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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, August 6, 2010 · 32 Artscene This show will be magic, Vegas style By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF fter having success with a magical illusion at one of its previous performances, the Oakville Players community theatre group is doing it again. However, this time the group is going all out with magic. Twisting Reality is a Las Vegasstyle magic show with local worldclass illusionist Chris Stolz. It runs Wednesday, Aug. 11-14 at the Sheridan College main stage. "We're trying to do something new and we're trying to push the envelope," Stolz said. "It's great that Oakville has this here." Stolz is not only a magician; he is also an illusion designer and a magic consultant, who works with other magicians around the world. He grew up in British Columbia and moved to Mississauga, just on the Oakville border, six years ago. He performed as a magician and actor in B.C. and is continuing with that career here and has performed with Oakville Players in the past. The idea for the magic show came during the production of the play Underpants, last summer. While that production, which sold out, proved that summer theatre could be successful, Stolz was already working on an illusion for the next performance by the theatre group, a play titled An Inspector Calls. "They needed a magical effect so (Oakville Player president David A "Most of the magic in the show is actually original. So no other magician in the world will be performing most of what I'm doing." Chris Stolz, Illusionist MICHELLE SIU / OAKVILLE BEAVER ILLUSION ACT: Illusionist Chris Stolz poses for a photo during a rehearsal at the Oakville Players studio in preparation for the theatre group's magic and illusion show, Twisting Reality. The show takes place Aug. 11-14 at Sheridan College. Nash) brought me in to basically make a girl on a rope disappear," Stolz said. "We did it and it looked really cool. I think it was literally the day we were packing up the Underpants after closing night and the producer said it would be really cool to do a magic show in here. And I thought, `Yeah, it would be great,' and one thing led to another and I just sort of said, `Let's go Vegas.'" It wasn't long after that the show was planned out. While Stolz will be the main star in the show, there are many others needed to make the show fly. After all, someone else will need to disappear so he can bring him or her back. The theatre group will provide the crew, for things such as lighting, sound and more. Furthermore, Stolz will have two female assistants, also members of the theatre group, with him on stage. "This kind of show is really cool because we speak and work directly with our audience, so its very engaging, in a way that theatre isn't," he said. "I think what makes our show unique is that I and my two assistants are experienced actors and directors so we bring an interesting story telling theatrical element to it." And if that wasn't enough, to spice things up the show will have a group of dancers from the Toronto-based Lindsay Ritter Productions. Stolz said doing a show such as this gave him an opportunity to create some new magic. "Most of the magic in the show is actually original," he said. "So no magician in the world will be performing most of what I'm doing. And it also gave the Oakville Players a chance to do something different." The show will consist of three different types of magic. The first type is what Stolz calls stand-up n See Stolz page 34