In the version from the show, the plot is identical but
prior to Chloe vanishing from the DeKolta Chair you see
her hands through the cloth and the box where she will
eventually make her appearance is already on stage! It’s
raised off the stage three feet and yet when she vanishes she seemingly transports across the stage instantly.
This really had me thinking that Chloe must actually
have a twin, but she doesn’t! This was just one more
example how Criss has taken a classic and created, in
essence, a new method and presentation that catapults
his magic into our day and age.
Criss then notices a few members of the audience are
holding a banner to gain his attention. He brings the
banner on stage and a live video feed is introduced.
He is wrapped in the banner in the center of the stage
and yet instantly vanishes and transports to the middle
of the audience. This looks really organic - it’s raw in
production value and registers very strongly with the
audience.
This text does not really do justice to the pace of this
sequence since the show started. It’s really a rollercoaster ride... The energy levels of the whole cast are through
the roof and the audience is already on their feet as
Criss makes his way back to the stage - a first of many
standing ovations throughout the show.
A projected VT then introduces the next sequence,
which if I describe it as an inverted straightjacket escape, you would probably think you have seen something like this before - but trust me you have not. As
he is hoisted well above the stage the whole scene is
surrounded with 3D immersive graphics, on nine different screens, giving you a real feeling of height. It’s like
you are up in the air with Criss looking down on a city
below and this is all combined with a serious amount
of wind swirling around the theatre like we are trapped
in some sort o