Attention AMA members. The Magic Castle will hold a "Castle Perk" on Tuesday, July 1, with the team behind the new play,
Flim Flam: Houdini and the Hereafter, which opens this Friday at the Malibu Playhouse. The cast will be presenting snippets from the show, and a reservationist will be on hand of arrange discounted seats to the full production for Castle members.
The event will be held in the Inner Circle, Tuesday, July 1, at 8PM. See you there!
For more information and to buy tickets to
Flim Flam: Houdini and the Hereafter, visit
malibuplayhouse.org or call 323-960-7711. Malibu Playhouse is located at 29243 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90265.
As a long time admirer of Houdini, I want to say thank you so very much in presenting the truth regarding his life and magic, while doing so with respect for Houdini and Beloved Bess.
ReplyDeleteMay I ask two questions, then I'll cease to be an annoyance? ;-) Okay that makes three questions, sorry.
The play you mention above, "Film Flam: Houdini and the Hereafter", this is based in some part on Houdini's encounter with the 'medium' Mina "Margery" Crandon, did she actually 'perform' nude or in a robe after being patted down by a female member of those attending? Seems that would be on the edge of breaking the law in those days.
Last question, so called 'biographical' films and such about the Houdini's lives
and how they loved to claim that Harry's mother despised Bess because she wasn't Jewish, was this at all true? These biographies also seem to forget he had a father and four brothers, so Mama Weiss obviously had lots of sons to spoil.
But the one made for TV version that all but said outright Houdini and his mother had what was a nearly incestual relationship! How they got away with that revolting lie is the real mystery. Sorry, when idiots slam decent people who can longer defend themselves just to make a buck, is beyond infuriating.
Thanks for reading this pitiful missive of mine,
Sincerely, Jean McArthur
Thanks for the comment and compliment, Jean.
DeleteYes, Margery did indeed do some seances just clothed in a robe. But a "nude test" was a very Houdini thing to do. A lot of similarities between these two masters of their art.
This only movie to show Mama hostile toward Bess was the 1976 TV biopic, The Great Houdinis. I love that film, but there is no truth to this. Mama was very welcoming of Bess and religion was not a issue (all the brothers married outside the Jewish faith). It was actually Bess's mother who initially rejected Harry.