From the alt.magic online news group we hear Lee Warren and composer Raymond Yiu are busy preparing for the premiere of an opera based on the life of magician Chung Ling Soo.

Writes Mr. Warren:

The opera's London premiere is at the Almeida Theatre in Islington on the 1st, 2nd and 7th of July. It would be great if magicians would come to see it. About 70 per cent of seats are already sold, but you can check availability on the Almeida's website - www.almedia.co.uk

(Please note: the link on the original alt.magic news group listing is incorrect). 

If anyone from this group comes to see it, let me know - it would be good to meet you.

From the Opera's detail listing at the Almedia Theatre:

I saw a real Chinese guy do this stuff better

I saw him make a goldfish appear You should have been there!

There were costumes and dragons

And a tiny Pekinese juggler

He was a wonderful Chinese Conjuror!

The Original Chinese Conjuror tells the extravagant true story of William Robinson, whose onstage death at the Wood Green Odeon in 1918 brought to an end a brilliant magic career and an extraordinary subterfuge. For years he had conned British audiences into believing he was a more exotic figure than proved the case.

Young composer Raymond Yiu and his librettist, magician Lee Warren, draw on vaudeville, magic and musical theatre to tell this extraordinary story.

Former Chichester Festival Director Martin Duncan (How to get ahead in business...) directs a versatile cast of singing actors and opera singers.

Produced by Aldeburgh Almeida Opera. Commissioned and developed with the generous support of the Genesis Foundation.

This sounds like a wonderful project and perhaps a great introduction to both magic history and opera.  Congratulations to Mr. Warren and Mr. Yiu.

Mr. Warren the resident teacher at the Actors Centre in London. He directed Milk for Jamie at the Soho Theatre last year. His amazing abilities as a librettist have been noted by the opera community and he was a finalist in the international Genesis Opera Project.   

If this wasn't enough, Mr. Warren is a full-time (perhaps more than full-time) magician - one of the busiest in England.  When not writing award-winning theatre, he teaches performance and mind-influencing skills workshops for the corporate market.

We found a profile of Mr. Yiu here. . .  

We'll keep you up-to-date as the premier approaches . . . 

Magic News Magic Chung Ling Soo Opera