With Don Black's assistance, I eventually found the Merlin songbook.

I have a copy of the Merlin songbook that I found in a bargain bin at a music store somewhere when I was touring a musical about 20 years ago. It is one of my great treasures. I also have the songbook from The Magic Show.

Las, the video you mention was from the 1983 Tony awards and can be seen online here. A couple of interesting factoids; the young Merlin at the beginning is stage and film actor Christian Slater, and Old Merlin is George Lee Andrews, who has been in Broadway's The Phantom of the Opera for its entire 20+ (and counting!) run. Also, although not seen in the clip, the show also featured Nathan Lane as the evil queen's son, Fergus.

There is, in fact, a video of the full show floating around--I obtained a copy while researching my Doug Henning book. It is a very poor quality tape made with an early-80's consumer-grade camera that was hidden in a fixed position just at the level of the first mezzanine. It has been duped many times and the quality of the video makes it almost unwatchable.

If you go to the website for the book (www.doughenningbook.com) and follow the "Additional Materials" link, you will find a detailed written synopsis of the show that gives a scene-by-scene outline of the plot and a description of how the songs and illusions fit into the plot (you will find a similar synopsis of The Magic Show there as well).

I was fortunate enough to obtain complete copies of the scripts and a raft of production and stage management notes for both Merlin and the Magic Show from people that I interviewed for the book. A lot of the details from those materials are contained in the book.

Frank,

I did Carousel with George Lee Andrews in '71 or thereabouts. I had heard we was working in Phantom but didn't realize it was for that long. Thanks for the trivia!

Frank: Thanks a ton for the Tony Show clip. WOW.

Frank thanks for clearing that up but I don't think this clip from the Tony Awards. The owner of that site might made a mistakes.

Best,

Las

No, this clip is DEFINITELY from the Tony Awards. I remember watching it live and using my roommate's newfangled invention called a "VCR" to record it! I watched it until the oxide literally fell off the tape, so I recognize ever camera cut!

It's from the Tony awards. I have the whole telecast on tape.

How long was the show?

I wrote to the Library and they sent me a PDF file what I need to do. They don't give video copies to anyone. If you need a copy from the PDF I can send by email.

Best,

Las

Hi Las,I would love to have a copy! Thanks!
Maps

It was great to see that clip again. I was fortunate enough to see both of Doug's Broadway musicals live. I saw "The Magic Show" when I was 14 and then took my girlfriend (now wife) to see "Merlin" when I got out of college.

Merlin was pretty interesting when I went to see it, as Nathan Lane had hurt himself and was on crutches for the show. He was even funnier on crutches!

Thanks for this trip down memory lane!

Michael

As was said there IS a bootleg of the show out there and I know this to be true as I have seen it. This is not somthing that was snctioned by the cast crew or equity and is highly unethical to have (or to do) but as I say it was done and has been done many times to other shows. By the way Just got the Doug Henning book and its wonderful so far only read the credits and the prolog so far and this guy can write.

Hey Zimsalabim,

You're right. It was not sanctioned, but it was done by a member of Doug's crew that worked in the show each night. The cast and crew only had a few night's notice of the show closing, so this was done in haste to preserve the show in at least some form (yes, unethical, but understandable). There was a plan to tape or film the show, but it closed so suddenly, that it never happened (most thought it would run for at least a year).

Thanks for the compliment on my writing--I hope the credits and the prolog don't turn out to be the best parts ;-)

Will the spellbound book out in a kindle version?

Yes, but not until after Christmas (publishing is a bigger mystery to me than magic).

I bought the book at Magic Live, had it read a week later, and highly recommend it. It really is difficult to put it down. Congrats on putting this together so those of us who hadn't had the chance to see him live could appreciate him.

I, too, purchased "Spellbound" at Magic Live. It was a great read--I finished it a couple of nights ago.

John, Lynetta Welch has a great personal story about her personal experiences with Debby and Doug shortly before Doug died. If you've not heard it, I encourage you to call or email her and ask her about it directly. It's quite poignant.

I recall reading some of Lynette's experiences in a recent magazine article about her. Something about how she did not actually see Doug, because he didn't want anyone to see how ill he looked. Very sad.

Lynetta's story about Doug and Debby was published in the January 2009 issue of Genii Magazine.

http://geniimagazine.com/back_issues/2009/01/index.html

Eight dollars includes postage and you receive it within the US in just a couple days.

Bill

I read that article. While it was very well written, hearing Lynetta personally tell the story was a much more moving experience.