The newspaper articles below represent the time when Doug made a live filmed version of “The Magic Show.”

Meant to be an accurate recreation of the famed musical, this production was plagued by legal and funding issues which never allowed it to live up to its potential as a proper motion picture.

In the end, it originally aired on the CBC in 1982, and was quickly forgotten. The tumultuous issues involved can be found in more detail within John Harrison’s 2009 biography. “Spellbound.”

However, with most things involving Doug this story has a happy ending. After the many bankruptcy issues that plagued the movie were cleared up years later, the original producer, David Koyle, released the film on DVD. This was done as a tribute to Doug who had  passed away not long before. 

The film is still currently available on DVD, but can also be found streaming on Amazon Prime as well. While this version may not be to everyone’s taste, it does stand as the only version of “The Magic Show,” other than the cast album, that can still be enjoyed today. 

And in the end, what’s wrong with that?

Special Thanks to Ken McCreedy