The dowdy yet regal Beacon Theater (Broadway at 74th St.) will host Penn & Teller for a limited run June 6th to 11th. Featuring lots of, “new,” Teller recently told MagicTimes that the program will be both “familiar and strange, as Aristotle might say.”
Currently playing a three week engagement at MGM’s Hollywood Theater in Las Vegas, Penn & Teller will return to the Hollywood for an additional three weeks after completing their New York City stand at the Beacon on June 11th. East coast fans attending the Beacon shows will see several new items. A “Jumbo Card Trick Opening,” with inflatable body suits which Penn & Teller are using in Las Vegas will be introduced in New York. A new routine for Mofo, The Psychic Gorilla, (he reads serial numbers from bills) and the Unicorn Song, with Penn hung upside down in a straight jacket while Teller makes hand shadows are amongst the added segments. The Balloon of Blood, “reaches undreamed philosophic depths” while “The Patriotic Flag Burning Trick” has been cited as perhaps, “the most political trick ever presented,” and, “ground breaking.”
A beautiful former Keith-Orpheum vaudeville house, the Beacon is an ideal and atmospheric place to view a show. The old theater itself is a treat, adding to the enjoyment of any exhibition presented there.
The schedule for Penn & Teller’s performances is one show each evening at 8:00pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. On Saturday June 10th there will be two shows at 5:00pm and 9:00pm. Sunday June 11th’s two shows will be at 3:00pm and 7:30pm, concluding the engagement.
Ticket prices range from $29.00 to $52.50 at The Beacon Theater Box office (212-496-7070) depending on date, time and seating. They are also available from Ticketmaster at 212-307-7171.While in New York City Penn and Teller will be making several television appearances. Scheduled so far is a segment on “The View” on June 6th and an appearance on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” on June 8th (the June 7th show which airs after midnight). Penn Jillette is also scheduled to be on the Howard Stern radio show on June 2nd.
–Richard Steven Cohn
