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| Thursday, August 14, 2008
Theatre & Magic > Review > Magic Box by Lawrence and Priscilla Khong Submerged in some MagicWriter : Yang Ming  Magic BoxTwo years ago, I caught up with "Magic of Love" - a magic-musical production, presented by the magic-label, Magic of Lawrence & Priscilla. That flagship illusion show made its first foray into the theatre scene since 2001. Now, two years on after my first experience with "Magic of Love", the father-and-daughter duo has put up another sophomore production, "Magicbox" and this time round, on a bigger scale at the Esplanade Theatre. The play opens up in a setting of an old and cosy theatre called Magicbox run by George Chew (played by the brilliant Jonathon Lim). There lies a past-his-prime lead magician Lawrence performing with his daughter, Priscilla and son, Charlie. But Priscilla begins to feel sick of her father's overprotective antics and desires very much to have her own show even though he knew she isn't ready for it. Thus, she is tempted by an offer from her old flame Robbie Loh, the manager of the sleek Metropolitan Grand Theatre, who also happens to be the person behind the acquisition of Magicbox Theatre. There is also a new addition in the family of magicians named Charlie (played by the pitifully and underused Dwayne Tan) who was often overlooked by Lawrence. Despite the new script, the storylines remained lackluster. It sounds too familiar to the story of "Magic of Love" : an old theatre is being on a verge of being acquired by a long-time business nemesis; Magician father is too protective over his daughter; the latter is being poached by the nemesis and lastly the final showdown. The main characters played by the real-life father and daughter duo, Lawrence and Priscilla Khong failed to exude their struggles about their shadows of past and freedom respectively beyond their magical acts. Notwithstanding, I must say that Lawrence and Priscilla have put in a lot of effort into presenting and coming up with all the new acts and rehearsing the old acts for the show, hence, it can't be judged solely by its drama values. Likewise, the main highlights of the show belonged to the magic acts and audiences were certainly given a real treat to death-defying acts such as Blades of Death and Spikes of Doom, brand new illusions such as Parasol Act and other spectacular illusions. The illusionary style has certainly improved with excellent stage lighting techniques; the cutting-edge sets, and resplendent costumes can be comparable to any off-Broadway or West End’s show. I truly enjoyed the Snowstorm act where Lawrence tore pieces of paper and magically turned it into a snowstorm on the stage. Apart from the entertainment value, the show also highlighted family issues about family warmth and love. It has certainly given much laughter, joy and enthralls the likes of young and old among the audiences. Visit http://www.magicbox.com.sg/
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