a peek inside the fishbowl

In the afternoon I dropped the girls off at their grandparents, motored home, and finished up a bit of work in time for… DATE NIGHT. (After all, March Break can’t be ALL about the kids, right?)

Mark and I had sushi at MHK and then took off to see Mysterioso at the NAC.

The NAC – as you may know – is a Fishbowl advertiser. The tickets were freebies to a special “blogger night” and I was excited to be part of it.

We gathered beforehand for wine and hors d’oeuvres from Le Cafe. Foodies will already know that Chef Michael Blackie has taken over the helm there. I have already decided that Mark and I need to go back and explore the full menu. (If I wasn’t so stuffed I would have sampled more.)

Mark and I had delightful chats with Peter Herrndorf, as well as a bunch of bloggers I know and love, Katharine from Girl about O-Town, Kym from Relishing (one of my favourite local blogs – so much beauty there), Robyn and Lana Stewart (where are you blogging now Lana?), Katie from Apartment613 … and that’s just scratching the surface. There are others I am forgetting, ack. ETA: AND JULIE HARRISON TOO. :) :)

The show itself can be neatly summarized as a magic show put to music – but that is simplifying things a little too much. By “music” – of course – I mean the full orchestra.

It is a marriage between the two. Magic is not the same without music. Music evokes so much, and magic, well, it was pointed out afterwards that everyone loves magic. Staring hard at the magicians at work, trying to figure out each illusion … it makes us feel like kids again. And that’s a good feeling.

Joseph Gabriel, the headliner, has an impressive track record as an illusionist. It was the library that set him on his path; a book about the world’s great illusionists he read when he was nine. (!) Johnny Carson was a fan, and Gabriel has performed on virtually every major television variety show.  He performed for ten consecutive years in Las Vegas, and in an 18 month Broadway run. So as far as magic goes, you know you’re seeing a top act.

A few of his illusions involved live doves. I was interested to learn that they were actually borrowed from area magicians. Ten doves (plus one “understudy”) were rounded up because his flock weren’t allowed to cross the U.S. border.

I strained my eyes trying to watch his sleight of hand. Where was he putting them? Where were they appearing from? One dove was “torn” in half to reveal two live doves. Conjuring a bird cage – with a live bird it in – seemingly out of mid-air. Craziness.

There were other acts too.

Les and Dazzle (their tagline is “So bad they’re good”) was a highlight for me. Les (the magician) and Dazzle (his assistant, who also happens to be his daughter) stole the show with their antics. I don’t want to give it away, but Dazzle, did indeed dazzle. 

Medlies from Hollywood films and magic-related television shows formed the basis of the musical part of this show. I recognized Bewitched and Harry Potter, the theme from Ghostbusters etc.

Christina Bianco added a great vocal component to the show. She did impersonations of some of the musical powerhouses of our time and got them down pat: Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, Bernadette Peters, and Judy Garland. Her version of Defying Gravity from Wicked, was, well, wicked.

There was also a pair of magicians who specialized in quick-changes. It was pretty darn amazing. The lady “magicked” into a new dress about a dozen times during the show. (Dani mentioned she’d seen them on America’s Got Talent afterwards. I found a video online. You have to check it out to see what I mean. It is awesome. I still can’t figure out how they did it.) 

At the end of the show we had an informal meet and greet with conductor Jack Everly and Joseph Gabriel.

It was a highly enjoyable evening. As always, I do appreciate the NACs effort of bringing music to a wider audience. They do a great job of making it fresh and interesting. We are better because of it.

Emma and Sarah would have loved this show. I do recommend it for children, but the late hour might make it tough to bring anyone under 8 or 9. NAC should have considered adding a matinee performance!

Mysterioso is on tonight (Friday) as well as Saturday.