For His Next Trick, David Copperfield Will Put the Country Back Together..
The legendary illusionist is mounting a “metaphor” at the Smithsonian, reuniting the long-lost 15th star with the Star-Spangled Banner on Flag Day.
6:00 AM PDT 6/3/2019 by
In a 2016 episode of the The Americans, the Cold War action unfurls as actual footage of David Copperfield vanishing the Statue of Liberty — a stunt 
that aired live April 8, 1983 — plays on TV sets in the background.
It was as audacious a magic trick as ever has been attempted, and one whose potent symbolism was not lost on the show’s writers. Thirty-six years later, Copperfield, now 62, says the symbolism was the point.
“The whole piece was based on a lesson on freedom, and how important it is,” notes the famed illusionist, who collaborated with director Frank Capra on the script for the performance. “I love doing things that have resonance and inspiration.”
Now Copperfield — who grew up in a Jewish family from New Jersey and by age 12 had gained admittance to the Society of American Magicians — is tackling another iconic totem of Americana: the Star-Spangled Banner. READ MORE