Theatre TV special will broadcast on ETV, Sunday, April 3rd. John,
besides being a master magician, is the current South Carolina
Magician of the Year. He also is the founder of SCAM (South
Carolina Assoc. of Magicians), and was the host of this years
convention in Columbia S.C.
Having already viewed the special, taped it, and watched it a
second time, I can confirm that it is everything it appears to be,
and much more. I enjoyed every minute.. and I'm sure you will
too. Be sure to have your vcr loaded and ready..
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Columbia, SC.. John Tudor's Magic Theatre appears in a one hour
TV special on SC ETV, broadcast statewide at 5 PM on Sunday, April
3, 2005. The family friendly show was taped before a live audience
at the Sumter Opera House in Sumter, by the SC Channel, in
September of last year.
The lineup includes: John Tudor of Columbia, SC, with dramatic
story magic; Emcee Comedy Magician Glenn Strange of Spartanburg,
SC; Illusionist Dave Tanner of Myrtle Beach, SC: Classical
Conjuror Tim Sonefelt of Anderson, SC; Magic Storyteller Sarah
Straney of Columbia, SC; and Sleight of Hand Artist Robert
Moreland of Hilton Head, SC. The producer, magician John Tudor
says, ³The TV show brings some of our state's best magical
entertainers together to showcase a theatrical presentation of
magic.²
The show is sponsored by a pair of grants from the SC Arts
Commission (which receives funding from the National Endowment for
the Arts) and the Coastal Community Foundation of SC. The show is
also the subject of a behind the scenes documentary to appear
later this year.
For more information, hi resolution images, and "making of" essay,
contact John Tudor at 803-796-8693 or visit www.tudormagic.com
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FAQ / Interview with John Tudor
:: What is "Magic Theater"?
Magic Theatre is my first TV special, (first broadcast Halloween weekend, 2004, on SC ETVs SC Channel) with some good friends, who are the finest magicians in SC. Its a fun, family friendly show that got a long standing ovation at the taping in September, at the Sumter Opera House in Sumter, SC.
The theatre part comes in with my desire to present a distinct style of theatrical magic, with imaginative stories, all taped before a live audience. All of the forms of magic - grand illusion, sleight of hand, comedy, bird magic, etc. are in this show - with an accent of storytelling.
This magical team from around the state have banded together in revue shows for the past decade, usually for charity. This time we did it for the cameras too!
:: Who is in the show? What do they do?
David Tanner (Myrtle Beach, SC) produces a woman from an empty box, shrinks her to a foot tall and back again.
Tim Sonefelt (Anderson, SC) does ³classical conjuring²: in white tie and tails he makes birds and scarves appear and disappear, etc.
Sleight of hand prodigy Robert Moreland (Hilton Head, SC) performs close up to the audience with playing cards and coins.
The emcee, comedian Glenn Strange (Spartanburg, SC); tells a touching story of a childhood memory as he makes a snowstorm appear from his empty hands.
The only female professional magician in SC, Sarah Straney (Columbia, SC), tells an Asian tale of personal enlightenment, (with magic wands and dragon sticks) to a large group of children.
Tim Sonefelt returns with a magic story about pirates, based upon a library book, that urges young people to read.
Dave Tanner tells the true story of his lifelong magic mentor, and demonstrates his ongoing presence by levitation.
I featured the tale of a spanish swordfighter¹s redemption(disguised as a card trick), and capture the audiences¹ pure imagination in a drinking glass. Recurring nightmares of my own demise are experienced (disguised as another card trick).
Finally, I reveal some life long inspirations as I make a woman disappear in a giant puzzle of a Chagall painting.
:: How does magic work on TV?
The live performance was the easy part, the television aspect was much more difficult and challenging. Magic shows in themselves have always been at kind of a loss on TV, especially today with the incredible special effects that are possible.
The long standing question is: How to present the performance in a way that is exciting and believable to the television audience? The show was shot before a live audience, with no camera tricks or movie special effects.
:: What did you do? How was it created?
I was the producer, co-writer, and lead performer; and the complexity of this project is hard to overstate. As I conferred with each artist on the live show aspects, we also created the video.
Through many meetings, calls, e-mails, and review of videos and DVDs; the show was created. All of the artists involved took this show as sort of mission, to create the best possible performance they could.Fortunately I was able to build on my long association with SC ETV, in particular, with director (and amateur magician) Gary Hipp. The SC Channel crew, Production Coordinator Eleanore Vaughn, and Station Manager Will Anderson, are the ones who made it happen!.
The South Carolina Channel is SC ETV¹s digital cable channel, serving the approximately 400,000 cable subscribers (nearly 40% of the entire state).
Check your local cable listings for details. They¹re based at WRJA in Sumter, and broadcast regular concerts from the Sumter Opera House.
:: What about the documentary?
Simultaneous with the SC Channel shoot was an ³indie² video shoot, to create a ³behind the scenes² look at the hour long TV special. This second unit was composed of three videographers (including international filmmaker Alan Geoghegan) and a still photographer. They were there to document the process, and give a peek into the secret world of magicians.
The documentary shoot was coordinated by Joey Vazquez, who is the leader of a small group of amateur magicians with an interest in digital media and stage performance that I have been mentoring.
Besides the documentary about the show, the final product will be an educational book and DVD for magicians and variety artists to work in television.
:: How did you do it?
That's a secret...........
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For more information contact John Tudor at 803-796-8693, or visit www.tudormagic.com.
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