Monthly Archive for August, 2005

Clifton Hill Billboard Finished

Published
by
Graham
on August 26, 2005
in Niagara Falls Attractions
. 1 Comment

I know, I know… I keep posting about this. But I think this will be the last one. In the last post, I mentioned that it looked like they had messed up on the size of the billboard. Well, it turns out I was wrong. I know the picture below isn’t very clear, but you can still see that they added a top portion to the billboard that is shaped according to the sign and figures that looked like they were cut off. It looks pretty good. The lights are also up, I’m sure it will get a lot of attention at night.

Greg Frewin Theatre Construction pictures

Published
by
Graham
on August 25, 2005
in Niagara Falls Attractions
. 0 Comments

The City of Niagara Falls web site does a great job of tracking new projects and posting pictures as the projects progress. There is a good page that shows 8 pictures of the various stages of construction of the Greg Frewin Theatre.

40,000 sq.ft. Niagara Falls Entertainment Centre
Home to 695-seat theatre, restaurant, bar and two meeting rooms.
Opened May 20, 2005

Check it out at http://www.city.niagarafalls.on.ca/economicoutreach/developments/entertainmentcentre.html

Greg Frewin Las Vegas Magic Review Show Pamphlet

Published
by
Graham
on August 25, 2005
in Niagara Falls Attractions
. 0 Comments

I scanned the pamphlet for the Greg Frewin Las Vegas Magic Review Show and have included a small version of it below with the accompanying text.

Outside

Front of Greg Frewin pamphlet

Right panel (front of pamphlet)
An entertaining evening of magic & illusion for the whole family
Greg Frewin
The international grand champion of magic

Art Frewin Production Inc.

Las Vegas Magic Review Show

Middle panel (back of pamphlet)
Buy your tickets now…
before they disappear!

Art Frewin Production Inc.
5781 Ellen Ave., Niagara Falls
Ontario, Canada L2G 3P8
905.356.0777 or 1.866.779.8778 Toll Free
www.gregfrewintheatre.com
info@gregfrewintheatre.com

Left panel (inside flap)
Victor J’s
“Rock and Roll Flash Back”
Show featuring: Elvis, Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper
Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and
the King of Canadian Comedy,
your host Victor J. Hanson

Songs in the Key of Elvis
Ron Moore’s
Sunday brunch featuring the King’s greatest hymns
Viva Niagara
A full tribute show to the King of Rock and Roll

Inside

Greg Frewin Theatre Tiger Photo

A Las Vegas Magic Review Show Starring..
“The International Grand Champion of Magic” Greg Frewin!
Visit Our Website for Current Shows and Events: www.gregfrewintheatre.com

Left panel
Enjoy an evening of entertainment with magic never seen before and Live Las Vegas style dancers. This exciting family show is a multi-million dollar development with all the latest in special effects, lighting and sound. Not only will it keep you on the edge of your seat, you may be one of the lucky participants to disappear!

Greg earned his title by winning first place in all of the world’s top magic competitions, a feat that has never been duplicated by any magician. He has gone on to appear on many of the world’s top stages such as The Flamingo Hilton, the Tropicana and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Crystal Palace Casino in Nassau, Bahamas and the fabulous Genting Resort in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After living and working for 5 years in Las Vegas, Nevada, Greg is bringing his high energy, award winning magic to Niagara Falls in his native Canada.

Middle panel
The newest attraction to Niagara Falls, centrally located at the top of Clifton Hill, will present Las Vegas shows nightly

Right panel
Greg Frewin
As seen in over 35 TV appearances including:
NBC TV - World’s Greatest Magic
ABC TV - Champions of Magic
FOX TV - Magic of Las Vegas
BBC TV - Paul Daniels Show
BBC TV - Talking Telephones
NGK TV - Magic Specials
WIC TV - Magic at Sea
Channel 5 - Italy
Variete - Chile TV
Disney Channel
Columbia TV

PDF IconI have also created a PDF file of the pamphlet if you’d like to download it and see it in full size/colour. You can download it here:
Greg Frewin Las Vegas Magic Review Show Pamphlet

Whales show an ability to learn and teach

Published
by
Graham
on August 25, 2005
in Niagara Falls News
. 0 Comments

From The Guardian:

Canadian scientists have observed a case of learning and culture in a killer whale. A four-year-old orca in a marine park in Ontario has found a way not just to provide fresh fowl for supper, he has shown other young whales how to do the same thing.

The precocious predator made a practice of regurgitating his fish supper and then lurking just below the water’s surface. The moment a gullible gull touched down for a free meal, the creature lunged.

According to New Scientist today, within a few months the whale’s younger half-brother began trying the same trick. Then a six-month-old calf and an older male at Marineland in Niagara Falls started doing the same thing.

Greg Frewin Las Vegas Magic Review Show - The Magician

Published
by
Graham
on August 23, 2005
in Niagara Falls Attractions
. 0 Comments

This post is continued from the Greg Frewin Las Vegas Magic Review Show - The Show post.

Greg Frewin PhotoThe show lasted about 1 hour and 20 minutes. At the end of the show he plugged the retail counter, as well as the souvenir pictures with a tiger. After every show Greg comes out and answers questions.

Greg was raised in Stoney Creek, Ontario. When he was a kid in the mid-70’s, there were commercials on TV for a magic kit. His parents got it for him, and so began his journey to performing magic. Each year for his birthday or for Christmas his parents would get him another kit. At one point he got hooked up with a man who was working in some clubs, and so at around the age of 16 years of age he started to perform. By now he has been performing professionally for 15 years. As his promotional pamphlets claim, he has been on NBC, ABC, FOX and many other networks both domestically and overseas. He has performed in several locations in Las Vegas, as well as in the Bahamas. He spoke fondly of his time at the Genting Resort in Kuala Lumpur (he enjoyed being able to golf every day).

He now lives on a 10-acre property in Fenwick, Ontario with all of the animals and birds. He has a cougar, several tigers, and a lot of birds. The doves don’t live for more than 6 or 7 years, so he is always training new birds. Parrots however can live to be 70 years old, and so he said once you have one of those trained, you have them trained for life.
I asked him why he came back home, and he said that he had spent his time traveling the world and just felt it was time. He had felt for several years that Niagara Falls needed a high-quality show like this, and obviously he was the one to bring it. He thinks that the growth of the Falls has been great. Business is slowly growing, and he said he is here for the long haul (20 years)!

You can learn more about Greg and his accomplishments at his official web site

Greg Frewin Las Vegas Magic Review Show - The Show

Published
by
Graham
on August 23, 2005
in Niagara Falls Attractions
. 0 Comments

This post is continued from the Greg Frewin Las Vegas Magic Review Show - The Theatre post.

The show itself was fantastic. The night I went happened to be their slowest night in weeks, but the crowd was still very vocal. I’m sure when the theatre is packed everything seems that much better. He did several small tricks to start of the show and it seemed as if doves were appearing out of nowhere. The show consisted of mostly larger tricks, as well as several dancing numbers. In between each performance, he would come out and talk. He often would ask questions, and did involve an audience member in a couple of tricks. One of these tricks was with a girl in the audience. She had a $100 bill and he turned it into a $1 bill. After doing so he said, “Welcome to Niagara Falls!” (saying that your money will disappear here). He also made a joke that this is what happens at the casino. This trick was particularly noteworthy because someone came out with a portable video camera, and they displayed a closeup of him doing the trick up on the big screen.
The funniest trick he did was setup by him saying that he had just ordered a new trick and was learning how to do it. An instructional audio taped played in the background and he followed along. The “company” that he had bought the trick from was Acme Magic, and it had to do with a banana (or was that a bandana) disappearing.

Greg Frewin Magic TrickBy far the greatest number of tricks had to do with people or animals disappearing and reappearing. They were all quite impressive, but two of them stood out to me. One of them was a trick where he “escaped” from a box (he was chained up and there were spears hanging over the box). As the spears went into the box, it opened, and he was gone. He was several rows back in the theatre. Another trick was one where he and an assistant ended up switching places (I’m still baffled by that one!).

Greg Frewin Theatre DancersThere is music throughout the show, and were three main dance numbers. The Greg Frewin Theatre Dancers do a modern dance number right near the beginning to Pink’s song Let’s get this party started, and then there was a number where the girls were dressed like Mounties (although with skimpy bottoms on) and another number where they were dressed like Las Vegas show girls. The dance numbers weren’t really something that I was interested in, but I understand there needs to be some time between tricks to get things ready.

I’m sure the performance varies from night to night. Overall I was extremely impressed. There were several instances where I thought I knew how he was doing the trick, but then something happened, and it fooled me. Some things looked amateurish, while some things were top-notch. I’m sure these things will be worked out as the show is tweaked and improved.

The show lasted about 1 hour and 20 minutes. At the end of the show he plugged the retail counter, as well as the souvenir pictures with a tiger. My wife wanted her picture taken with a tiger, so we got in the cage and had our picture taken with Jasmine. Of course there is a divider between you and the animal, but the picture hides it well. Jasmine only 8 months old and already weighs around 200 lbs. Greg said that she would gain a pound a day for the next year and a half. They use a Canon EOS 20D (a very good camera) and print the picture while you wait. They take several pictures and give you a choice of which one you want. The pictures are 5″x7″ and costs $15 plus tax.

Greg Frewin Theatre Tiger Photo

The show is $39.95 for adults. Add $20 if you’d like dinner beforehand. Children (under 13) are $19.95 for the show only, or $28.95 with dinner.

Be sure to read the Greg Frewin Las Vegas Magic Review Show - The Magician to learn more about Greg Frewin.

Greg Frewin Las Vegas Magic Review Show- The Theatre

Published
by
Graham
on August 23, 2005
in Niagara Falls Attractions
. 8 Comments

On Wednesday, August 17, 2005, I had the pleasure of attending a performance of the Greg Frewin Las Vegas Review Show. It was fantastic! Greg is a world-class magician.

We got there around 7:30 pm. As you walk into the building, you notice how clean it is, as well as how spacious it is. There is a small retail counter where you can buy some books, videos, and other things. Before you go into the theatre, there is a very large lounge/bar area. They obviously spared no expense as the backs of the chairs have cutouts of Greg and a tiger, similar to the signs they have around. There are several TVs in the building that show a promotional video. We also noticed a cage setup with lights and a camera.

The theatre itself is tiered, so that everyone can see. There are tables setup, as there is an option for dinner beforehand (we didn’t have the dinner). With the tables in place as they are, the theatre seats about 700 people, and if the tables are removed, the theatre will fit about 1000.

Greg Frewin Theatre

A hostess sat us in the front section, just below the stage. A server came over and asked if we wanted any drinks. Two of us ordered the smoothie they offer (it was amazing), and two of us just ordered pop. Again, it seems they spared no expense, as the server was using a Pocket PC device to enter the orders.

About 5 minutes before the show was to start, there were some prerecorded announcements. Just after 8 pm a projector screen came down and an intro video was shown. It was very effective. There were clips from all the various TV shows that Greg has been on. I had never heard of Greg before he came to Niagara Falls, and this helped to appreciate the quality of his skills. The sound system was excellent.

You can read more about the Greg Frewin Theatre at the theatre’s office web site.

Be sure to read the Greg Frewin Las Vegas Magic Review Show - The Show for details of the performance.

Ripley’s expanding exhibit locations

Published
by
Graham
on August 23, 2005
in Niagara Falls Attractions and Niagara Falls News
. 0 Comments

From the Pittsburg Post Gazette:

The Ripley’s Believe It or Not! company opened a new attraction in Niagara Falls this summer, and has just broken ground on another site in Panama City Beach, Fla.

Ripley’s opened Louis Tussaud’s Wax Museum in Niagara Falls in June. (Louis was a nephew of the more famous Madame Tussaud, whose name lives on in a separate collection of wax museums not affiliated with Ripley’s.) Other Louis Tussaud houses of wax can be found in Copenhagen and in Texas, in San Antonio and Grand Prairie.

Canada in the mist

Published
by
Graham
on August 22, 2005
in Niagara Falls News
. 0 Comments

The Chicago Tribune has a nice article about a trip the author and his family made to Niagara Falls:

This summer, Juju and I returned by ourselves to Niagara Falls, Canada (we still haven’t set foot on the American side), and found it swarming with families, just as before.

In places along the wall beside the falls, the crowds stood four deep and stretched on for hundreds of yards. New-looking high-rise hotels loomed above us from the bluff alongside the Niagara River. Two casinos, also fairly fresh out of the wrapper, had come on line since our last visit, and there were amusements galore, from carnival rides to macabre museums.

The falls proceeded with their usual rush of astounding turbulence. Hadn’t changed a bit in a dozen years, as far as I could tell. They mesmerize. They show how brutally strong a body of water can be when it suddenly has to drop 170 feet from atop a cliff.

More Skylon Tower Information

Published
by
Graham
on August 22, 2005
in Niagara Falls Attractions
. 0 Comments

As a final note to my posts about the Skylon Tower (see Niagara’s most famous landmark … next to the Falls and Skylon Tower Facts), I was in contact with Dave Gillies, Director of Sales. He answered a few questions for me:

What was the original purpose of the building (communications, tourism, or both)?

The original propose for use was as an exhibit hall with an observation deck and dining room at the top, so the answer is both.

How much does it “sway”?

It is designed to sway 18� from centre.

Are base-jumpers or suicides a problem?

No, the outer observation deck is covered.

Have there been any movies filmed in the tower?

One of the scenes from Superman and many commercials were filmed here along with footage used in other movies.

When did the Yerich family take over?

1986

What other businesses does the parent company own/operate in the area?

Holiday Inn by the Falls, Cascade Inn, Pyramid Place, Wolfgang Puck, Cafe Tu Tu Tango.

How many people go up the tower each year?

About 1 million go up. Close to 3 million visit the Tower.

How did the tower get involved with Jay Cochrane?

Jay has wanted to do a walk from the Tower for a long time. The Casino stepped in and sponsored the walk.

Do you have to pay for parking?

Yes

Can you give us any insight into the future development plans? I know that there is approval for hotels.

As you know, hotel development is planned along with the redevelopment of Pyramid Place, redesign of our lobby area, and Revolving Dining Room.

Lastly, there is a good write-up on the history of the tower at http://www.niagarafrontier.com/towers.html (scroll down almost to the bottom).