David Copperfield's Dreams and Nightmares just opened Dec. 5 at the Martin Beck Theatre, but the magic/music extravaganza was already a hit before it began previews, having sold more than $2.1 million worth of tickets.
The show is playing a very unusual 15-performance week (most shows do eight) to capitalize on the brisk sales.
Copperfield's five-week, 77-performance run at the Martin Beck Theatre reportedly must end Dec. 29, when he is scheduled to take the show on tour. Andrew Lloyd Webber's new musical Whistle Down the Wind is booked to start previews at the Beck in March.
As reported previously by Playbill On-Line, playwright David Ives (All in the Timing) and director Francis Ford Coppola are helping the magician with the script for the show, subtitled "An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion" which will be a combination magic show, extravaganza and musical.
This is Copperfield's Broadway debut, and he's serious about making the most of it. show will include many of the illusions Copperfield has been developing during his recent North American tour, but with a greatly enhanced physical production and script. To help, Copperfield has brought aboard Ives to adapt his touring show The Magic of David Copperfield, and Coppola, the master filmmaker responsible for The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, Bram Stoker's Dracula and the musical Finian's Rainbow among many others. Coppola is credited with coming up with the new title for the show. Ishioka is an Oscar winner for her costumes in Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Copperfield reportedly was influenced by seeing Bob Fosse's Pippin -- the "Magic To Do" musical -- when he was a young man, and said he regards Broadway as a career pinnacle.
Even his choice of theatre is significant. The Martin Beck was named for the famed theatre manager who numbered among his clients the master magician Houdini.
The beginning of the transformation into Dreams and Nightmares commenced with the Sept. 3-8 engagement at the O'Keefe Center in Toronto. Other pre-Broadway stops included Montreal, Minneapolis, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and Las Vegas.
Tickets can be ordered by calling (212) 239-6200. Outside NY metro area: (800) 432-7250. Amex Cardmembers: (800) 292-9465.You can also order tickets on Playbill On-Line.
