Due to the closing of The Fantastiks and the Sullivan Street Playhouse, New Yorks’ Monday Night Magic will move to a new location in mid-January, 2002. Although all details have not been finalized, Michael Chaut, producer of Monday Night Magic, has alerted MagicTimes that as of January 14th, 2002 the long running series of magical entertainment will leave it’s home of the past four years and head uptown to the McGinn/Cazale Theater at 2162 Broadway between 76th and 77th St. The final show at the Sullivan Street Playhouse will be presented on January 7th.
The New York City incarnation of Monday Night Magic (it has an “older, sister” production in London) will inhabit its third site with the move to the McGinn/Cazale Theater. The new hall locates the show on Broadway as Monday Night Magic begins to build longevity. Formerly the home of the Second Stage Theater Company, the McGinn/Cazale has excellent associations for magic having hosted Ricky Jays’ well regarded run here in New York City several years ago.
Commencing in 1995 at The Holy Cow Restaurant on 86th St. on Manhattans’ upper West Side, Monday Night Magic relocated to Greenwich Village and set down firm roots at the Sullivan St. Playhouse. “The Sullivan Street Playhouse is a magical place. It’s real life,” producer Michael Chaut reminisced to MagicTimes. “Some acts restructured because of the angles. There were people who said it wouldn’t work.” The show’s great track record of success has proven the nay sayers unprophetic. Chaut and his four partners, Peter Samelson, Frank Brents, Tod Robbins, and Jamy Ian Swiss formed the core of performers aided by a who’s who of New York conjurors and by artists visiting the city from the rest of the country and around the world. “It’s the only place in New York for people who decided they wanted to see magic.”
“John Lenahan of the London production sent an encouraging note early on in the undertaking,” recalls Michael. “He said producing the show would accomplish three things. It would renew old friendships. It would make new ones. And it would repair some others.” “People who I had not spoken to in years reappeared. Watching others work, I learned so much. The dinners after the shows! Every Monday night is like a magic convention at dinner!”
“Producing Monday Night Magic caused me to bring a different skill set to the table. The synergy of working with Peter, Jamy, Frank and Tod could not be matched. I realized my intent of furthering the art and providing a showcase for magic in New York City.” Going from strength to strength, the move from the Sullivan Street Playhouse to the McGinn/Cazale augers great things for Michael Chaut and Monday Night Magic as the production begins this new chapter in it’s history of entertainment and enchantment.
Additional information regarding Monday Night Magic can be had by calling their Hotline at 212-615-6432 or by visiting their web site at: www.MondayNightMagic.com.
—Richard Steven Cohn
Richard Steven Cohn has written for Genii, Magicol, M.U.M., The Yankee Collector, MAGIC, as well as magic themed articles for Brooklyn Bridge Magazine and Stagebill. He is a magical consultant for television and theater and performs both as a single and with his wife Alexandra.
