Pierre Brault and Andy Massingham star in The Shadow Cutter at the GCTC.
The Great Canadian Theatre Company is wrapping up an original play March 27 that honours the life of an old Centretown legend from the turn of the 20th century.
Nicknamed “The Professor” for his unrivalled knowledge of magic and illusions, Centretown-born Dai Vernon was one of the greatest sleight-of-hand experts of his time. He is now the subject of The Shadow Cutter, a two-man play written by Ottawa playwright Pierre Brault.
Andy Massingham plays Vernon while Brault plays an assortment of more than a dozen characters Vernon meets during his life.
The title The Shadow Cutter refers to Vernon’s early days in magic, when he shied away from large performances. Instead he made money by taking up the popular job of photographing tourists in parks and selling them cut out silhouettes of themselves. Despite his modest early career, Vernon eventually became well known.
“Anybody who has any experience in magic, especially close-up magic will know the name,” says Brault. He adds that much of the appeal for choosing such a mysterious figure was the contrast between the magicians that revered him, and the public that barely knew he existed.
“A magician will know the name of Dai Vernon better than they know the name of Houdini,” says Ottawa magician Greg Kramer. “He’s more important to magic.”
Kramer was the magic consultant for The Shadow Cutter, tapped to bring some professional realism to the performance. He said the reason Vernon was so popular among magicians was because he passed on the showmanship and spectacle of big name magicians in favour of subtlety and skill.
Brault agrees, suggesting Vernon’s humble beginnings in Centretown may have led to his less extravagant tastes.
“He was kind of your typical Ottawa boy,” he says.
Vernon was born in the late 1890s on Argyle Street. His house was just across the street from an empty lot that is now home to the Canadian Museum of Nature. His father was a senior civil servant with the Canadian government.
As a child, Vernon spent much of his time browsing magic shops and watching professional magicians to sate his growing taste for the craft. Yet the play itself is not as much a biography as it is a window into the old world of magic.
It was a far different time compared with the magic scene in modern-day Centretown.
Gone are the days of the grand magic spectacles at the Bennett Vaudeville Theatre on Sparks Street, or the illusionists of Russell Theatre, which was located on the corner of Queen and Elgin. Vernon used to go to both, and it spurred his passion for the magical arts.
He left Ottawa at 17 to chase his love of magic in New York City. Much of the play traces his activities in New York and beyond. Vernon did some small performances in the city, but eventually began travelling across the country in search of anyone talented in the magical arts.
Vernon spent the last 30 years of his life as Magician-in-Residence at The Magic Castle in Hollywood, an academy of sorts for the world’s most skilled magicians. He mentored several prominent magicians during his stay including Doug Henning and Ricky Jay.
Beyond a few independent magicians doing the odd wedding or birthday party, Kramer adds that there isn’t much in Centretown that hints at its magical history.
Vernon died in 1992.