PEACH WEEKENDER

Spencers’ show blends magic, Broadway dazzle

Illusionist Kevin Spencer says his show 'is a combination of my love of theater and love of magic.' He and his wife, Cindy, perform Sunday in Findlay.

Spencers: Theatre of Illusion is not your grandfather’s magic show. Kevin Spencer and his wife and onstage partner, Cindy, create plenty of magic with Broadway-style techniques, music, movement, and lighting in addition to tricks of illusion.

“It really is a combination of my love of theater and love of magic,” Kevin Spencer said in a telephone interview.

The Spencers’ Sunday performance in Findlay is presented by the Arts Partnership.

The Spencers’ style of magic will include a trick inspired by one that Harry Houdini performed briefly in 1914. When the audience arrives in the Findlay theater, people will see concrete cinder blocks on the stage and can examine them. For the trick, the blocks will be stacked on steel poles so the audience can see under and over the blocks. Kevin Spencer will then invite a man from the audience onstage to hold onto the wall of bricks, and Spencer will walk through the wall. “It's a 21st-century version of a 1914 illusion,” he said.

The performances are sophisticated and contemporary and created with adults in mind, but children will enjoy them on their own level. “The show really does transcend ages,” he said. Spencer's favorite parts of the performances are those that involve people from the audience. But the show’s humor never comes at the expense of members of the audience, he said.

The Spencers received the Merlin Award for International Magicians of the Year in 2009. Kevin Spencer, who studied clinical psychology, takes his skills in illusion beyond the stage through his Healing of Magic occupational therapy program, which uses simple magic tricks in rehabilitation therapy.

Spencers: Theatre of Illusion will be presented Sunday at 2 p.m. at Heminger Auditorium in Findlay High School, 1200 Broad Ave., Findlay. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and are available at www.artspartnership.com, the box office, 618 South Main St., from 9.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, and by calling 419-422-4624.

‘War of the Worlds’

An Evening of Live Radio Drama, including a reading of the Orson Welles’ classic The War of the Worlds, will be presented by 3B Productions at 8 p.m. Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 and 2 at the Maumee Indoor Theatre’s Black Box Theater. The shows will also include Coffee Time with George Burns and Gracie Allen. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at www.3BProductions.org or at the door. The performances are being directed by veteran radio technician Dennie Sherer.

‘Hello, Dolly!’

The American theater classic Hello, Dolly!, starring Sally Struthers and presented by Theater League, opens tonight at 8 at the Stranahan Theater, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd. The musical with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Michael Stewart opened on Broadway in 1964 and won 10 Tony Awards, including best musical. Struthers won two Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Gloria Stivic in the groundbreaking 1970s television series All In the Family.

Additional performances are tomorrow at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $28 to $68, and can be purchased at theaterleague.com, at the Stranahan box office Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and by calling 419-381-8851.

Devilish

For The Devil Tells Me So, the Glacity Theatre Collective show that opens tonight, is not for the squeamish or the easily frightened. The performance presents the final moments of a family’s struggle with their daughter who is possessed by the devil. A butler guides the audience through the family house to witness the horrific elements of the family’s demise. There will be violence, vulgar language, offensive content, and blood, and the show is for audiences 18 and older. Adding to the mystery is the show’s secret location, which is revealed when a $10 ticket is purchased. The shows are sold out.

For The Devil Tells Me So is written, directed, and designed by Megan Aherne and Sean Koogan, and stars Ashley Stephens as the Mother, Jamie Wilson as the Father, Elif Erturk as Daughter Eris, and William Toth as the Butler. The 45-minute shows are tonight through Saturday and Oct. 30, 31, and Nov. 1, all starting at 9 p.m.

Send theater items at least two weeks in advance to Sue Brickey at sbrickey@theblade.com.