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Photos: Teller’s ‘Tempest’ premiere is ‘pure brilliance’ and Broadway bound; more Shakespeare to come?

Photos: Teller’s ‘Tempest’ premiere is ‘pure brilliance’ and Broadway bound; more Shakespeare to come?

If The Bard of Stratford-on-Avon was alive today, he would be making big bucks writing episodes of Kevin Spacey’s “House of Cards” or Las Vegas writer Anthony Zuiker’s various “CSI” series with Laurence Fishburne and Ted Danson.

Shakespeare’s last play, “The Tempest,” was filled with mystery, crime and intrigue, but he also added wizardry and wonder. So when our silent Rio headliner magician Teller decided to produce his vision, you knew that there’d be magic — and what incredible illusions he has created to weave naturally into the story that England’s preeminent dramatist envisioned in the 1600s.

Shakespeare’s works — among them “Macbeth,” “Hamlet,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Taming of the Shrew,” “Othello,” “Much Ado About Nothing” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor” — are known throughout the world. The greatest writer in the English language — yes, every one of us had to study him in school — created comedy, history, tragedy and poetry in his works.

Teller read him while at school. Then for 30 years, he literally dreamed of telling the tale of “The Tempest.” Five years ago, the dream started taking shape, and two years ago our Smith Center for the Performing Arts agreed to partner with Harvard’s American Repertory Theater to present Teller’s vision…   ( Nice article by Robin Leach for Las Vegas Sun. Be sure to check out the slide shows..)

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Good News… Magic News from Las Vegas

Good News… Magic News from Las Vegas

image These are two of the more interesting magic related  stories coming out of Las Vegas during the month of December..

Smith Center to host world premiere of Teller’s “Tempest” adaptation..

“Such stuff as dreams are made on …”

William Shakespeare wrote those words for Prospero, the conjurer at the heart of “The Tempest.”

But they also apply to another magician: Teller (the smaller, quieter half of Rio headliners Penn &Teller), whose dream of a re-imagined, magic-fueled “Tempest” will come true at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in April.

The world premiere of Teller’s “Tempest,” adapted and directed by Teller and award-winning playwright and director Aaron Posner, will be staged April 5-13 in a 500-seat, climate-controlled tent in Symphony Park. Ticket sales begin Jan. 10.

The Smith Center’s first co-production (and its first Shakespeare), “The Tempest” will be presented in association with Harvard University’s Tony-winning American Repertory Theater.

In addition to Teller’s magic, the production will feature music by Tom Waits and movement by Matt Kent, associate artistic director of the shape-shifting troupe Pilobolus.

“This is a whole new thing for Las Vegas,” says Teller, who previously collaborated with Posner on a 2008 version of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”

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Criss Angel reveals new Luxor show to run during rehab for shoulder surgery..     By Robin Leach for the Las Vegas Sun

Shoulder surgery that Strip illusionist Criss Angel faces in January has led him to create a show to take the place of “Believe” at Luxor during his February and March rehabilitation therapy.

This morning, just hours after Tuesday night’s finale of his 10-part Spike TV series “Believe,” Criss officially confirmed what I have rumored at Vegas DeLuxe the past few months.

Criss is now set to launch a limited-engagement show, “Criss Angel Magic Jam,” that will showcase in place of “Believe” for two months. Criss will return to “Believe” in April for the second five-year run of his current 10-year contract with Cirque du Soleil…

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