Through a long and convoluted series of events, I found myself (along with Kidlet, Kidlet's Other Parent (KOP), and Kidlet's Friend (KF)) at Great Wolf Lodge for an overnight stay on Good Friday. It should come as no surprise that I viewed this as an opportunity to utilize some tickets that were gifted to me to see "Wild Magic" at the
Greg Frewin Theatre. (Which reminds me, I owe a now very belated thank you note to the generous ticket gifter.)
Tip: Arrive to the theatre as early as you can to ensure good seating (the box office will let you know what time is best). There's also a photo
opportunity next the to lion statues by the front
doors.
Note to parents: Bring along some distractions for
little ones (such as crayons with paper, playing cards, books, quiet
hand-held video games etc.) to help pass the time between arriving for
the best seating and show time.
If you think your child would be scared sitting right up close to
the tigers at level one, level two offers an equally good view of the
stage along with the sense of a physical barrier between you and the big
cats.
Inside the theatre there's some entertainment while you wait. We watched footage of Greg's tigers when they were adorable cubs. People had their special occasions celebrated (happy belated birthday Donna, Jason, and Nicholas). There were also short clips of some of the TV appearances Greg's made. He's done a tonne of interviews!
My favourite part of the show, three viewings later, is still the illusion involving fire and water.
Here are some random thoughts that came to mind while watching "Wild Magic":
- The show starts strong and keeps getting bigger and better.
- There's a smattering of mentalism and close-up magic to keep things varied, but make no mistake, Greg's large illusions dominate the show!
KF's favourite part of the show: all of the tiger productions.
- There are three large video screens making it easy to see the close-up parts from any seat in the house.
- The show is different enough from the last time we were there, that it felt new to us.
- It made me happy that some of my favourites (for example, the illusion with water and fire) are still in the show.
- It looked like the show was sold out. (The house is
deep and narrow and particularly good for viewing magic. I don't think there's a bad seat.)
KOP's favourite illusion: when Greg makes one of his assistants 'dissolve' into a metal plate.
- A good pair of theatre binoculars give you a seat upgrade!
- The show involved newspapers, a parakeet (or was it a macaw?), an invisible deck, artwork, handcuffs, tigers, talented
ladies, candles, fire, doves, a dog, tigers, kids, a little bit of Sting, and a little bit of Shania Twain. And a whistle. (One of Kidlet's favourite parts.)
- Greg even teaches a trick!
Kidlet's favourite illusion, three viewings later: the one I referred to in
2012 as the "
Assistants' Revenge."
- As I've previously noted, how magicians treat audience members is something to which I pay close attention. For me, one of the things that brought me great joy, was when Greg asked a young boy to come up on stage to help. They boy said, "no." Greg didn't miss a beat and went on to find someone else. I think more kids were interested in helping out after that. They got the sense that they weren't going to be pressured into doing something they didn't want to do.
- Greg had an eye-popping and ambitious take on sawing a person into halves. It was hard for me to count 'cause they kept moving things around, but I think that his poor assistant was broken up into 9 segments!
- It is a really physically demanding show.
- Greg and his crew deliver the same level of energy and passion for performing as I first witnessed six years ago!
- The evening was fantastically entertaining!
All the excitement and entertainment of a Las Vegas show, for a fraction of the cost!
(A deal made even better with the current exchange rate.)
During the intermission I was delighted to spot Sorcerers Safari alumnus Christian Mascia demonstrating magic. He was doing an excellent job of it too. He had a crowd gathered that was at least 8 people deep and practically engulfed him. I'm sure he sold a lot of magic kits for Greg that night!
I should also note that I think I saw Ben up on stage doing what looked like a fabulous job assisting.
After the show we queued up for the photo illusion with tiger
Cashmere. Kidlet and KF had their photo taken. The adults watched on, secure in the knowledge that the
tiger trainer is right there keeping a careful watch at all times. (And because we were getting two copies of the same photo, one each for Kidlet and KF, the second copy was half price!)
Note: The profits from the photos go to a tiger sanctuary, and to feed hungry tigers.
After the show (photo or not) you can queue up for an autograph from, a
bring-your-own-camera photo with, and have a quick chat with Greg!
If you get the chance, I highly recommend the "
VIP backstage tour package add-on."
We experienced the backstage tour in 2016 and it was fabulous
Thank you to John, Alex, Erika, and everyone else
involved in making it such a magical evening for my family. A special
thank you to Greg, for his hospitality and for sharing his magical
talent!
