The Magic Show

The Magic Show is a 1974 Broadway musical, starring magician Doug Henning. Stephen Schwartz wrote the music and lyrics. It received Tony nominations for Best Featured Actor and Best Direction of a Musical.

Set in the Top Hat, a run-down nightclub in Passaic, NJ, The Magic Show tells the story of Doug, a mysterious young magician brought in by the owner, Manny, as a replacement for the club's current headliner, the bombastic and somewhat incompetent Feldman the Magnificent. In contrast to the seedy style of the club, Doug is bohemian, almost a hippie. Accompanying him is his assistant, Cal, whose own ragamuffin style is as much camouflage as a costume and who harbors an unrequited crush on Doug. Strangely, no one seems to notice that Doug isn't a Stage Magician -- or at least not just a stage magician -- but a genuine wizard who for his own reasons is trying to use his magic to entertain.

As Doug settles in at the club, Feldman (aided the club's rock duo, Dina and Donna) does what he can to undermine his replacement by attacking his confidence in himself and his abilities. He's particularly intent on getting rid of Doug because a spectacular opportunity is coming -- the famous and powerful agent Goldfarb is coming to check out Donna and Dina's act at the behest of his nephew, who dates one of them. Everyone (except Doug and Cal) sees it as their chance to finally hit the bigtime -- and everyone sees Doug, with his amazing magic act, as the obstacle in the way of their success.

Convinced by Feldman's suggestions that he needs a little more "style" and flair in his act, Doug literally conjures up Charmin, a Lovely Assistant to replace Cal, who feels abandoned by the man she loves. Dina and Donna encourage her to give up on both Doug and her dreams. Meanwhile, the duo and Feldman, even further threatened when Charmin seems likely to improve Doug's chances to get Goldfarb's attention, plot to reveal the secrets of his magic tricks in the middle of his performance...

Based on Doug Henning's earlier Canadian show Spellbound but dramatically rewritten, The Magic Show singlehandedly reinvigorated stage magic after the collapse of Vaudeville all but killed it, and turned Henning into a household name. It ran on Broadway for over four and a half years, and is a perennial favorite for local theater companies all over.

In 1980, a heavily-modified version of the show was filmed on-stage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, and later released on VHS and DVD. This version is missing several of the show's most memorable songs which were replaced with new ones; further, some of the remaining original songs were given new lyrics, and both its dialogue and its lyrics have been bowdlerized. Not even the brilliant casting of Didi Conn as Cal can redeem it; it is generally considered to be a markedly inferior production compared to the original.


 * Counterpoint Duet: Donna and Dina in "Two's Company".


 * Country Music: "Charmin's Lament" is written in this style.


 * The Eleven O'Clock Number: "Sweet, Sweet, Sweet".


 * Expository Theme Tune: "Up To His Old Tricks".


 * "I Am Becoming" Song: A dark and negative instance in "West End Avenue", when Cal, wounded by Doug's apparent betrayal, realizes that her dreams of adventure and success are unrealistic and unrealizable, and she will have to settle for going back to the home she left and becoming ordinary again.


 * "I Am" Song: "Charmin's Lament", in which she complains at length about how she's always the girl who gets summoned when a mage or other supernatural wants a little no-strings nookie.  Also a List Song, as she counts off all the various kinds of beings who've summoned her, what she was doing when they did, and what they wanted from her.


 * "I Want" Song: "Lion Tamer", for Cal, which boils down to "I want to brave and confident to let Doug know how I feel about him", mostly cloaked in the metaphor of being a tamer of wild animals.


 * Joisey: The play takes place in a nightclub in Passaic, NJ.


 * Large Ham: Feldman,  "the Magnificent".


 * List Song: The middle portion of "Two's Company" rattles off a list of synonyms for an unwanted addition.


 * Lovely Assistant: Cal wants to be one, but is too insecure about her looks.  Charmin is summoned by Doug to replace her, but takes offense when she discovers that she wasn't summoned for sexual purposes, but instead so she can be sawed in half.


 * Magicians Are Wizards: Heavily implied -- indeed, all but said outright -- about Doug.  When he needs a Lovely Assistant, he doesn't hire one, he summons her with a spell.  And when she turns out to be a royal bitch, he permanently turns her into a leopard.


 * Masquerade: Genuine magic is clearly real in the world of The Magic Show, but almost unknown to the average person.


 * Massive Multiplayer Ensemble Number: The opener, "Up To His Old Tricks", employs the entire cast outside of the roles they will play for the rest of the show.
 * To a lesser degree "The Goldfarb Variations".


 * New Age Retro Hippie: Doug, especially in comparison with the disco splendor of Dina and Donna, and the tattered tuxedo and top hat look of Feldman.


 * No Last Name Given: Doug doesn't seem to actually have a last name, not that anyone notices...


 * Oblivious to Love: Doug, regarding Cal.


 * Opening Chorus: "Up To His Old Tricks".


 * Original Cast Precedent: The protagonist always goes by his actor's own name.  On Broadway, this started with "Doug" for Doug Henning, followed by "Jeff" for first replacement Jeffrey Mylett, and then "Joe" for second replacement Joe Abaldo.


 * Patter Song: The middle section of "Two's Company".


 * Saw a Woman In Half: Doug does this to Charmin, and then her bottom half gets lost -- she spends most of the play as a recumbent torso on a rolling table, bemoaning her state.


 * Shout-Out: "The Goldfarb Variations" is a reference to Johann Sebastian Bach's harpsicord piece the "Goldberg Variations".


 * Small Start, Big Finish: "Up To His Old Tricks", "Style", "Two's Company".


 * Southern Belle: Charmin, judging from her accent.


 * Stage Magician: Feldman. Doug is a genuine wizard trying to be a Stage Magician.


 * Unrequited Love: Cal, for Doug.


 * Villain Song: "Style" is a particularly subtle one, in that Feldman initially seems to be imparting friendly advice to Doug, but is in fact trying to eviscerate the young magician's self-confidence.