Doug Henning Biography - Spellbound: The Wonder-filled Life of Doug Henning by John Harrison

Synopsis of Merlin

There is no official video record of Merlin, so this synopsis of the show--which includes each of the songs and illusions, as they fit into the plot--is the most detailed description of the show publicly available. The exciting story about the production of Merlin is told in Chapter 14 of Spellbound: The Wonder-filled Life of Doug Henning.

Opened: Preview - Dec. 10, 1982 Opening Feb. 13, 1983

Closed: Aug 7, 1983

Number of Performances: 268 (including 69 previews)

Merlin opens with an ominous droning tone filling the theater. The curtain rises revealing a three-dimensional field of hundreds of twinkling stars. Amidst the stars appears to be a distant planet, a small golden orb the size of a grapefruit. Slowly, the orb begins to grow until it is almost five feet in diameter. The enlarged golden sphere gradually becomes translucent, revealing an ancient wizard curled up within. The orb gently descends until it is within 18 inches of the stage. A small spot of light hits the stage just beneath the orb and a pair of feet suddenly drops through a hole in the bottom of the orb. The orb now floats up and away, leaving behind an old wizard (played by George Lee Andrews) standing upright at center stage. “I am Merlin,” he announces, and begins to tell the story of his youth. The wizard saunters toward the foot of the stage and sits on the floor cross-legged. As he speaks, he nonchalantly rises into the air until he uncrosses his legs and puts his feet back on the ground.

As Old Merlin performs the show’s first song, “It’s About Magic,” telling of his adventures as a boy, the stage is transformed into a mystical glade, and his musical narration is acted out behind him. Young Merlin, played by 13-year-old Christian Slater, cavorts in the glade and then, in a display of his youthful magical powers, causes a bowl of water to disappear. Two chorus members—“Creatures of the Glade”—bring out a large cloth and perform the Transmogrification illusion, turning Young Merlin into Doug Henning, who plays Merlin as a young adult. The opening musical number builds as the chorus continues to populate the stage and the audience is introduced to Merlin’s faithful companion, a unicorn named Philomena (played by ballerina Rebecca Wright).

With Philomena’s help, Doug produces two ducks from the Duck Tub illusion and then causes them to vanish in Where Do the Ducks Go. Next, he performs Andre Kole’s No Feet Some Feat Illusion with a slight twist. Instead of the customary presentation in which the magician causes his feet to disappear, Doug causes his feet to change into a pair of duck’s feet.

With his feet properly restored, Doug dashes downstage right, sits in a chair, and is covered with a cloth. A moment later, the cloth is whisked away and the chair is empty; Doug has vanished. Immediately, a whicker basket sitting on a table across the stage collapses to reveal a grinning Doug Henning. He jumps up and completes the next lyric in the song, “Don’t you love a surprise!” By the end of the opening number, which ran just over six minutes, the audience has witnessed eight illusions.

The next scene introduces Merlin’s mentor, known only as the Wizard (played by Edmund Lyndeck). The Wizard asks Merlin if he will be ready for a test of his powers on the Night of the Wizard’s Moon. To show the progress he has made in his mastery of wizardry, Merlin attempts to cause an egg to hatch by magic but fails. The Wizard admonishes him and leaves. Merlin suddenly remembers that the spell for hatching an egg requires darkness. He covers the egg, recites the spell, and the egg grows to the size of a melon. Merlin cracks it open and a small rooster emerges.

As Merlin struggles through his mastery of the egg-hatching incantation, the Evil Queen, played by Chita Rivera, appears on the other side of the stage. She is using her power of clairvoyance to watch him from the safety of her palace. She mocks Merlin, “Is that who holds the fate of England in his hands? . . . I shall stop him by doing something deliciously evil.”

The Queen summons her son, Fergus, played by Nathan Lane in one of his first featured Broadway roles. Fergus is a spoiled, cowardly playboy. The Queen explains to her son that the King of England is on his deathbed and that because she has caused the untimely demise of his successors, he is next in line for the throne. Fergus isn’t interested, but the Queen will hear none of it; she will see to it that her son is the next King of England.

The Queen has one final detail with which to contend. A child, named Arthur, is still the rightful heir to the throne. Disposing of the child won’t be easy because he is protected by a powerful spell. But if she can kill Merlin, that spell will be broken and she will be free to implement her evil plan. She again uses her clairvoyance to observe Merlin and hears him tell Philomena that he one day hopes to meet a beautiful princess. The plot is set for the presentation of the Mascot Moth Illusion. In a dream-like sequence, a beautiful woman, a vision—played by Debby Henning—drifts onto the stage before Merlin. He gazes at the vision in awe, and as he attempts to hold her, she vanishes into thin air.

Having discovered Merlin’s weakness, the Queen performs the song “I Can Make it Happen.”. She wears a large red cape and sweeps about the stage. Suddenly, it appears as if the Queen has cleaved in two as one of her evil servants steps out of the folds of her cape. A moment later, the Queen takes a step forward, but her cape remains standing behind her; another one of her evil henchmen has appeared in the cape.

The Queen formulates her plan to send Merlin the woman of his dreams, who she hopes will be his downfall. A large, gilded, dome-shaped cage is wheeled on stage. In it is the Queen’s pet, a sinister looking black panther, pacing in circles. Two soldiers step forward holding large banners. They momentarily place the banners in front of the cage and then whisk them away to reveal that the panther has been transformed into a woman.

The Queen releases Ariadne—the panther turned woman (played by Michelle Nicastro)—from the cage. She instructs her newly human pet to do her bidding. “Go to the young foolish magician. Tempt him. Intoxicate him. And bring him down.” The stage is again transformed into an enchanted glade. Merlin sits at the base of a large tree, surrounded by books and studying the craft of wizardry. Ariadne first observes Merlin from afar. She performs “Beyond My Wildest Dreams” in which she rejoices over her transformation from caged cat to a beautiful woman and vows to make Merlin fall in love with her.

Ariadne approaches Merlin, appeals to his ego by telling him that she has heard of his miraculous powers, and convinces him to show her a miracle. At this point, Merlin performs a series of three small illusions. In contrast to the state of the art illusions that made up most of the magic of Merlin, these were classic parlor tricks from the turn of the century.

The first of the trio is an old effect known as Red Ashes. Merlin takes a strip of red tissue paper, touches it to a candle flame, and lets go of the burning paper. Initially, the glowing ashes fall toward the floor, then suddenly they begin to rise. As they ascend, Merlin grabs them, squeezes them between his fingertips and restores them to the original strip of red tissue paper. He then crushes the strip of tissue paper in his hand and fans his clenched fist with one of his books of spells. The tissue paper is transformed into a cloud of hundreds of paper butterflies, which fly from his hand and swirl about Ariadne’s head. Finally, Doug takes an oversized leaf from the large tree and forms it into a cone. As he gently shakes the cone, a seemingly endless cascade of flowers pours forth onto the stage. Ariadne lets out a gasp of pleasure at the trio of little miracles.

Merlin is clearly smitten with Ariadne, who begins to sing “Something More,” a love song. As the song progresses, she picks up the candle, which Merlin causes to float from her hands and gyrate around them. By the end of the song, Merlin and Ariadne are on the verge of an embrace, interrupted only by Philomena’s sudden appearance in the glade. She dashes toward Merlin, sees Ariadne, and is instinctively aware something is wrong. Philomena communicates to Merlin through pantomime that his mentor, the Wizard, is coming. Ariadne exits as the Wizard enters.

The Wizard announces that the Night of the Wizard’s Moon has arrived, and that it is time to test Merlin’s powers. “Forces are gathering. You must face them with the fullness of your powers.” To prove his readiness, Merlin must display his mastery over the “universal elements,” earth, air, water and fire. More than a dozen hooded acolytes process onto the stage as it is transformed into a kind of crystalline Stonehenge. The Wizard and the acolytes perform the song “We’re Alive.”

To show his mastery of earth, Merlin covers a small pile of dirt with a cloth and transforms it into an earthen chalice. He covers it again, and the chalice is transformed into a bejeweled silver vessel. As Merlin holds the vessel aloft, smoke (representing air) begins to pour from it. He places the smoking chalice atop a low platform and a six-foot tall acrylic cylinder is placed over it. The cylinder quickly fills with smoke and is then lifted away. The smoke clears, revealing a woman—the embodiment of air.

Next, the Fire Dome illusion is wheeled out and Merlin produces a woman—the embodiment of fire—from the flames. Finally, as a display of his mastery of water, Merlin performs the Water Fountain Levitation, with Debby Henning, the embodiment of water, floating atop the fountains. The earth-air-fire-water sequence of illusions is extremely strong, and Doug’s performance of the Water Fountain Levitation in front of a backdrop sporting a massive, brilliantly lit, full moon is one of Merlin’s most impressive moments.

The Wizard is extremely pleased with Merlin’s performance and presents him with an ornate sword as a token of his trust. He explains that there will come a time when Merlin will pass the sword on to a young boy “who will shake the world.” He makes Merlin vow that he will always keep the sword with him; to break the vow would be a betrayal of his mentor’s trust. Using her clairvoyance, the Queen observes the presentation of the sword to Merlin. She again sends Ariadne to him.

In the next scene, played for comic relief, the Queen’s son, Fergus, attempts to escape by boat before his mother has her way and makes him King of England. “I’ll start a new life. I’ll become a wandering minstrel. I’ll sing my poems to the miserable little peasants and they’ll clap their dirty little hands,” plans Fergus. He performs “Fergus’ Dilemma” during which he describes his new life as an itinerant poet, and gets his bevy of beautiful female companions to man the oars of his boat. As he sets sail, the voice of the Queen booms from off stage, “Fergus! I can see you . . . come home.” With a crash of thunder, the boat begins to move backward. “Stroke. Stroke. Stroke,” yells Fergus as the lights fade.

The next scene takes place in the Hall of Angels, an open space bisected by columns giving the impression of an inner sanctum. Merlin recounts his success in mastering the elements to Ariadne. She listens attentively and then coaxes him to perform one more miracle. “Let me see you fly,” she tells Merlin. Enchanted by her beauty and determined to please her, Merlin agrees to fly. “Let me hold that for you,” she says, indicating the sword given to Merlin by the Wizard. Merlin hesitates and then, to Philomena’s distress, hands it to her.

At this point Merlin performs an elaborate flying illusion in which he turns cartwheels and pirouettes in midair as he passes under and around the arches and columns of the Hall of Angels. As he cavorts in the air, Merlin shouts like a schoolboy to Ariadne below. Once Merlin has flown so high he is out of sight, the Queen enters and tells Ariadne that she has done well. The Queen takes the sword from Ariadne and detects that the panther-turned-woman is concerned for Merlin’s well being. The Queen scoffs at her pet’s feelings and orders her back to the castle.

The Wizard enters as the Queen brandishes the sword. “The fate of Arthur rests with that young fool in the sky. And he has betrayed you,” the Queen tells the Wizard. Because his student has betrayed him, the Wizard has lost his powers. After performing the song “Nobody Will Remember Him,” the Queen raises her hand and displays an ornate ring on her outstretched finger. “Behold the Gorgon’s ring,” she cackles. With a clap of thunder, a flash of lightening, and a burst of smoke, the Wizard is transformed into a stone statue. The Queen makes a grand gesture, causing the set to burst into flames. The massive red front curtain drops, ending Act I.

The second act opens with Old Merlin returning as narrator. He explains to the audience that after betraying his mentor’s trust, he and Philomena journeyed far from home in search of the sword, a mere itinerant conjurer and his faithful sidekick. Old Merlin and the chorus then perform “Put a Little Magic in Your Life,” as the lights fade up on adult Merlin conjuring for a group of villagers, a sort of show within a show incorporating three of Merlin’s strongest illusions.

First, Doug performs the Stretching a Woman Illusion with Philomena. Next, he performs the Double Sawing in Half with two of the “villagers” assisting (one of them played by Debby Henning). After the two women emerge from the cabinets with their mismatched bottom halves, the Wizard suddenly appears, bringing Merlin’s performance to an abrupt halt. The Wizard explains that because the Queen’s spell has trapped him in eternity, it is time for Merlin to grow up and cease his endless wandering. “There is turmoil in England. You must return,” says the Wizard. Before he departs, the Wizard instructs Merlin to retrieve the sword from the Evil Queen’s castle, only then can he fulfill his destiny.

Merlin tells the villagers that he has time for one last wondrous illusion, whereupon he mounts a white horse and rides it into an open hayrack, which is then hoisted into the air. Suddenly, the hayrack collapses, and Merlin and the horse visibly vanish. Instantly, a previously empty, oversized cart falls open to reveal that both Doug and the horse have teleported across the stage.

After the trio of illusions performed for the villagers, the scene changes to the interior of the Queen’s castle. Ariadne is scrubbing the palace floor; a long chain runs from a collar around her neck to a large iron ring on the wall. The Queen’s son, Fergus, is watching Ariadne and ignoring her pleas to be set free. Suddenly, the Queen arrives. She tells Fergus he will soon be king, but first, she must obliterate Merlin. She orders her guards to bring her armor, “Legs, arms, a helmet! At once!”

The guards bring out two large armor leg pieces and sit them on the stage. The lower torso section of the oversized armor is placed atop the leg pieces, a chest piece is placed atop the torso, and two arms are then attached to the chest piece. Finally, a large helmet is placed atop the shoulders of the assembled suit of armor. The result is an eight-foot tall Black Knight, a medieval warrior—part samurai, part Darth Vader. The Queen reaches into a smoldering chalice and removes a black heart. She opens a cavity on the Black Knight’s chest, places the heart inside, and after uttering an incantation, commands the Black Knight to come to life. Suddenly, the suit of armor begins to move. First, one arm moves, then the other, then the Black Knight takes its first tentative step. She commands her evil new creation to seek out Merlin and bring back his head. The Queen leads the way and the massive Black Knight follows.

With both the Queen and the Black Knight gone, Ariadne again appeals to Fergus to release her so that she can warn Merlin. Suddenly, Fergus realizes that if Merlin lives, he’ll be saved from having to take the throne. Fergus frees Ariadne, who finds Merlin and Philomena in a swamp near the palace. She tries to warn Merlin that he must leave England, but she’s too late; the Black Knight finds them in the marsh. Merlin tells Philomena and Ariadne to run, but before they can leave, a burst of flame hurls from the Black Knight’s hand and hits Philomena who falls to the ground. Enraged at the sight of his fallen sidekick, Merlin lunges toward the Black Knight. Another ball of flame strikes the ground in front of him and causes him to fall backward. Merlin gestures in the air, and suddenly, time stops. Everything and everyone freezes in place. The Wizard emerges from the fog and tells Merlin, “Look into yourself. Realize your full power. Become enlightened. Do you see your future?” Merlin seems transformed, as the Wizard disappears into the fog. The action on stage resumes. Merlin approaches the Black Knight head on, raises his arms, and projects an unseen energy from his fingers. A loud zapping sound fills the air, and the Black Knight begins to vibrate as smoke pours from its joints. The zapping sound mixes with a horrific screech followed by complete silence. The Black Knight is dead. With a new confidence, Merlin turns his attention to Philomena. After uttering an incantation, she begins to show signs of life and eventually rises from the ground unharmed. Merlin tells Ariadne and Philomena to stay in the marsh as he goes off to confront the Queen.

The next scene provides another moment of comic relief that showcased Nathan Lane’s comedic talents and allowed the stage to be reset for the final showdown between Merlin and the Queen. Under instructions from his mother, Lane’s character, Fergus, is assembling the castle’s soldiers. Unfortunately, Fergus is only able to find a small motley crew of reluctant warriors, one of which is 90 years old. Together they perform “We Haven’t Fought a Battle in Years,” at the end of which they march off to the castle dungeon.

The dungeon of the Queen’s castle is a bleak, cavernous room with a set of stone steps running up to a parapet. Torture devices abound. The Queens throne sits empty off to stage right. Fergus is giving orders to his soldiers when Merlin appears in a puff of smoke sitting in the Queens throne. The Queen enters and summons her guards to seize Merlin. Another set of guards enters holding Philomena and Ariadne prisoner. “Did you really think you could destroy my creation?” the Queen asks as she gestures toward the back wall of the dungeon. The massive wall creaks open revealing a 25-foot tall version of the Black Knight. The giant creature raises its arm and hurls a ball of flame at Merlin.

A tall cage is lowered and Merlin is locked inside. The Queen’s soldiers wrap the cage in a green paper cover. The cage is hoisted into the air, and the giant Black Knight raises its arm and hurls another blast of fire at the cage. The paper burns away in a brilliant flame. The Queen and her minions are astonished to see that the cage is empty.

After both the audience and the Queen have been given a moment to ponder Merlin’s disappearance, a deafening roar resonates from the giant Black Knight as it splits up the middle and cleaves in two. Merlin reappears inside the fallen Black Knight—literally from the belly of the beast—brandishing his mentor’s sword. The Queen is enraged. She raises her hand, points her finger toward Merlin, and tells him, “Just as I did to your master so shall I do to you. Behold the Gorgon’s ring!” As the deadly beam envelopes Merlin, he holds up the sword and reflects the beam back at the Queen. A cloud of smoke enshrouds the enraged Queen. The cloud dissipates, revealing her transformation into a charred jade statue.

With the Queen turned to stone, Merlin raises the sword high above his head. The dungeon set breaks into pieces and glides off the stage leaving Merlin, Philomena, and Ariadne on a black stage surrounded by hundreds of twinkling stars. Merlin causes the sword to vanish as he intones, “Fly to your rightful place in a crystal stone.”

It is time for Merlin to part with the Ariadne and Philomena. So that the world will remember her, Merlin causes Philomena to turn into a constellation in the evening sky. Ariadne makes her exit, singing to Merlin as she drifts off into the darkness. Merlin is now alone, but realizes he must fulfill his destiny. “Let him come to me. Now!” he shouts into the blackness.

In the final scene, Merlin stands on a bare stage. A young boy wanders in; it is young Arthur, and he is lost. Merlin points him in the direction of London and tells him that once he arrives there, he will find a sword. He tells the boy to return to him with the sword, and he will teach him miracles. A giant crystalline rock formation appears upstage. The sword protrudes from the top of the rock. As Arthur walks toward the stone, Merlin turns to watch him. The boy climbs atop the stone, pulls the sword from it, and raises it aloft. A comet streaks through the night sky and light pours from the crystalline structure. Merlin turns back toward the audience, revealing his transformation into old Merlin.

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