In the return engagement of Albie Selznick’s almost-one-man-show, “Smoke and Mirrors” (directed by David Schweizer), it’s easy to see that the production has been changed up for a more fun-loving, accessible style — while retaining the same messages about death, fear, loss and the need to confront the darkness in ourselves. Playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m., September 13 through November 2, there’s new illusions, a few shifts in the cast and a new venue (the Road Theater in North Hollywood). But throughout, there’s still the same love of magic and the same questions about the unknown, the survival of love in the face of death and how our choices shape our destinies.
“Smoke and Mirrors” is the life story of a magician who loses someone very important to him at an early age, and spends the rest of his life running from his fears and hiding in the world of magic. With the help of Houdini’s widow Bess (Laura Stahl, on the night this critic attended, alternating with Kimberly Stebbins), a Rabbit (Kyle Bryan Hall, Anthony Cosmano, Michael Heiman) and the Oracle on the Hill (Rob Villalobos, Sia Foryoh, Herb Mendelsohn, Cosmano and Heiman), Albie grows up and has to make the biggest transformation of all — with no tricks involved.
Well, maybe just a few…
Magician meets magic, embodied: Albie Selznick and Laura Stahl in “Smoke and Mirrors.”
But again, the story is polished a little differently and the aim is a little broader. While the original run took the audience a little further in terms of living Albie’s point of view, and giving us a few more scares to show us how he felt, this time we’re seeing the life of someone who’s past their crisis and wants to show us the hope that waits beyond the fears. There’s also plenty of laughs (as there were the first time around) and a healthy dose of audience participation. It’s a fine, focused evening of theater that has plenty of light entertainment for everyone and something deeper for anyone who wants to think and feel a little more.
“Smoke and Mirrors” will be headed to NYC soon, so catch it while you can — at The Road Theater in North Hollywood.
