SMOKE AND MIRRORS to Reopen 1/26 at Road Theatre in North Hollywood

After a successful three month run at Promenade Playhouse in Santa Monica, Smoke and Mirrors - a heartfelt comedy-drama with mind-bending magic that has been named "Critics Choice" in the Los Angeles Times - opens January 26 at The Road Theatre Company in North Hollywood.

Created by and starring noted actor (Gray's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives) and magician (a lifetime member of Hollywood's Magic Castle), Albie Selznick, Smoke and Mirrors is a semi-autobiographical, fantastical coming-of-age story about a boy who uses magic to escape reality and face the world after the death of his father.

Smoke and Mirrors opens on Saturday, January 26, and runs through March 18. Show dates and times are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m.

Performances are at The Road Theatre Company at Lankershim Arts Center, 5108 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood.

Tickets for all performances are $34. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.smokeandmirrorsmagic.com or www.tix.com or call 800-595-4849.

Smoke and Mirrors is a poignant yet humorous play packed with magic tricks, elaborate illusions, special effects, improv, audience participation, and spooky Houdini seances. Selznick takes the audience on his healing journey while enlisting the assistance of Trix (a life-sized rabbit), The Oracle (a giant talking orb), and Harry Houdini's wife, Bessie.

During the journey, Selznick pulls off several remarkable illusions and mystifying sleight-of-hand displays, with assistance from a cast that includes Brandy LaPlante, Teena Pugliese, Kyle Bryan Hall, David Valdes, and Daniel Samson.

ALBIE SELZNICK (WRITER/PERFORMER)
A lifetime member of the World Famous Magic Castle in Hollywood, Albie Selznick is an award winning performer and accomplished actor. He began his career as a co-creator of The Mums, a popular boundary-breaking circus-theatre trio of the 80's/90's. The LA Times said, "The Mums do for the arts of Juggling and Magic what Elvis did for rock and roll." Andy Warhol gave them a two-page pictorial in Interview magazine, while The LA Weekly put them on their cover and called them "The Best Performance Troupe in LA." The phenomenon of The Mums went International when they opened for Duran Duran, Devo, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Berlin and Ry Cooder.

Since then Selznick's work has ranged from world-class theatre to recurring roles on popular TV hits. On stage, he played the Fool in renowned director Robert Wilson's visionary production of King Lear, Mercutio in Deaf West's Romeo and Juliet and co-starred opposite Glenne Headly in Detachments. Most recently he starred in the west-coast première of The Water's Edge by Theresa Rebeck (of TV's Smash), directed by Sam Anderson at The Road Theatre, where Selznick is a company member. On the small screen, Selznick is best known for playing Rabbi Ben for two seasons on Suddenly Susan and the evil D.A Owen Pomerantz on The Young and The Restless, he has guest starred on over sixty television shows including Dexter, Episodes, Grey's Anatomy, Southland, Desperate Housewives, NCIS, and all three CSIs.

PAUL MILLET (DIRECTOR)
Paul Millet is the Co-Artistic Director of Unbound Productions and a creator of both the Wicked Lit and History Lit reading series and theatre festivals, which have been praised by Pasadena Weekly for "turning the local lit scene upside down since 2008." For Wicked Lit, Millet has directed A Ghost Story (2011 ~ TCG National Conference), The Body Snatcher (2011 ~ also Playwright), The Chimes (2010), The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2009) & The Fall of the House of Usher (2009 ~ also Playwright). For History Lit, Paul has directed The Yellow Wallpaper (2012) and co-directed (with Jeff G. Rack) Bukowski: Back at Barneys (2012).

BETTINA ZACAR (PRODUCTION DESIGN)
Several years ago Bettina and Albie set forth on an adventure of creating a show around several monologues he had written. They began brainstorming and together came up with the character of Trixy, a life-sized rabbit, to assist in telling the story. Bettina originated the role of Trixy but for the Road staging has turned her attention to transforming the overall production design, although she may occasionally pop up as Trixy. Bettina is a proud member of the Road Theatre since 1999. She is a Valley Theatre League ADA Award winner and LA WEEKLY award winner.

ADAM FLEMMING (VIDEO DESIGN/PRODUCTION DESIGN)
Adam Flemming is a projectionist and scenic designer based in Los Angeles. He has collaborated with South Coast Repertory, Long Beach Opera, Pasadena Playhouse, East West Players, Deaf West, The Theatre @ Boston Court, Noise Within, Laguna Playhouse, Odyssey Theatre and Santa Barbara Theatre among others, and has worked on productions in New York City, San Francisco, Miami, Austin, Edinburgh and Guadalajara. Flemming is an Artistic Associate of Son of Semele and holds an MFA in design from CalArts.

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