I wanted to let you know about a recent interview I did for Scott Wells’s excellent podcast “The Magic Word.” In it, we speak about the website itself, all kinds of Doug history, and the feature length documentary I am currently filming regarding his life and work. Yes that’s right. You heard me. But, more on that later.
It was great fun chatting with Scott, and if you would like to download the episode please visit the link below:
On the podcast you asked about the Music element of The Magic Show, this was what transformed Spellbound to the magic show success, Chip was right when he said they came to see Doug Henning at the start and after he was on TV, but Brian Lumley states that the magic had its trouble each night working. They had stock Owens illusions many from spellbound but in the early days they had their troubles, but people didn’t come back for the train-wreck (The illusions were crashing all over the stage and the house kept filling up). So did they come for the magic?
They came for the mass appeal and there was no such thing as a celebrity magician until a skinny, bucktoothed kid from Winnipeg became an overnight star in the unlikely Broadway musical hit, “ The Magic Show”. DOUG HENNING, with his refreshingly modern approach to the art of illusion, permanently changed the face of magic and reintroduced an entire generation of audiences to grand illusion as a theatrical art.
The transformation of spellbound to The Magic Show was all in the music-script (and allowing Doug To perform and not sing and dance) which had Doug as the Boy Next Door does good, turning the show into the hip psychedelic colors in hippy costumes (which doug just ran with as spellbound he was in a tux), mix with a love story, along with the good magician versus the bad magician all with Broadway Music. Let’s face facts, fans. The original Broadway production of A MAGIC SHOW was no LES MIS – in fact, it was no PIPPIN or GODSPELL either. But Stephen Schwartz’s music and Doug Henning’s “denim Dunninger” were new enough in 1974 to be a fun evening at the theatre, especially with orchestra seats priced well under $15. It was so many talented people Doug Henning Paul Shaffer, Anita Morris, David Ogden Stiers, Ivan Reitman, Stephen Schwartz all taking off was the secret.
The Magic Show Had more shows without Doug than with Doug. I think the issues with the illusions not performing is more of a Broadway union handling the props along with the fact they were in the wild west of Modern-day illusion show production. We still follow their examples of performing.
THE DOUG HENNING PROJECT 
On the podcast you asked about the Music element of The Magic Show, this was what transformed Spellbound to the magic show success, Chip was right when he said they came to see Doug Henning at the start and after he was on TV, but Brian Lumley states that the magic had its trouble each night working. They had stock Owens illusions many from spellbound but in the early days they had their troubles, but people didn’t come back for the train-wreck (The illusions were crashing all over the stage and the house kept filling up). So did they come for the magic?
They came for the mass appeal and there was no such thing as a celebrity magician until a skinny, bucktoothed kid from Winnipeg became an overnight star in the unlikely Broadway musical hit, “ The Magic Show”. DOUG HENNING, with his refreshingly modern approach to the art of illusion, permanently changed the face of magic and reintroduced an entire generation of audiences to grand illusion as a theatrical art.
The transformation of spellbound to The Magic Show was all in the music-script (and allowing Doug To perform and not sing and dance) which had Doug as the Boy Next Door does good, turning the show into the hip psychedelic colors in hippy costumes (which doug just ran with as spellbound he was in a tux), mix with a love story, along with the good magician versus the bad magician all with Broadway Music. Let’s face facts, fans. The original Broadway production of A MAGIC SHOW was no LES MIS – in fact, it was no PIPPIN or GODSPELL either. But Stephen Schwartz’s music and Doug Henning’s “denim Dunninger” were new enough in 1974 to be a fun evening at the theatre, especially with orchestra seats priced well under $15. It was so many talented people Doug Henning Paul Shaffer, Anita Morris, David Ogden Stiers, Ivan Reitman, Stephen Schwartz all taking off was the secret.
The Magic Show Had more shows without Doug than with Doug. I think the issues with the illusions not performing is more of a Broadway union handling the props along with the fact they were in the wild west of Modern-day illusion show production. We still follow their examples of performing.
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I saw this on Facebook…I thought you might be interested….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z8gdt6A6Co
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