Daily Archive for September 28th, 2006

Mr. Vegas comes home

The Globe and Mail has an amazing article about Greg Frewin! It is 5 pages long on the web (it must have been a very lengthy article in the actual newspaper) and talks about Greg’s childhood, his rise to stardom, and how he ended up in Niagara Falls. It also talks about the challenges they’ve faced in getting the theatre going. It is an excellent read, and I highly recommend it!

It’s Saturday night in Niagara Falls. SUVs and minibuses inch their way up Clifton Hill, past the Marvel Superhero Adventure City, past Dracula’s Haunted Castle and Guinness World Records Museum, past the Movieland Wax Museum of the Stars and the House of Frankenstein. The sidewalks are crammed with weary parents, overstimulated kids and casino-bound tourists loaded with cheap souvenirs and cash.

Just off the main drag, a trickle of cars negotiates the turn at a low-slung yellow building with a three-storey-high billboard that shouts, “Las Vegas Has Arrived.”

Above this bold claim appears the face of Greg Frewin, posed next to a white Siberian tiger. While Frewin’s name has none of the cachet of David Copperfield or Siegfried and Roy, to magic buffs, he is the International Grand Champion– the most highly decorated magician in the world and the star of one of Niagara Falls’s newest tourist attractions. He has worked some of the biggest rooms on the Vegas strip: the Flamingo, Caesars Palace, the Tropicana. He’s made a cruise ship disappear on live TV and, in an illusion called the Drop of Doom, he has escaped from a wooden crate dangling from a helicopter over the Mediterranean.

In May, 2005, Frewin staged what may be his most daring trick yet: He opened an eponymous 700-seat dinner theatre in this tourist mecca.

Falls Avenue Newsletter Issue #3

On Saturday I received the latest issue of the Falls Avenue Newsletter. The newsletter highlights some Fall packages, New Year’s Eve packages, and also has some information about changes to the Brock Plaza hotel:

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To subscribe, visit their “Spin to Win” page and fill out the form. Be sure to check that you’d “like to receive news on Niagara Falls discounts and seasonal special eMail”.

Artists, buyers eager for Art By the Falls

From the Niagara Falls Review:

People might see Laurie Little’s painted pumpkins and think she has a plum gig.

They don’t see the nights on the Internet tracking new trends. Or the endless travelling to shows across Canada. Or the frequent trips to the U.S. scouting the competition.

By the time she gets around to actual painting, some serious legwork went into it.

“I’m always down in the States doing different conventions and research,” said the Welland artist, preparing for this weekend’s 15th annual Art By the Falls show at Optimist Park.

“I carry more luggage under my eyes because we’re up till two or three in the morning getting ready.”

It’s always worth the worry - Art By the Falls is one of her top money-makers every year.