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Welcome back to Behind the Magic! The Gamesters are now making public the name of their new show: Manhattan Mayhem. The Gamesters have just added to their production team an incredible choreographer out of New York for the new show. His name is Joshua Bergasse. Josh is no stranger to theatre; he choreographed the Off-Broadway hit, Bomb-itty of Errors, and his choreography was featured last year on the GAP's West Side Story television commercials. Also, look for his cool moves on a new MTV show... oops, we've already said too much!
In the next few months, look for an official announcement about where the Gamesters' new show will be appearing, right here on Behind the Magic.
This photo is from the finale of "Dancin' in the Streets" at Harrah's Casino in North Carolina. Besides the Gamesters, this version of Greg Thompson's show also featured the Fusion Riders, a globe of death act in which motorcycles race around the inside of a 14-foot steel sphere. Different versions of this show have appeared all over the country. The 19 person cast of this Las Vegas-style production became the Gamesters' family for two months.
 Tony Clark was responsible for the Gamesters' "elementary" magic business education. He was the one that introduced them to the the Magic Castle and the magic community in Los Angeles. It was also Tony's insight and experience that helped the Gamesters craft the first versions of their act.
After four years, Tony's show Phantasy was the longest running show in Lake Tahoe history. He has now returned to Los Angeles, where his new show, Intimate Miracles, is appearing at the Fremont Centre Theatre. Tony is a class act, on and off stage, and a true star of magic... and a true friend of the Gamesters!
TONY CLARK: "The Dynamic Duo" - In 1994 I received a call from a young magician named Doug Leferovich I met in Stamford, Connecticut at Bill Andrews' magic workshop the year before. He said he and his college buddy Seth Yudof were planning on moving to Hollywood to pursue there dream to have a double act to perform around the world. Even though I did not know Doug that well at the time, I was impressed by his high energy, positive attitude and excitement to pursue his dream. (It brought back memories of when I first moved to Hollywood in 1989.) So I made a few suggestion of where they should live and then started to introduce them to a few friends in the business.
I came to realize that they did not have an "act" as of yet. So we started talking from time to time about possibilities for the act. For some reason even with my busy schedule I always went out of my way to help Doug and Seth. They have a very contagious level of energy that seemed to draw me in. Also they were always so grateful for any help I would give them. The more I worked with them the more I realized how creative they were. They had an Ivy League college education and were very much into graphic design. Two great supporting elements for magic.
Before you know it, I was in their living room building a cardboard model of a telephone booth with them, watching videos of their rehearsals, and discussing goals for the future.
They were also there for me when I needed a helping hand as well. Anything from moving, to building illusions, to graphics for my business. Speaking of moving, while Doug and Seth were helping me move to Vegas we were yelling from each others trucks trying to come up with a name for their act. By the time we reached Vegas, we came up with "THE GAMESTERS", which they are now using with great success.
In February of 1996, the Dynamic Duo were there again for me. I had just signed a one-year contract to do a full-evening show at The Horizon Hotel and Casino in Lake Tahoe. Doug and Seth not only helped me move my home and show to Lake Tahoe, but they also spent over two weeks there working 14 to 16 hours a day building, painting, and installing my show. I can honestly say if it was not for Doug and Seth I would have never been able to open my show "Phantasy" on time. Since then, the Gamesters have performed on stages and TV around the world.
I will always be grateful for there friendship, hard work and continuous support. They have the energy, the minds and the ability to reach the highest heights of success. That is why they are the Dynamic Duo, A.K.A. "THE GAMESTERS."
Find out more about Tony Clark
on his web site at
www.TClarkProd.com
Or check out Tony's new show
in Los Angeles at
www.FremontCentreTheatre.com.
 Too often performers forget that in show business the word "business" is twice as long as the word "show". In the spirit of that, this month's recommendation is a book called Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business by Jay Conrad Levinson. There are obviously a lot of business tactics in this book that do not apply to performing arts, but there is a lot to be gained by learning to take advantage of the resources around you. This book, and many others, helped the Gamesters learn how to get their foot in the door and create situations for career advancement.
Check back each month to find out new info.
You can return to the Gamesters web site by clicking here. |
