Juggling Acts: Ever-changing lineup highlights ‘The World’s Greatest Magic Show’ at Sahara Theater

Friday, Jan. 9, 2004 | 8:21 a.m.

Veteran producer Dick Feeney is a magician when it comes to finding successful shows - such as "Crazy Girls" at the Riviera and "Bottoms Up" at the Flamingo Las Vegas.

His latest project is a magic fan's dream come true, a revue featuring from eight to 10 magic acts - even more if you include magicians who warm up the audience.

"The World's Greatest Magic Show" premiered at the Sahara Theater on Oct. 15. The production takes place in the multimillion-dollar showroom built by the Sahara in 2000 for magician Steve Wyrick, who left the venue in August and opened at the Aladdin in December.

Among the cast of "The World's Greatest Magic Show" are comic host Jeff Hobson, Joseph Gabriel (who was with "City Lites" at the Flamingo for 12 years), The Majestix (who have a tiger in their act), sleight-of-hand artists Billy Ferguson and Kenneth Harvard, Sylvester the Jester (Dan Sylvester), who bills himself as "a real live cartoon", illusionist Nicholas Night and Kevin James (no, not the one who stars in "King of Queens").

In addition to performing, James is a consultant for the production.

James, a Las Vegas resident for the past 10 years, spends a lot of time performing in Europe and Asia. He is noted for creating his own illusions and illusions for others, including David Copperfield.

Although James has input into the acts that perform in the show, he says each magician brings his own act to the stage.

He and Feeney say they look for something out of the ordinary.

"We have tried very hard to go with illusions that not everybody's doing," Feeney said. "We want people who have a specialty - the best there is out there."

The revue has the benefit of appealing to a broader range of fans.

"People will pick out something in the show that, for them, is the best act," Feeney said. "But not everybody agrees.

"Nicholas Night does an artistic, hip, modern thing that appeals to some people. Others prefer Joseph Gabriel, one of the top three or four magicians in the world, or Kevin James, who has appeared on 40 TV shows."

Feeney said as he was creating the show he thought the egos of the performers might become an issue. After all, they are stars in their own right.

"But it has worked out terrific," he said. "This takes a lot of pressure off them. They don't have to carry an entire show by themselves."

Furthermore, it has not upset magicians who aren't in the show.

"I found out that if anybody (magicians) announced they were getting their own show in town, the magic community would immediately go -- maybe not publicly -- 'Why does so-and-so get the shot? It should have been me. I should have gotten the break.'

"But with this show, the opposite is true. We open up the possibility of performing to everybody, and they realize what a great and wonderful concept it is. They have a chance to be in the magic show."

Feeney says it took about 30 days for the show to take off after its opening.

"But it's been going gangbusters ever since," he said. "I had this idea two or three years ago, when there were a lot of magicians around."

Feeney says he received calls from magicians who asked him to produce shows for them -- all of them wanting to be the next Lance Burton or Siegfried & Roy.

"I saw that everybody seems to have a specialty," Feeney said. "They might have done one thing really well and then expanded into their own 90-minute show -- but they really didn't have an hour and a half of material.

"One might be great at illusions or at doing one great custom trick they designed themselves, but not be good at close-up magic. Or one might be great at mystical illusions, and not have good comedy timing. But when they try to expand into a full-length show, they just don't put the time into it."

And so the acts have been compressed for "The World's Greatest Magic Show."

James plays a major role in selecting the acts and adjusting the performances to the tight time frames.

"The best part about our show," he said, "is that instead of having one magician trying to do an hour and half with some filler material, you get seven or eight doing their absolute best 10 minutes. The fans are getting all A-plus material."

James says another great element of the production is the diversity.

"We have such a variety of different styles," he said. "Every act has a completely different twist on their style of magic. We try to keep the variety level high."

It's similar to what producer David Saxe did with "V, the Ultimate Variety Show" at The Venetian and "Ovation" at Aladdin.

Saxe compiled a cast of specialty acts, from jugglers to memory experts to dancers, and made them the show rather than warm-up acts or acts used while the main performers are changing costumes.

Feeney is applying the same formula, only using magicians.

He describes the show as "modular."

"It isn't dependent on one entity," Feeney said. "If an act is sick or can't perform because of another engagement, we can still have a full show."

The production is fluid. As time passes, acts will come and go. Each show will be a little different from the previous.

"We do contracts for a month to three months," Feeney said. "One of the benefits is that when you open a new show and put out the publicity, that's basically it. Three years later you're still doing the same show with the same headliner.

"But with this concept, we can put publicity out every month or two about a new act, or a new illusion."

Feeney is known by some as the "marketing producer." He knows how to sell shows to the public, something he has been doing since arriving in Vegas to co-produce "An Evening at La Cage" (1985) and "Crazy Girls" (1987), which are still going strong.

Although he is no longer associated with either of those productions, his name is attached to several others that are also popular, including "Viva Las Vegas" at the Stratosphere, which opened in 1991 and is the longest-running afternoon show in Vegas.

In 2000 he became a co-producer of "Bottoms Up" at the Flamingo, which was created by Breck Wall, the show's producer and star since its inception in 1959.

In 2002 he became a co-producer, along with Sandy Hackett, of "The Tribute to Frank, Sammy, Joey and Dean" at the Greek Isles.

One of his favorite creations lasted only 10 weeks. "Forbidden Vegas" had its brief run at the Plaza in 1993.

"It was the most fun show I have ever done," Feeney said. "I wrote the whole show as a spoof on Las Vegas shows -- on the headliners as well as the shows."

But apparently Vegas wasn't ready to be spoofed. However, it still hasn't had its fill of magicians.

"Some people say we are over-saturated with magicians," Feeney said. "I don't think so. I still think the interest is out there."

Feeney, who owns the Flying Elvi, travels around the country a lot and says he has a good feel for the kind of entertainment people want.

"They love magic."

James says magic will never go away.

"It's a wonderful art form that transcends age and language barriers," he said. "No matter what your age or what language you speak, you can totally enjoy magic -- and as long as magicians continue to remain creative and original, there will be a place for them in Vegas."

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