Siegfried & Roy still making magic at Mirage

Friday, July 18, 2003 | 9:26 a.m.

What: "Siegfried & Roy, Masters of the Impossible."

When: 7:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 7:30 p.m. Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays; dark Wednesdays and Thursdays. There will be a special added performance at 11 p.m. on Aug. 12.

Where: Mirage's Siegfried & Roy Theatre.

Tickets: $105.50. Beginning Aug. 9, $110.50. Includes tax, two drinks, gratuity and souvenir program.

Information: (702) 792-7777.

Rating (out of 5 stars): *****

More than 100 people stood in line for tickets to see Siegfried & Roy at The Mirage earlier this week.

They were the anxious hopefuls, the ones on standby in case someone who had purchased a ticket months in advance didn't show up.

But rarely does anyone fail to show up to use their tickets to see the "Magicians of the Century," as declared in 2000 by the International Magicians Society.

More than 25 million fans in Las Vegas have seen spectacular performances by the German natives, who met while working on a cruise ship in 1957.

The popularity of the world's two most famous magicians precedes by decades that of other famous Las Vegas performers and productions, such as Celine Dion, Danny Gans, "O" and "Mystere."

Only Mr. Las Vegas, 61-year-old Wayne Newton (who arrived in 1959 to perform in a lounge at the Fremont), rivals Siegfried & Roy in longevity as a headliner. Newton's headlining tenure began in the mid-'60s at the Flamingo.

Siegfried & Roy came to town in 1974 as a featured act in Donn Arden's "Hallelujah, Hollywood" at the MGM Grand (now Bally's). They then moved on to the Stardust's "Lido de Paris," also an Arden production.

They became headliners in 1981 at the Frontier, and moved into their own theater at The Mirage in 1990, where they have a lifetime contract. There have been more than 5,600 performances in the 1,500-seat venue, all of them sold out.

And once you see the show, you can understand its appeal.

It is an epic spectacle on a stage that features a cast of 88, plus a pride of white lions and tigers and an enormous mechanical dragon.

Even relatively mundane illusions (among them sawing a woman in half, piercing a basket with swords and levitations) take on an air of the spectacular when performed by two of Vegas' greatest showmen.

Though the tickets are among the most expensive in town (the price is being raised from $105.50 to $110.50 effective Aug. 9), there should be no complaint about their value.

This isn't a one-man show or a low-budget, off-Strip production with threadbare scenery and cheap tricks. Siegfried & Roy have created a first-class show, which was co-created and is directed by Tony Award-winner John Napier ("Cats," "Les Miserables," "Phantom of the Opera").

Costumes (by William Ivey Long) and lighting (by Andrew Bridge) enhance the grandeur of the evening, which includes enough grand illusions to satisfy anyone's craving for magic and for showmanship.

Audiences eagerly await the anticipated arrival of Siegfried & Roy, who emerge from smoke-filled, transparent containers after a brief laser light show and dance number that fills the room with excitement.

The fast-paced production moves easily from one illusion to another, filling in the gaps with dancing and music.

There are three acts in "Masters of the Impossible," the first dark and ominous, the second light and whimsical and the third focusing on Siegfried & Roy's trademark white lions and tigers (they own 63).

Through it all, Siegfried & Roy manage to occasionally wave to their fans and shake the hands of a few sitting closest to the stage.

Though they have been performing together for almost 46 years, the pair seem to enjoy their work almost as much as their fans enjoy watching them. Siegfried & Roy have become icons of Las Vegas, symbolic of a grandiose and flamboyant style of entertainment the city has become famous for.

To speak to their wide appeal: What do Howard Stern, Tom Brokaw, Bruce Willis, Anne Bancroft, the Bee Gees, Milton Berle, the Backstreet Boys, Mario Andretti and hundreds of other celebrities have in common?

All of them have attended a performance of Siegfried & Roy and had their pictures taken between the two magicians.

Whether you are a celebrity or one of the common folk, any journey to Las Vegas, the Mecca of entertainment, would not be complete without experiencing the magic of Siegfried & Roy.