Spencers: Theatre of Illusion in New Lenox for all ages

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Spencers: Theatre of Illusion will be at Lincoln-Way Central Performing Arts Center in New Lenox on Jan. 27.

Updated: February 21, 2012 8:14AM

One of the world’s greatest magicians had a trick he only performed a handful of times. It’s one other magicians don’t even attempt.

Kevin Spencer — who with his wife, Cindy, will bring Theatre of Illusion to New Lenox on Jan. 27 — is going to change that.

“One of the things we are featuring this year is a re-creation of Harry Houdini’s walking through a brick wall,” he said. “In 1914, Houdini walked through a solid brick wall on the stages of Broadway. He did it for only a few months, and then he stopped.

“Lots of speculation about why he may have stopped, but nobody knows for sure. But since 1914, no other magician has ever attempted that illusion live onstage. So what we’ve done is taken that concept … and made it very hip, very sophisticated.”

When audience members enter the Lincoln-Way Central Performing Arts Center for the show, they will see eight concrete cinder blocks. People are even invited to inspect the blocks and make sure they’re real.

Then a member of the audience will be invited onstage to watch the Spencers stack the blocks into place, with bars connecting the blocks. That audience member then will holds onto the wall while Spencer visibly walks through the concrete to the other side of the wall.

“It’s not only a great piece of magic, but the fact that we get to use someone from the audience makes it a great piece of theater, too,” he said. “It’s a really fun illusion for me to perform.”

The Spencers have been named performing arts entertainers of the year for six consecutive years, and also have been named international magicians of the year, an honor they share with the likes of David Copperfield, Doug Henning, Penn & Teller and Criss Angel.

The show is called Theatre of Illusion because “it’s a combination of our love for theater and our love for magic,” he said.

“I think when people hear about a magic show, a couple of images pop into their minds. They think of a birthday-party type of magician, or a Las Vegas-type of revue show. We’re not either one of those,” Spencer said.

“All of the critics have said our show captures all of the great theatrical elements of a Broadway production, the high energy of a rock concert, and magic is the medium that moves the show forward.”

The Spencers want their audiences to see magic performed in a way they’ve never seen performed before, he said. The show incorporates lighting, scenery, music, movement and audience interaction.

“It’s all wrapped around some really incredible illusions that happen onstage,” Spencer said.

Although the show was originally designed for adult audiences, he said, it is appropriate for all ages.

“We wanted the adults in the audiences to leave scratching their heads and going, ‘I have no idea how they did that,’ ” Spencer said. “And yet it is extremely family-friendly. Everybody will enjoy it and have a good time.”

There are five members in the show, and Spencer plays the role of master of ceremonies. He tries to create a rapport with the audience and said he enjoys meeting fans afterwards.

There are several favorite moments in the show.

“We have one illusion in the show where we ask every single person in the theater to help us out, so no one can walk away saying they didn’t have an opportunity to get involved and participate.”

Spencer said he and his wife want the audience to experience a gamut of emotions, just as theater, music or dance would invoke.

“We try to bring the art of illusion to a different level, so the audience walks away not thinking they went to a magic show, but knowing they witnessed a really exciting production,” he said.

Spencer said he recognizes that magic shows are a dying breed.

“A lot of magicians have a hard time pulling themselves into the 21st century,” he said. “As the world and technology moves forward, magic — if it is going to stay relevant — has to do the same thing.

“Music does it, theater does it, dance does it. But some of the more vaudevillian types of art forms never seem to move into the new century.

“What we have tried to do is integrate technology into the show so that it is a very modern, contemporary experience for the audience, and they get to see magic in a whole new way.”

That approach allows the Spencers to stay booked a year in advance, he said.

Spencer’s interest in magic was sparked at age 5 as a boy growing up in northwest Indiana when he saw a magician on television.

Three years later, his parents bought him a magic kit, and he was hooked. He even worked his way through college doing magic shows.

“When I finished school, I had to make a decision of what I really wanted to do,” Spencer said. “I’ve always loved magic, and I didn’t want to look back someday and say, ‘I wonder what would have happened if I had tried.’ ”

So he launched on the venture with his wife, and it’s clicked for them with a lot of hard work.

He promised that their show is like nothing one has seen on television.

“They should come ready to volunteer themselves or the person sitting next to them,” Spencer said.

He added that volunteers would be treated with respect.

“I think it’s really important audiences experience magic in a very positive way,” he said. “They will walk away having seen things they’ve never seen before.

“Hopefully they are going to walk away scratching their heads and wondering how it was done. They should come ready to have a good time.”

Annie Alleman is a free-lance writer.