P.T. Murphy and David Parr perform a live magic show every Wednesday evening at the Greenhouse Studio Theater. They give an up close and personal show with an emphasis on audience participation, and today, we get to see them make magic in our ABC 7 studio!
Show Info:
Wednesdays at 7:30pm
The Greenhouse Theater Center
2257 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, Illinois
Tickets $20. No one under age 13 admitted.
BIOS (from davidparr.magicbydesign.com/cabaret/)
P.T. Murphy, ptmurphy.com, has deep roots in Chicago theater, having worked with many of the city's finest companies, including Shattered Globe, Northlight Theater, and Irish Repertory. Favorite roles from past shows include "Urge to Kill" Dad in Billy Birmingham's Eat the Jung, Lewis in Adam Langer's Backstage Pass, and the title role in William Shakespeare's Richard III.
True story: When P.T. was four years old, he had a vivid dream in which women dressed in cat costumes swung from trees and sawed each other in half. Make of that what you will.
P.T. has walked many paths and worn many stylish hats. He studied theater at Columbia College, learned improvisation from Del Close and Charna Halpern at Improv Olympic, and was an instructor at Chicago's Actors Center. He played guitar in several local bands, such as Pursuit, Brand New Skin, and The Shivers. For a time, he worked behind the counter at Chicago's oldest magic shop, Magic Incorporated. In addition to performing magic, P.T. has created magic that is practiced and performed by other magicians. He has traveled extensively throughout the U.S., Europe, and China. And he still has very odd dreams.
David Parr, davidparr.com, is an actor, author and magician who has been fascinated by the strange and mysterious since childhood. He has written two acclaimed books about the art of magic. His thought-provoking articles have appeared in publications in the U.S., Germany, France, Australia, Denmark, and Sweden. He has acted as a technical consultant to theatrical productions, given presentations on séances and the supernatural at academic conferences, and amazed audiences at Hollywood's prestigious Magic Castle. He is currently an editor at MAGIC Magazine, one of the world's top magic journals.
David's theatrical pursuits usually share two important qualities: an offbeat sensibility and an emphasis on history or literature. Past projects have included directing a surrealist take on Bram Stoker's Dracula; appearing in a classic Pirandello play about madness and deception; and writing and directing a recreation of a 19th-century funeral for a citywide exhibition featured in the Chicago Tribune. Around Halloween, David can be found haunting atmospheric locations with original shows such as Visions of Poe, an interactive journey into the tales and poems of Edgar Allan Poe, and Haunting History, a guided tour of the shadowy territory where history meets myth and folklore. And he occasionally haunts P.T.'s dreams. [website]
