INTERVIEW: Jamie Allan continues to ‘Amaze’ audiences in NYC
Photo: Jamie Allan stars in Amaze at New World Stages in New York City. Photo courtesy of Patrick Hodgson / Provided by AJM PR with permission.
NEW YORK — The personal stories and magical wonders that are present in Amaze, the illusion show from Jamie Allan, have been delighting audiences at New World Stages for months, and there’s no sign of stopping. Allan’s creation, which previously played London’s West End and in Chicago, is apparently in for the long haul, setting up in Midtown Manhattan for many more magical nights at the theater.
“I had a feeling that this show would have life in New York,” Allan said in a recent phone interview. “It’s one of the reasons why we opted to not go on Broadway. … When we were coming to New York, I just said, ‘If we play Broadway, I feel like this has sort of a limited run in it.’ Although I think we could have done reasonably OK with it, I think there was a higher percentage that it was going to lose money. I just said, ‘The show felt so intimate,’ and I started to really push our promoters to say, ‘I think we should do it in the smallest venue we can get it into, and I think you could stay there for years.’ And it’s seeming to turning out that way.”
In Amaze, Allan offers many jaw-dropping magical acts, providing thrills for adults and youngsters alike, but he also tells the story of how he fell in love with magic in the first place. This story includes anecdotes about his mother and father and the pub they used to run in rural England; the show also focuses on the magicians who influenced Allan and his growing up in the 1980s.
“It started during COVID,” Allan said about the genesis of Amaze. “It all started from one idea: Let’s do a show that’s more truthful. … I had been saying to people for years, ‘I don’t think that entertainment, when you’re doing variety entertainment, is any longer about the skill of the performer. I think it’s more about the personal story because we live in an age of social media. We want to know who people are, rather than what they can do.’”
This thought very much influenced Allan to put pen to paper and begin to create a show. This focus on the personal is quite different from the illusion shows of his youth. Those memories are filled with the unbelievable acts of masters of the form, but the magician would largely remain a mystery. Not so with Amaze, which allows a peek behind the curtain.
“You would do your whole show, and then at the end of your show, you’ve earned the right to tell them a little story about yourself,” Allan said about his early days in the world of magic. “It was all skill first. I felt that there might be a story to tell, and I just wondered how much honesty we could put into it. Is it possible that we could have more truth in a magic show, which traditionally has a lot of deception in it — in the nicest possible way because we all agree to participate in the deception when we come to watch a magic show. But I wondered, could I get them to actually trust me and just tell them stories?”
Spoiler alert: His idea worked. Amaze has now been seen in multiple cities, and the New York City engagement is technically the fifth production. Performances began a couple of years ago in Chicago, with Allan’s wife helping him out on stage. In those early days, the show didn’t have much of a set, but he became a quick word-of-mouth hit.
“It was a smaller show, and it was all kind of the card tricks and the storyline bits,” he said. “We did that seven weeks. We didn’t know if that might be the end of it. During that run, Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune came in to the see show, and he gave it his highest score at the time. He really wrote a love letter to it, and that was really what gave it life was that review. So then we moved the show.”
Eventually, Amaze played London’s West End, something of a homecoming for Allan, who is from England. The set was built out, and the show became essentially the version that audiences see in New York City.
“It was very unusual for me,” Allan said about this journey he’s been on. “It felt very strange. Of course, I’m very comfortable with it now because I do it every night, and I enjoy it actually. It’s nice to give something of yourself. At first … I didn’t think anybody would be interested. They came here to see magic; they don’t want to hear all these things about my life. It felt very self-indulgent for me, but I’ve learned that people really are interested in people’s stories.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Amaze, starring Jamie Allan, continues at New World Stages in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
