Tickets on Sale Dec. 5 for David Copperfield's Live Grand Illusion Show at Eisenhower Auditorium
December 1, 2005
Imagine if you could win the lottery, travel to your perfect place in the blink of an eye, own a dream car, turn back the hands of time or reunite with a lost loved one. It all becomes a reality when David Copperfield brings An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion to Penn State's Eisenhower Auditorium for two shows, at 6 and 9 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 24. Tickets go on sale Monday, Dec. 5, online, by phone and in person at four locations.
Section one and two tickets are $48 and $42 for an adult, $43 and $37 for a child 12 and younger, and $41 and $36 for a Penn State University Park student (maximum of 500 at each performance). For groups of 15 or more, section one and two tickets are $43.20 and $37.80 per person. For tickets and information, visit www.cpa.psu.edu or phone (814) 863-0255. Outside the local calling area, dial 1-800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at Eisenhower Auditorium, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; Penn State Tickets Downtown, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; HUB-Robeson Center Information Desk, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays through Dec. 9; and Bryce Jordan Center, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
True to its title, Grand Illusion is the logical and incredible evolution of a conjurer's art.
"For magic to be relevant," Copperfield explains, "it has to evolve so it keeps up with, or even surpasses, the best film and theater. I want to base my work on what people really dream about. Most of us don't dream of pulling a rabbit out of a hat. But what affects people is realizing personal dreams–dreams almost everyone shares–that they thought were impossible."
Copperfield's goal is to take one's dreams–and maybe a few nightmares–and make them become reality using his state-of-the-art wizardry.
"In the cinema, the audience watches the characters' dreams come true. In Grand Illusion, the audiences get to watch their dreams come true, live, before their very eyes and in three dimensions. It's an interactive experience of wish fulfillment. Nothing like it has been done before. Grand Illusion deals with real people who dream of being reunited with a loved one they thought they'd never see again and making it happen, instantly, in front of three or four thousand people who witness the event and see that it's real."
The show includes an ample amount of audience participation and potentially useful information.
"We call it an 'intimate' evening of grand illusion partly because it's interactive," Copperfield says. "In one of the pieces, for example, the audience discovers how to predict lottery numbers that will come up that night. They get to participate in illusions that blur the line between magic and reality."
David Copperfield: An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion is an affecting, life-changing event that reaches into the audiences' minds and hearts and takes them on a feast of wish fulfillment. Displaying his off-the-cuff brand of humor, Copperfield breaks new ground in an evening of wonders not soon to be forgotten.
Highlights of David Copperfield: An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion:
REUNION
Here a member of the audience takes the trip of his or her life. In "Reunion," a person who has longed for reconciliation with a loved one realizes his or her dream through one of the most startling, affecting illusions ever devised. While standing on a crane arm with Copperfield, suspended over the heads of the audience, the person vanishes impossibly, only to reappear moments later in the freely selected location of his or her dreams. From Hackensack to Honolulu, the person's "dream" location is where they magically arrive. "Reunion" is an illusion so challenging, Copperfield employs proof that would make Johnny Cochran envious.
KILLER
In an "unplugged" moment of pure sleight-of-hand, Copperfield performs "close-up" magic with a lethal black African scorpion. One of the most original, startling and dangerous effects ever, this unforgettable display of sleight-of-hand presents Copperfield with a true challenge to his will and dexterity, in a test not to be tried at home.
SQUEEZEBOX
Copperfield takes liposuction to a new level as the six-foot-one "King of Magic" gets squeezed into a bite-sized piece that could fit into a shoebox.
THE LOTTERY
Inspired by David's grandfather's unfilled dream, "The Lottery" is an astonishing epic of brain-busters. Copperfield involves the entire audience, and shares his secret technique for predicting the winning numbers.
MAN VERSUS STEEL
Copperfield walked through the Great Wall of China. This time, he'll do it a little slower. Instead of walking, he floats through solid steel, proving that dreams can dissolve barriers.
THIRTEEN
One of Copperfield's most heavily-requested creations, 13 audience members chosen entirely at random vanish, leaving friends and family wondering whether to applaud or put their loved ones' faces on milk cartons. Their fears are allayed as the 13 reappear, instantly, in the most surprising of places.
Note: illusion lineup subject to change without notice
Contact: Laura Sullivan
(814) 863-6379