Jonathan Hammond returns as Houdini

Jonathan Hammond will reprise his role as Houdini in the Broadway revival of Ragtime. Hammond played the role last April at the Kennedy Center. This marks the award-winning actor’s Broadway debut.

Ragtime will begin previews on Friday, October 23 and will officially open on Sunday, November 15, 2009 at the Neil Simon Theatre at 250 West 52 Street. Tickets are on sale now.

New Ragtime poster includes Houdini

A new poster for the upcoming Broadway revival of Ragtime has been revealed on the official website, and as you can see in the image above (if you look closely), the poster includes Houdini among its collage of images.

This is a first. While Houdini made it onto various cover art of the original E.L. Doctorow novel, adverts for the 1981 film and the stage musical have been Houdini-free...until now.

Featuring direction and choreography by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, Ragtime will begin performances Friday, October 23 and officially open Sunday, November 15, 2009 at the Neil Simon Theatre at 250 West 52 Street.

Is Patrick Culliton about to reveal Houdini's secrets?

Patrick as Franz Kukol.

Renowned Houdini expert, actor, and author Patrick Culliton (aka “Houdini’s Ghost”) has posted on his website that he will released a new book called Houdini The Key on October 4, 2009. As with Patrick’s seminal two-volume set, Houdini Unlocked, the book promises to be limited and instantly collectible.

Patrick’s description of the book is intriguing. I can’t quite tell if he’s being ironic, or if he truly intends to blow the lid off of Houdini’s greatest secrets (and Patrick knows them all). Guess we’ll find out on October 4.

Click here to read Patrick’s description of Houdini The Key.

Jeremy Piven would like to play Houdini

Entourage star Jeremy Piven tells CenterDaily.com that he would like to play Houdini one day.

“I would like to play Houdini,” he said. “He was a fascinating guy. He was one of the first hard working artists and magicians. He was one of the first real icons, ever. And he died tragically and he just blew people away all over the world. There is a tremendous story there and I'd love to do that one day.”

Piven is currently starring in The Goods.

The original Houdini meets Holmes adventure returns

First published in 1981, The Pandora Plague by Lee A. Matthias was one of the first books to team Houdini and Sherlock Holmes in a fictional adventure.* Now author Lee A. Matthias and BookSurge have published a newly revised, expanded and annotated edition of this long out-of-print novel.

London, 1902: The theft of an unusual pocket-watch brings famed magician, Harry Houdini, together with the world's foremost consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes. When it leads to the appearance of a mysterious locked strong-box, it becomes a case that rocks the British Empire to its core. 

When the magician is blackmailed in order to best the box's lock, Holmes and his ally, Dr. John Watson, expose a plot against the crown, itself. Only Holmes's immense intellect, combined with the "Official" resources of his equally brilliant brother, Mycroft Holmes, can penetrate the mystery in time. 

In the tradition of Nicholas Meyer's "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution," and "The West End Horror," author Lee A. Matthias recreates Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's magnificent style and characters in "The Pandora Plague," a rip roaring adventure full of magic, mystery, and murder.

There is also an official Pandora Plague website with background on how the book came to be.

*The very first appears to have been a 1908 German dime novel called Auf den spuren Houdinis ("On the Trail of Houdini").

Houdini haunts ‘Winchester’

Winchester, a new graphic novel that roots a fictional story in the very real Winchester Mystery House in California, features Houdini as the antagonist. Writer-editor Dan Vado tells Newsarama.com:

“Harry Houdini spent his non-magical life debunking the notion of a spirit world. He had an ongoing feud/relationship with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about the existence of an after life. Spirituality was big in those days and Houdini so completely debunked a seance that he and Doyle attended (Houdini, being a magician, knew everyone's tricks) that Doyle asked him if he wasn't himself channeling the spirit world. 

I thought it would be cool irony for someone who did not believe in ghosts and spirits to end up as one and to then decide to try and rule a corner of it. 

Houdini did visit the Wunchester Mansion two years after the death of Sarah Winchester and he did conduct a seance there, but never really discussed it with anyone. Legend has it that he actually met with Sarah Winchester BEFORE she died, but he agreed to never speak of their meeting. Houdini is my bad guy, I think he will be a memorable one.”

Longtime readers may recall I visited the Winchester Mystery House in 2006 and reported on the Houdini connection.

UPDATE: Houdini haunts Sarah Winchester #1.

Patrick Culliton to lecture on Houdini-Hodgson

Patrick Culliton, renowned Houdini expert and author of the two-volume Houdini Unlocked, will give a lecture on the infamous Houdini-Hodgson challenge at the 6th Worldwide Escape Artist Convention in Ontario, California.

Patrick promises new revelations about this, one of Houdini’s most physically taxing challenge escapes. The lecture will take place on Sunday, October 5th at 10AM.

Hosted annual by Cannon’s Great Escapes, the 6th Worldwide Escape Artist Convention will be held October 2 through 5 at the Doubletree Hotel Ontario Airport. For more information visit the official website.

Houdini radio serial in production

Serial Squadron, a company that produces original radio serials for release on DVD and MP3, have announced they are working on a new Houdini serial, The Adventures of Harry Houdini: Diet of Wyrms.

Written by Greg Glick, the 5-chapter cliffhanger serial finds Houdini, his wife Bess and assistant Ape (?) traveling to New England to investigate spiritualists, stolen books of magic and mysterious monsters.

Sounds like good fun. We’ll keep you posted on the progress. For more on Serial Squadron visit their website.

Houdini’s final ad

The excellent Carnegie Blog has uncovered a newspaper advert for Houdini’s very last performance on Sunday, October 24, 1926 at the Garrick Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

While reviews did note that Houdini didn’t quite seem himself that night, little did the audience know he was performing with a ruptured appendix and a 104 degree temperature (which rose to 106 by evenings end).

Houdini would die seven days later on Halloween 1926.

American Museum of Magic receives bequest

The Battle Creek Enquirer reports that the American Museum of Magic in Marshall, Michigan recently obtained a bequest of magic memorabilia from the Jay Marshall Estate which contains a number of items relating to Houdini, including pictures, notes, and an audio recording of the great 20th century magician's voice.

The bulk of the Marshall collection is paper ephemera including posters, handbills, photos, theater programs, correspondence, patents and notes related to 19th and 20th century magicians. It will be housed with the current collections in the museum's present home two buildings in the Historic District in Marshall, Michigan, a small town midway between Detroit and Chicago.

The American Museum of Magic and the affiliated Museum Library are built around the collection of Robert Lund, one of the world's foremost magic collectors and co-founder of the museum with his wife, Elaine. Lund passed away in 1995, and since his wife's passing in 2006 the museum has operated governed by a board of directors as a non-profit corporation. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, or by request (269-781-7570).

Houdini helps launch Warehouse 13

Houdini got a nice name check last night in the premier episode of Warehouse 13, a new series on SyFy (formally SciFi Channel) that is sort of X-Files meets the last shot of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

In the pilot episode Houdini’s wallet -- one of the many mysterious objects housed in a Top Secret government warehouse in North Dakota -- effects an escape and...well...it doesn’t do much of anything. But according to its Warehouse 13 index card, it is capable of “Charonic Transfer” (whatever that means).

Maybe the wallet will make a return appearance in a future episode?

Meet Johnathon Schaech

Actor Johnathon Schaech, who played Houdini in the 1998 TNT original film, Houdini, will be appearing at the Hollywood Collector’s Show on July 18 and 19. This will be Mr. Schaech’s first appearance at the show.

The Hollywood Collector’s Show is held three times a year at the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, 2500 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA. For more information visit the official website.

Listen to Houdini's ‘Imprisoned with the Pharaohs’

UPDATE: Unfortunately, it appears this is no longer available.

The Classic Tales Podcast has posted an audio reading of the classic Houdini short story, Imprisoned with the Pharaohs (aka Under the Pyramids). The story is read by character actor B.J. Harrison.

First published in the May-June-July 1924 issue of Weird Tales, the story tells of Houdini’s adventures trapped in a Egyptian tomb. While it appeared under Houdini’s byline, the story was actually ghost written by the great H.P. Lovecraft.

According to Wikipedia "J.C. Henneberger, owner of Weird Tales, wished Lovecraft to write up an account Houdini had told him: on a trip to Egypt, he had been bound by Arabs and left in some deep chamber of Campbell's Tomb in the valley of the pyramids. Houdini was attempting to pass off this adventure as a true occurrence, but Lovecraft's subsequent research established that the story was largely fictitious. As such, Lovecraft allowed his imagination free rein, transferring to the temple of the Sphinx but otherwise retaining many of the details of the narrative as related by Houdini."

Imprisoned with the Pharaohs - Part 1
Imprisoned with the Pharaohs - Part 2

Million Dollar Theater celebrates The Magic of Tony Curtis

A very special screening of the 1953 classic HOUDINI was held at the historic Million Dollar Theater in downtown Los Angeles yesterday. Mr. Curtis was on hand for the day-long celebration, THE MAGIC OF TONY CURTIS, a part of the L.A. Historic Theatre Foundation’s Jules Verne Festival.

Before the screening escape artist Curtis Lovell performed a water cube escape for the packed crowd. Having escaped, Lovell was congratulated by Mr. Curtis himself, who came on stage to a standing ovation.

HOUDINI was a treat to watch with a live audience (including many children) who laughed at the humor and applauded each feat of magic.

For more on the post-HOUDINI screening activates, including pictures, visit Dear Old Hollywood, one of my very favorite destinations on the web.