given the nature of his business, he said, he had to be proprietary about sharing the way magic is accomplished. I think Rich Hall played the Doug Henning part in that skit. He felt he had achieved his goals in performing and he wanted to move along to other challenges, says Nancy. Steinmeyer allows that historically, the trick is that the woman pulls her knees up to her chest when the sawing happens. Doug Henning was born on May 3, 1947 in Fort Garry, Manitoba, Canada. Steinmeyer demonstrates a version of the sawing-in-half illusion. I know it's weird to say, but somehow magic is immune from technology, he says. But what Steinmeyer intends to unpack for me is uncertain. We have estimated The result was The Magic Show, which lured mesmerized audiences to Broadway for 4 1/2 years and earned the young illusionist the first in a string of annual NBC television specials. The god-tier highlight of his career is arguably designing David Copperfields televised vanishing of the Statue of Liberty, but over more than three decades, Steinmeyer has engineered an entire pantheon of physics-defying, brain-exploding, how-is-that-even-possible feats. Debby received her B.F.A. Upon graduating with a psychology degree in McMaster University in 1971, Henning and then-girlfriend Marsden Barrick performed as Henning and Mars at Yorkville coffeehouses, a military base near the North Pole, LAs famed Magic Castle, and on a 1972 episode of the CBCs Telescope program. Henning liked the way it spun off a trick called The Zig Zag Girl, in which the performer divides an assistant into thirds. His story about the burglar and the safe is as much about what he doesnt say as what he does. From Magicpedia, the free online encyclopedia for magicians by magicians. The legend reads: LevitationThe Greatest Illusion in the World.. The interview is notable for two reasons. Newspapers Limited, 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. All NEW YORK -- Doug Henning, the mustachioed hippie magician who helped repopularize the craft in the 1970s with TV specials and Broadway shows, has died at 52. People always say afterwards, I had no idea the performances were going to be so strong.. In a world of deepfakes and identity theft and warfare by invisible computer viruses, real-life deception has consequences. I had never felt anything like it in my whole life. When the safe is opened, the list matches up, item for item.
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