The Cabot - A True Theatre of Magic

Fu Manchu/David Bamberg had a dream. His dream was to create a resident magic company (show) in Argentina. Unfortunately, that dream never happened. But somehow, that dream was passed to a young boy who was inspired by FuManchu, that boy was Cesareo Pelaez. He would grow up to be the founder and director of the Le Grand David Magic Spectacular in Beverly Massachusetts.  But before there was a show, the ragtag group of future performers purchased a run down theatre known as the Cabot Street Cinema Theatre.

EARLY HISTORY

The theatre was originally known as The Ware Theatre and it was designed to be a silent movie and vaudeville house.  It opened on December 8, 1920 and was managed by Harris and Glover Ware, two brothers and former vaudeville performers from Marblehead Mass. This was their second theatre in Beverly Mass, the first was the smaller Larcom Theatre a few blocks away. Today it's known as the Cabot St. Cinema Theatre and it has spacious seating on the lower level and has upper balcony seating as well, a total of 750 seats in the auditorium. The stage is enormous with plenty of wing and fly space for curtains. The dressing rooms are in the basement below the stage. The original stage included an orchestra pit for musicians.

1970s HISTORY

The members of what would become the Le Grand David Magic Show purchased the run down Cabot Theatre in 1976. The first thing they did upon being able to occupy the building was do a floor to ceiling cleaning of the place. They reopened the theatre 48 hours later showing movies. However, they didn't show movies the current run movies. Their idea was to show 'Films Worth Seeing More Than Once'. The movies were selected by Cesareo and included such gems as Lawrence of Arabia, Camelot, It Happened One Night, Yankee Doodle Dandy and other classics. The theatre lobby always had fresh cut flowers and the doormen wore tuxedos (they still do today). Often members of the company dressed up in costumes that reflected the movie that was showing. Every movie became an 'event'.  If that wasn't enough for new audiences to enjoy, they would have been amazed to know the flurry of activity taking place after hours and often into the wee hours of the morning.

For six months they worked building illusions, magic props, painting scenery, sewing costumes and redecorating and restoring the theatre. Once the items were built, then they had to rehearse. All this took place after the regular movie showing hours.

On February 20th 1977 the debut performance of 'LeGrand David and his Magic Company' took place on the Cabot theater stage. The name would be altered slightly over the next year to become 'Marco the Magi presents...LeGrand David and his own Spectacular Magic Company'.

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The Cabot St. Cinema Theatre also has several store fronts and a second story above the store fronts. The entire building is owned by White Horse Productions, which is the actual business name for the Le Grand David troupe. The storefronts serve as offices and storage/display areas. The rooms on the second level include a painting room and a sewing room where most of their wonderful costumes were created over the life of the show. 

The LeGrand David show ran for 35 consecutive years. Over the years they had a number of milestones, one of which was purchasing a second theatre, the Larcom. The Larcom theatre was the first theatre built by the Ware Brothers and now both theatres are again owned and managed by the same company. The Larcom is a smaller theatre and the restoration to that property is quite amazing. It is truly a treasure all its own.

These two theatres were home to the LeGrand David troupe. However, they did venture out on several occasions to perform elsewhere. They performed at the White House in Washington D.C. on numerous occasions at the invitation of President Reagan. I believe they did an abbreviated version of their show at the Magic Castle at some point. And there may have been one or two other 'off location' showcases that they took part in. But the bulk of their work, thousands of performances, took place in Beverly Massachusetts. 

Inspired by Richiardi

A recently wrote a blog article about the Richardine Family and the Richiardi Family. I had never heard of the Richardine until I stumbled upon them via AskAlexander.com. It was an eye opening bit of research. In the article I mentioned something about Aldo Richiardi's unique take on the Broom Suspension.

I tend to think a true artist is never satisfied and is always striving to improve and make their performances better. Richiardi changed his Broom Suspension in various ways over the years. One of the incarnations was a story based routine in which Richiardi apparently discovered a handicapped boy and caused him to float in the air and then walk on his own. A powerful visual story and one that he apparently passed on over time in favor of a much faster, more direct presentation.

Imagine my surprise to discover that a version of that story routine found it's way into one of my favorite magic shows, the LeGrand David Magic show in Beverly Ma. I was watching a video of the show that Cesareo had given me years ago and there it was, Webster Bull narrating the story of Marco the Magi seeing David for the first time, but David was unable to walk. This led into the Broom Suspension illusion just as it had with Richiardi's routine. I had seen them perform this many times and loved their version but never knew it's roots were with Richiardi.

I remember sitting in the theatre of the Cabot St. Cinema Theatre one day talking with Cesareo. It was a Saturday when the company was busy in rehearsals and he was telling me about seeing Richiardi Sr. and how he recalled this curly haired boy that used to run around the theatre during intermission. That curly haired boy was a young Aldo Richiardi.

I also knew that Cesareo was greatly inspired by David Bamberg, who was known as FuManchu. But it's clear to me now that Richiardi's magic had also inspired Cesareo. Within the LeGrand David Show there were several routines that were Cesareo's take on what Richiardi had done. They included, The Broom Suspension, the Toy Car Levitation and the Dekolta Chair with tip over trunk.

The Le Grand David Company were not the only one's who carried on Richiardi's magic. Scott Alexander, who was a recent contestant on America's Got Talent, does a fantastic job with the Richiardi version of the Lemon, Egg, Canary effect. I've seen the DeKolta Chair/Tip Over Trunk combo in several different magic acts. I saw the Masked Magician of all people do Richiardi's Buzz Saw on a Talk Show (and he did not reveal it). And yours truly performed Richiardi's version of the Rice Bowls for a time. More than any particular routine though, I think Richiardi's charasmatic style can be found in numerous acts, including Jonathan Pendragon and Joaquin Ayala.

Let me say, I don't think it's right to copy living performers, but I don't think there is anything wrong with reaching back into history and bringing back some of the fantastic magic that these icons made popular. The magic of Richiardi, Le Grand David, Thurston, Houdini, Dante, Blackstone, Doug Henning and so many others deserves to live on for modern audiences to enjoy.

David Bull, One of the True Masters of Magic

There is a magician who in my opinion is one of the great performers of the 20th and 21st century. But he is often overlooked and that is a shame. His name is David Bull, but you probably know him better by his stage name Le Grand David. He was the star of the Le Grand David Magic Show in Beverly Mass, along with Marco the Magi and a big cast of fantastic fellow performing artists.

The Le Grand David Show was the longest running resident magic show in the United States. They began back in 1977 and ran the show every year until June 2012. This fall was the first time in the history of the company that they did not return for a new season. The patriarch of the company, Cesareo Pelaez passed away in 2012 and it's clearly been hard on the members of the group. And frankly, they more than earned a break.

But it's David Bull I want to talk about. Here is a fellow who got into magic basically from a conversation he had with Cesareo. Now Cesareo would later become his mentor, but it's David who put in the hours and hours of practice and rehearsal to develop incredible magical skills. I think he's one of the best, if not THE best manipulator I've ever seen. His skill with Billiard Ball manipulation is breathtaking. But he's also just as adept at coin manipulation and dove productions and his Linking Ring skill is among the best there is. Then there is David's take on the Zombie Ball, I mean what can you say really, it's perfection.  He handles apparatus magic better than anyone out there and his skill as an illusionist is first rate. He does it all with a style that is rarely seen today.

I remember trying to put my finger on David's style a few years ago. I ran down the list of attributes and then it dawned on me, David exhibited from the stage pure confidence. Not arrogance, not a prideful or boastful attitude, just plain confidence and he was pleasant and friendly the entire time. There was also a playfulness about his on stage character at times and other times a seriousness to his performing. He commanded the stage when he was on it but could easily share the stage with fellow artists and performers and had no problem with letting their light shine as well.

As I mentioned, Cesareo Pelaez was David's magic mentor and he was also the creator of the show as well as director. I often wonder if Cesareo had someone in mind that he wanted David to be like when he was helping David along, or if he just showed David what tools he needed and let David himself shine. Ah, and there is the answer, Cesareo was letting David's personality shine on stage!

It appears that one chapter of the Le Grand David saga is over. I was fortunate to watch that first chapter unfold. A new chapter awaits. The pages are blank and I hope that David returns to the stage, along with his fellow artists and performers. Who knows what the future holds for them?  For over thirty years they did what countless others only dreamed of, they did miracles. I think whatever they decide to do, it will be enchanting!

Carnegie, David and Denise April 2012