HOLLYWOOD—On Tuesday an event at the Magic Castle began at 1:30 p.m. with arrivals moved from outdoors to indoors after a special performance by Jim Bentley who recreated Houdini's famous straightjacket escape while suspended upside down from a crane 100 feet above the castle. All eyes were on the magician.

 

Inside guests experienced close-up magic and a short “Palace of Mystery” show with performances by Amos Levkovitch and Goldfinger & Dove that was hosted by Romi Dames of Hanna Montana with other entertainment guests in attendance such as board member Neil Patrick Harris. Other guests included: Alison Arngrim, Gloria Allred, Lisa Bloom, Yuval David, Ilene Graff, Tania Gunadi, Dwayne Hickman, Kate Linder, Rose Marie, Tippi Hedren, Rip Taylor, Judy Tenuta, Dee Wallace, Steve Valentine, Fred Willard, JoAnne Worley and others.

A number of promotions are scheduled for the rest of this week’s Centennial week, featuring such personalities as Neil Patrick Harris, Romi Dames, David DeLuise, Stan Freberg, Phill Lewis, Steve Valentine, and well as a featured performance of America's Favorite Mom-Florence Henderson in “All the Lives of Me” in the Cabaret at the Castle on Monday, November 9, and Tuesday, November 10 at 8 p.m. $50, Call 323-851-3313 x434 for more information or go to magiccastle.com/eventtickets, then enter code: M18029 and the annual “It’s Magic at the Kodak Theatre” with performers from Lance Burton and Shimada to Kevin James on Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 7 p.m. at The Kodak Theatre 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028 ($25 to $67.50 by calling Ticketmaster at 213-480-3232 or online at ticketmaster.com or kodaktheatre.com.)

The Castle has been the location for many of Hollywood films as well as TV Series including “Hart to Heart,” “Murder She Wrote,” The Mae West Story,” “Monk,” “Barnaby Jones,” “Matlock,” “VH1,” “Top Chef,” “America’s Top Model” and many others. Over the years members have included and include many of the industry's elite such as Johnny Carson, Gary Grant, Dom Deluise, Johnny Depp, Buzz Aldrin, Sean Penn, Carol Channing, Nicholas Cage, Tony Shaloub, Drew Barrymore, JoAnne Worley, Loni Anderson, Steve Martin, Buddy Ebsen, Rose Marie, Tippi Hedren, Walter Mathau, Karl Maldin, as well as some of the greatest magicians including Penn & Teller, Doug Henning, Siegfried and Roy to name only a few.

Six theatres exist within the walls of The Magic Castle, from the Parlor of Prestidigitation and the Penn & Teller stage to The Palace Theatre itself. Most recently, their Inner Circle became home of the new Cabaret at the Castle which has featured some of Broadways biggest names including Carol Channing, Jason Graae, Ilene Graff, Phyllis Diller, Rose Marie, Richard Sherman, JoAnne Worley, Rip Taylor and, of course, the Castles is proud to announce that the special featured artist during the Castle's centennial is Miss Florence Henderson. Up until now, the rarely used space has been virtually unknown to even many of the Castle members.

It houses an eclectic collection including WC Field's trick pool table, Edgar Bergen's Ventriloquists dummies, Walt Disney's original miniature of the Haunted Mansion, the original automaton Madam Carnak that Johnny Carson [who was also an amateur magician and Magic Castle member] based his famous character, and the actual Hello Dolly! bar from the movie with Barbra Streisand. Other attractions include the Hat and Hare Pub, the piano bar, where the ghost of Erma plays nightly and the Houdini séance room which contains one of the largest original collections of Houdini's great tools of the trade including his personal handcuffs, straight jacket, metamorphosis trunk and famous milk can escape.

-