Over in the larger Parlor of Prestidigitation, Bill Abbott presents a mashup of puppetry and magic featuring a lustful monkey. This page was last modified on 15 February 2021, at 11:24. 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.. Logan Culwell-Block And then theres the script of how youre maneuvering the audience through the act., The story should be both familiar and impossible. He posed for photographs, signed autographs and then disappeared once again. ", Debby agreed, "It was like I blossomed right on the spot. Tony-Nominated Magician Doug Henning is Dead at 52 Debby also married Mexican artist Jose Carcamo, whom she divorced in 1980. Coincidentally, Id seen that exact trick at the Magic Castle the night before. He begins a mesmerizing filibuster about the illusions evolution, citing his friend and mentor Alan Wakeling, who in the 1970s came up with an incredibly elegant design for the trick in which two audience members shackle the hands and feet of the woman, and instead of sawing the box in two, the magician stabs four blades through the sides. In the mid-1980's, Mr. Henning retired from the stage and became increasingly interested in transcendental meditation. Doug was a guest and entertainer and Debby was a volunteer worker. Doug Henning hippie magician television tv Published by travsd Writer and performer Trav S.D. Doug Henning & His World of Magic (Dec 11, 1984 - Jan 27, 1985) Performer: Debby Henning [Assistant] Also sported long hair and a long bushy moustache. 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. As well, Debby starred in several summer theater musicals (including Fiddler on the Roof and Applause) and studied mime, jazz dance and singing. Thanks for contacting us. He is a member of famous Writer with the age 53 years old group. 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. Doug Henning: The Unbearable Lightness of Unbearability May 1, 2023. Thats what this has become, he says, lifting Albert into his lap. 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. In the studio with us are two of the trick tables. For example, the Mary Poppins illusion originated as an unrelated, sudden jolt of inspiration: a table that employs angled mirrors to conceal items within its folds. Please consider supporting us bywhitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.Thank you! In college, he started pitching tricks to Doug Henning, arguably the worlds most famous illusionist during the 1970s. Sign up for reopening news, announcements, and exclusive discounts on tickets to your favorite shows! Despite his enormous success in the US, Henning always considered Canada his home and was proud to tell people that he was Canadian, Nancy says. 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. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. Davis' Death of a Salesman co-star Wendell Pierce hosted a screening and talkback for the new film. The Magic Show with Doug Henning The Canadian version even promised a building that would levitate. Henning died Monday in Los Angeles, his business office in Toronto said. He had been ailing for five months. "So I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around and we looked at each other. Henning spent his final years working with the Maharishi to build a meditation theme park in Niagara Falls, Ontario. He wears a khaki vest over a tie and pinstriped Oxford, a look that combined with his affable demeanor conjures him as a boy haunting Chicago-area magic shops in the 1950s, hobnobbing with performers, probing for tips. 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. I ask where his ideas come from. She was born and raised in Huntington Woods, Michigan, and is the daughter of Lorelei (Frygier), a nurse, and Stay tuned to Playbill as Broadway gets ready to reveal its top honors. Biography - A Short Wiki. Rene Clement wrote: I remeber years ago they did a dueling magicians parody supposedly Henning vs. Copperfield. His long-suffering wife is always willing to do everything he asks of her. 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 Doug Debby met Doug Henning at a charity benefit at the Transcendental Gone were the black capes and magic wands; Mr. Henning wore jeans, flashy jumpsuits, and tie-dye T-shirts onstage. WebWho Is Doug Henning's Wife? Will the greatest illusion designer in the world tell us his secrets? The New York Times, in fact, labeled Steinmeyer theaters celebrated invisible man.. 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. Steinmeyer relies on both meticulous design and well-suited performers to construct tricks. A favorite of theatre fans and industry members alike, the restaurant is sounding the call for positive reviews on Google. This was after a show they did at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas, outside the stage door. He was all over the newspapers, magazines, talk shows, and (had) yearly television specials. My brain fizzes with unsated curiosity. Audiences should recognize the magic about to be performed. 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. The mellow magic man famed for his trademark shaggy hair and tie-dyed shirts had suffered from liver cancer for five months. After my heart finally calmed down, time literally seemed to go into slow motion. The SIX: The Musical star originated the role of Chiffon in the current revival at the Westside Theatre. Twenty-two years after his death he would have turned 75 this May Henning is still regarded as one of the greats by his peers, having blazed a trail for the likes of Siegfried & Roy, David Copperfield and Penn & Teller. How a Legendary Magician Builds Illusions | Jim Steinmeyer Seven Doug Hennings World of Magic TV specials aired throughout the late 70s and early 80s, helping to make Henning a household name. Part of the challenge is that a trick has to tell a story, because magic above all is about storytelling. He also dabbled in politics. 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 was previously married to Barbara DeAngelis, a self-help author. After 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. At one point derided as crazy and a has-been, Henning insisted to one Canadian political reporter in 1994: Im a visionary., Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Hollywood writers strike over streaming pay after talks fail, Models and climate activists hit the streets to protest the star-studded 2023 Met Gala, Gordon Lightfoot, mournful Canadian singer-songwriter, dies at 84, Tim Bachman, founding guitarist of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, dies at 71. My last day hanging around with him, I ask Steinmeyer straight up: How does the sawing-in-half trick work? May 2, 2023, By Inspired by Federico Garca Lorcas The House of Bernarda Alba, the play takes on gentrification and social strife in New York. Will Self-Driving Cars Out-Smart Human Drivers? (www.travsd.com) is best known for his books "No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous" (2005) and "Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube" (2013). "I will not have that in our house," she said. You want that thing to be very clear.. Doug Henning Magic GIFs | Tenor The diminutive Doug Henning soon landed at Hollywoods Magic Castle, grant in pocket, for a three-month cram course. '', As a student at McMaster College in Hamilton, Ontario, Mr. Henning studied psychology but planned all along to pursue magic as a career. (Houdini traded places with a prisoner in a trunk in 20 seconds; Henning did it in one-third of a second. He added stage sets and dancers and speeded up the illusions. Doug is unique in that he didnt copy anyone before or after him, he says. They don't teach you anything.". DOUG Henning the hippie magician who wowed the world with his amazing illusions on TV and on Broadway has died at the age of 52. At 53 years old, Doug Henning height Henning was approached by Broadway producers Edgar Lansbury and Joseph Beruh about bringing a version of the show to New York. He was a writer and actor, known for. 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. Magic is not about knowing how weve been deceived. In a sense, Dougy forced me to overcome my natural shyness.". At the time of my visit, Steinmeyer served as president (though his tenure has since ended), and we arrive about an hour before opening. With a curly mane of hair and a near-constant grin, Mr. Henning was one of the most famous illusionists in the world during the 1970's and early 80's, appearing in three Broadway shows and a dozen television specials. Its from the master thief. In the Magic Castles showcase room, the Palace of Mystery, Greg Otto performs a comedy-laden routine (When a heckler pipes up, Otto looks toward the crowd and replies, I thought I told you to stay in the truck.) before Kyle and Mistie Knight deliver a classic big-stage performance heavy on audience participation. This story has been shared 141,467 times. To take the stage, Kyle passes through a giant fan with spinning bladesthe very trick Id spotted in one of Steinmeyers notebooks. Into a notebook it went, and years later he excavated it for the play. Of course, Im still hoping hell decide to lift the lid on his more guarded secrets, and Im alive to the fact that Im sitting in the room where much of his classified material is hiding in plain sight. Doug Its become like, lets talk about magic as a puzzle. Theyve just saw the world together again and seem comfortable in their relationship. https://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php?title=Debby_Henning&oldid=85761. If it didnt, it wouldnt be a trick, it would be reality.. He sold off all his illusions props, sets and secrets at auction to devote his time to Transcendental Meditation. Whats striking, besides the polished performances, is the feeling in the building. 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. 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. Solid metal, right?before doing another. from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science in New York where she majored in painting, graphics and video art. 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. Real magic uses laws that havent yet been discovered.. It was very much of its time, Steinmeyer says. May-be. This story has been shared 381,315 times. By | WebDoug Henning. WebDoug Henningwas first married to Barbara De Angelis. The illusion has been around for more than a century, and Steinmeyer has mentioned its timelessness and layers of innovation. I nod. "", "My friends told me there was practically a flash of light," Doug told People magazine in the December 20, 1982 edition. 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. Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com, Conversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the, The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Email Magician Doug Henning a favorite of TV, Broadway and arena audiences died Monday in Los Angeles after battling liver cancer for the past five months. He conquered Broadway with his smash rock musical, The Magic Show, which ran for more than four years at the Cort Theater. 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. 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 In each show, his illusions became increasingly complex. In 1975, Mr. Henning broke through to an even larger audience when he performed Houdini's ''Water Torture Escape'' on a live television special. In each case, he stunned audiences with a seemingly impossible array of disappearing assistants and levitating ladies. Doug Henning (Douglas James Henning) was born on 3 May, 1947 in Fort Garry, Manitoba, Canada, is a Writer, Actor, Soundtrack. Doug Henning - Biography - IMDb The thing about the Magic Castle and places like it, when youre there in the right size theater, the intimacy is just completely amazing. 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. He was married to Debby Douillard and Barbara De Angelis. So whats the trick? May 1, 2023, By In the trick, which Mr. Henning performed in Broadway theaters, on television and even on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, his assistant was handcuffed and tied in a sack. The cause was liver cancer, according to The Associated Press. The Magic Castle rules call for people to stow their phones, and there are no TVs. Education The legend reads: LevitationThe Greatest Illusion in the World.. I mention this to Steinmeyer on the drive backhed been in his meeting for the durationand he nods. My eyes flick across Steinmeyers studio, his array of artifacts and scale models. He never lost interest in the magic world, says Nancy. After this, there was no looking back for Doug, says McNally. When I was working in Walt Disney World EPCOT ( good friend Bev Bergeron invited Wife and self to come to WDW)- in the 80'90's my Mgr. Debby Henning was the wife, assistant, business partner and muse to illusionist Doug Henning. 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. WebKristen Anne Bell (born 1980) is an American actress and singer. Magicians of Our Time Canadas investment in the arts paid off. Blocking belongson the stage,not on websites. 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. He is credited with reviving the magic show as a form of mass entertainment in the 1970s and popularizing it on television. If I produce a 450-pound Bengal tiger, its going to create a lot more wonder than if I produce a rabbit.. Debby met Doug Henning at a charity benefit at the Transcendental Meditation Center at Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa. Id approached Steinmeyer with this intent a few weeks earlier. Its also, The date was October 9th, 1985. To order copies of 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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There are careful sketches of rotating, hinging mechanisms, drawings of altered cabinets and wardrobes enveloping phantom figures and annotated with measurements and enigmatic notations. What I call illusion magic uses laws of science and nature that are already known. He made a firm impact on audiences of the time, and because of this, he is a permanent part of magics DNA.. 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. Nobody else is working at this level. Thats really what this is. In honor of that special day, I thought it would be appropriate to post the above photo of Doug and Debbie in May, 1986. Steinmeyer uses the mind-reading trick as a launchpad into a disquisition on how magic tricks evolve, which is fascinating, but it temporarily walls me off from a question Im eager to ask about the trick, or, really, any trick: How does it work? Doug Henning Magic renews that wonder.. People call out to performers, laugh, slap shoulders, and scream with surprise and wonder. Lloyds of London would soon insure his hands for $3 million, or $300,000 per finger. (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. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Henning became intrigued by magic as a child when he saw a magician levitate a woman on televisions Ed Sullivan Show. His mother bought him a magic kit. WebThe magician Doug Henning died at the age of 52. Share the best GIFs now >>> Henning Thats when I became interested in stage magic, Steinmeyer says. When he offered to help launch the solo career of Alex Ramona former magician for the Ringling Bros Barnum & Bailey Circushe asked Ramon to write down his favorite tricks, architectural styles, pieces of art, color schemes, and so on to garner a sense of his aesthetic and his way of thinking. Also, what I, After Falling Under the Spell of Wife Debby, Doug Henning Hopes to Charm Broadway Again (Part.3) He stuck with magic. presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution I asked one of his crew after the show if I might meet Doug and get his autograph. True to form, Steinmeyer first gives a non-answer. He is engaged, insightful, and animated, and he speaks about his life and biography with depth, but he deflects other questions that remind me of the conversational rope-a-dope magicians use, suggesting one thingSee these rings? He was determined to learn enough from the veterans to put magic in a play. 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. He treasures the wonder that comes with being fooled in an artful way. Theres no substitute for that, Steinmeyer says. Indeed, part of Mr. Henning's popularity could be laid to his style of performing, one that immediately set him apart from the vaudevillian conjurers of the past. Then we cross their yard to his studio followed by Albert, their doddering but ebullient 13-year-old dachshund. Natural Law Party. WebDoug Henning seems unmarried yet he is married. Henning received a PhD in the Science of Creative Intelligence from the Maharishi University in the late 1980s, and along with TM founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, planned to build a $1.5 billion-dollar theme park near Niagara Falls. advertisement advertisement Cancer And Death Doug Henningwas diagnosed with liver cancer in late 1999. The lock-picking bandit looks at the closed safe with a pair of field glasses and disappears. It just swept over me. He admires a trick well done. to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about 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. Join Facebook to connect with Doug Henning and others you may know. But after some back and forth, he had agreed to let me inside his world under an ill-defined agreement to stick to the basic principles of building magic tricks. May 2, 2023, By It says, in essence, Ive decided not to crack that safe and steal the contentsits not worth my time. Thats the point of my visitIm here to understand what Steinmeyer does and how he does it. Debby Henning - Magicpedia - Genii "Those magic tricks you buy in stores are junk. People Magazine Interview: Part One THE DOUG HENNING Debby received her B.F.A. ''He was a kind of Peter Pan,'' Mr. Willmarth told The Associated Press, ''who led magic away from the tuxedo approach.''. Magic plus theater equals art, the 20-year-old psychology major argued, convincing the government in his native Canada to give him a $4,000 study grant with the goal of reviving magic as a theatrical art. I remember something Id read in one of Steinmeyers books: Magicians dont protect their secrets from the audience, they protect the audience from their secrets. He is credited with reviving the magic show as a form of mass This clever prop allows the British nanny to pull gigantic items from her carpetbag, including a hat rack and full-length mirror. He was 52. Taking its name from basketball star LeBron James, the work comes to New York after runs at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Center Theatre Group. Self-Driving Cars Wont Save Us Anytime Soon, Memes Could Save Us From Superintelligent Machines, Why Train Derailments Are Happening All Around Us. He launches into a commentary about how people dont just receive entertainment anymorethey see it as a challenge. Today, running his own business requires an astonishingly disparate set of skills. 1981) Wife: Debby Douillard (m. Dec-1981) University: BS Psychology, McMaster University (1970) Transcendental Meditation Risk Factors: I remember thinking that was a really good idea, but I had no use for it at the time, Steinmeyer says. He married Debby Douillard in 1981. The interview is notable for two reasons. He felt he had achieved his goals in performing and he wanted to move along to other challenges, says Nancy. He was We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. He crisscrossed the country with his show and returned to Broadway in the 1980s with Merlin, which was nominated for five Tony awards, and Doug Hennings World of Magic.. Survivors include his wife, Debbie. Over the next decade, he was a regular presence on television, adding splashy new tricks to his repertoire, like a 1980 show where he appeared to have been eaten by a shark. Debby became Doug's assistant, appearing as a singer and dancer, as well as designing all of the costumes, for Merlin and on tour. He honed his skills touring North America with veteran magicians, and with a bit of luck, he opened a magic-music show in a Toronto theater. Though one critic hailed him, After 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. On December 6, Doug and Debby were married at the University. A lot of people lose that. Beverly Hills [213]. Each illusion involves close collaboration with the builder and the performerSteinmeyers client. The project's status is uncertain. And the stories involve multiple layers of deception. 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.
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