Magic and mystery has made its way to Perth’s Crown Theatre, with NOW YOU SEE ME LIVE presenting bold tricks and thrilling stunts to captivate audiences.
Based on the popular movie trilogy, following a band of cunning magicians known as the Horsemen, the story naturally lends itself to a life on the stage. With a fourth film confirmed to be in development, this live adaptation is a great way to tide over fans who are hungry for more.
Throughout the two hour performance we meet escapologist Andrew Basso, sleight-of-hand expert Matthew Pomeroy and grand illusionists Gabriella Lester and Pablo Canovas who take turns baffling audiences, leaving many questioning how their trickery was pulled off.
From card tricks to mind reading and teleportation, there was plenty of action for patrons throughout the night with ample opportunities for audience patience (their faces proving how mind boggling some of these tricks truly were).
Without giving away too much, some personal highlights included a death defying Houdini style escape, and a very impressive maths equation to bring the night to a close – complete with a touching speech about time, and the way we choose to use it.
Outside of some master trickery, this show also had high production value, with immersive lighting and sound design audiences were truly immersed into the world of the show, helping provide the thriller-type feel from the films.
One piece of advice I’d offer to anyone attending the show is to look out for cards on the way in. There was a particular moment, using the entire audience and the ‘cards you received on the way in’ – unfortunately myself and those I was with didn’t get any (though we may have just missed them ourselves) so had to miss out but enjoyed watching those around us. Given the size of the audience and the grand scale of the trick, it was very impressive and therefore a little disappointing to not have been a part of it.
Admittedly there were a few things throughout the show that I’m still skeptical of, but it was clear from the audience’s overall reactions that many were baffled and left wanting more.
This show makes for a great night out for people of all ages, and is a fantastic nod to its roots – don’t wait to pick up tickets… blink and you’ll miss it 😉
To book tickets to Now You See Me Live, please visit https://www.crownperth.com.au/entertainment/crown-theatre/shows/now-you-see-me.
Photographer: Cameron Grant, Parenthesy
