Arthur’s magic fun, but buffet doesn’t disappear

Friday, June 13, 2003 | 9:15 a.m.

What: Dirk Arthur in "The New Art of Magic."

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, 2 p.m. matinee Sundays.

Where: Silverton's Opera House.

Tickets: $38.44, includes one free buffet and two-for-one drinks; $27.45 without the buffet.

Information: (702) 263-7777.

Rating (out of 5 stars): ***

Is it the magic or the buffet that has made Dirk Arthur's "New Art of Magic" popular at the Silverton?

My vote goes to the magic.

Both are a little hard to swallow at times, but at least Arthur doesn't give you heartburn.

For $38.44 (taxes included) fans get the buffet, a two-for-one drink special, and they can see the veteran magician perform some interesting -- and a few not-so-interesting -- tricks (tearing apart a newspaper and putting it back together may have first been performed by Merlin more than 1,000 years ago).

Unless you are a buffet addict and can't pass up the opportunity to gorge on overdone meats, bland vegetables and boring desserts, you don't have to go through the buffet line.

For $27.45 you can avoid the line and just see the show. It might be money well spent.

It isn't a prerequisite that you eat in order to attend a performance by the affable Arthur, who ends each trick with "ta-da"-like flourishes and a broad, boyish grin that makes him look like the cat that ate the canary.

Speaking of cats and birds, there are a lot of them in this production, which in August will celebrate its first anniversary at the former Boomtown on Blue Diamond Road at Interstate 15.

During a recent performance Arthur noted that his is the longest-running show to have an engagement at the 600-seat Opera House showroom.

That could very well be. To my knowledge, the only other ongoing production at the casino, which opened in 1994, was Opryland Presents Nashville USA, which featured a rotating list of headliners -- the first was Porter Wagoner.

Opryland debuted with the opening of the venue, but only lasted a few months.

Apparently Arthur's cast of tigers (both white and orange), panthers (black), ducks (white), chickens and pigeons have greater drawing power than sequined country singers.

Tigers are an endangered species -- at least in the jungle. There seems to be an abundant supply on Las Vegas stages, where they are a major attraction with Siegfried & Roy at The Mirage and Rick Thomas at the Tropicana.

Although animals are an important part of Arthur's show, they aren't the most dramatic.

Much more impressive than watching a black panther somehow materialize out of an oversized disco ball is seeing an almost full-scaled replica of a train engine appear onstage.

Or the levitation of a Lamborghini that then seems to disappear into thin air.

Or the appearance and disappearance of a helicopter.

Arthur is a talented prop magician who has a long history in Las Vegas, dating back to 1987 when he was with "Magic, Magic" at the now-defunct Landmark hotel.

He also performed briefly in "Folies Bergere" at the Tropicana before joining "Jubilee!" at Bally's in 1995, where he was a featured entertainer for more than six years.

Arthur, besides being able to pull off the large illusions, is also a talented sleight-of-hand magician, who sometimes injects rather mundane tricks in between his more exciting feats.

Piercing a $100 bill with a pen without leaving a hole, shredding a paper heart and putting it back together and making spots seem to appear and disappear on cards are parlor tricks, good to perform at parties but not worth taking up the time of audiences who expect greater things from Las Vegas performers.

Arthur's show is worth the price of admission. It survives the handful of trite tricks, and even the stale jokes. ("I used to work with parrots, but I quit using them because they kept explaining how the tricks worked.")

But can it survive the buffet?