Ronn Lucas Steals the Show, and ‘It’s Magic!’ All Around

Magic buffs, take heart. The 41st annual production of “It’s Magic!” is back at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. But magic buffs should also take heed: The show only plays through Sunday.

First produced by magician and impresario Milt Larsen in 1956, “It’s Magic!” went dark for a decade or so in the mid ‘80s. Four years ago, it reopened at the historic Alex, the perfect setting for this venerable--but in no way musty--institution. For this engagement (which recently played at Pepperdine with a slightly different bill), Larsen once again co-produces, this time with Terry Hill.

Of the seven headliners on the current bill, by far the standout magician of the evening is . . . a ventriloquist. An “illusionist of the voice,” Ronn Lucas exercises a near-magical control of that humble human instrument that borders on the uncanny. If you’ve only seen Lucas on the small screen, grab this opportunity to experience him live. Television cannot begin to do justice to this Paganini of the vocal cords.

Lucas is a tough act to precede. However, Tina Lenert’s distinctive blend of magic, mime and music is a sweetly effective Cinderella story in which Lenert subtly transforms from a charwoman to a beauty, thanks to the intervention of a magical mop--a surprisingly effective substitute for Prince Charming. A riveting storyteller, Lenert has the childlike simplicity of a female Red Skelton.

*

Portuguese magician Luis de Matos, who looks very much like a continental David Copperfield, is an elegant artist whose sleight-of-hand work is particularly balletic. An affable but somewhat too leisurely performer, Kevin James closes the first act with a derivative illusion much like one of Matos’--a blunder that should have been prevented by director Dale Hindman. Nicholas Night is an accomplished practitioner of large-scale illusions who has a theater designer’s eye for his vivid settings. Youthful Darren Romeo has a great singing voice, but his mingling of music and magic occasionally smacks of the high school pageant.

This disparate bill is masterfully held together by low-key funny-man Mark Kornhauser. Kornhauser’s rendition of Elmer Fudd warbling “Singing in the Rain” through a mouthful of Pop Rocks--no mean rain effect--is a comic highlight of this delightful family entertainment.

*

* “It’s Magic!,” Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Avenue, Glendale. Tonight, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 6:30 p.m. $19.50-$23.50. (818) 243-2611. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.