World Champion Magician, Lance Burton talks about his work on “Oz The Great and Powerful”

Lance Burton is one of the greatest stage Magicians of the past century. He has starred in numerous TV specials including “Lance Burton Magic Magician: The Legend Begins”, which aired in 1996 on NBC. His show “Lance Burton Master Magician” opened at the brand new Monte Carlo Hotel in the Lance Burton Theatre also in ’96. He has also performed over 15,000 shows throughout his 30-year career in Las Vegas. Today Lance Burton is happily retired and is currently working on a number of documentary and narrative film projects. Lance was also Magic Advisor on Disney’s “Oz The Great and Powerful” and taught magic to James Franco on the film. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Lance about his role on the film.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us how did you get involved with the production “Oz the Great and Powerful”?
Lance Burton: I got a call from Grant Curtis, one of the producers on “Oz”, a few years ago and he explained that they were doing. He told me about this character, which was a stage magician and they were looking for someone to help with the magic. So I asked for the script to see what they were talking about. I read it and I just fell in love with the project. I thought it was just fantastic. I flew out to Michigan where they had the operation setup and I met with Grant and Sam Raimi. Sam explain his concept of the film to me and introduced me to all the people involved with the film. From there we just went to work.

MG: How was it working with James Franco and teaching him some tricks?
LB: I met with James for a day or so and worked with him on a couple of slide of hand tricks, a couple of months out and I gave him some homework to do. Then we all moved out to Michigan. The good thing was that we had about two weeks before filming started to practice every day. So we had a regular rehearsal schedule to work on the magic that was going to be throughout the film. So since we had a couple of weeks before filming started, that became very valuable time. James didn’t have any prior education with magic but he is a fantastic actor and that is about 90% of the battle. Robert-Houdin, the father of modern magic, has said that his classic definition of a magician is “an actor playing the part of a magician”. Sam wanted the magic to be authentic and he wanted James to play the role as a magician. Sam wanted to me to work with him on the way that he carries himself, as well as the magic. The flare of a magician, both on-stage and off-stage. So I worked with him on little flourishes that he can incorporate into different scenes. When I was on-set, I was able to chime in and throw out ideas during shoot, which was great.

MG: For you being the one always having performed the magic; how was it being on the other side of it?
LB: It is a completely different type of satisfaction. When you go out and do a show, whether it is live or a TV show, you do a good job and you feel good. In this case, I wasn’t the one performing it. But again when I saw the finished product, I felt very proud. I felt lucky to be able to contribute to this sure-to-be instant classic, “Oz The Great and Powerful”. It is almost like a pride that a parent feels about a child.

MG: How long would you say you worked on the film?
LB: We had a fun time. It was two weeks in preparation and then I was on the set for about a month during filming. I was there for the scenes in Kansas and then a little bit of when they get to Oz.

MG: What was your most memorable experience from your work on the film?
LB: I will tell you one thing to look for in the film, which was one of my most proudest moments. I had been teaching James how to twirl a cane between his fingers like a baton. I was thinking that this would be something usable that we can work into the film. The first time that he goes into Emerald City, goes into the throne room and sits on the throne, he picks up this scepter. In the script, it says Evanora is sitting there and is enraged. I thought “Ah, what if he twirled that scepter between his fingers?” I thought it would be very disrespectful and could help help get her enraged. So I went to the prop department to see the scepter. I asked them if there was anyway to make it a little longer and they said “Sure”. I talked it over with James and Sam and everyone seemed to like the idea. I wasn’t on the set when they filmed that scene but when I saw the film in theaters. I was very excited to see that twirl in the film.

MG: After this experience, do you see yourself taking on this role again?
LB: It was a very satisfying experience and it was very interesting work. “Oz” was such a huge hit. My prediction is that there is going to be a whole franchise.  So who knows what the future holds.

 

Related Content

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: burton, great, lance, magician, master, oz, ...

LeVar Burton talks about TNT’s “Perception”, “Reading Rainbow” iPad app and 25th Anniversary of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”

LeVar Burton is a well-known actor who has appeared in shows like “Reading Rainbow”, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the mini-series “Roots”. LeVar is currently guest starring in TNT’s new show “Perception”, which premiers Monday July 9th at 10:00 PM Eastern. LeVar took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about TNT’s “Perception”, his new “Reading Rainbow” iPad app and also the 25th Anniversary of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get attached to TNT’s “Perception”?
LeVar Burton: Ken Biller and Mike Sussman are Star Trek alums and I read the pilot and forced my way in. I love Ken’s writing and I loved his pilot and I called Ken and said, “Is there any way I can be in this?” And he said, “Well, the one character that you’re right for it’s like in a scene in this pilot.” And I said, “Yes, but, you know, I see room there for this guy to grow.” And Ken worked it out. You know, he was thrilled at the prospects. We had a great relationship on Star Trek and I directed a lot of episodes that he wrote and as a fan I just wanted to be in this.

MG: This show is a crime procedural but it also has additional elements to it as well. Can you reflect?
LB: Well, I would say it has a real psychological element to it. I think that Ken’s point of view on the treatment — and I’m going to put this in quotes, “mental illness,” and brain chemistry and how our perceptions literally determine our reality. I think this is a fascinating conversation to have especially in the popular culture medium like television.

MG: How was it been working with Eric McCormack on the show?
LB: I’m a huge Eric McCormack fan, was before meeting him and working with him and even more so now. He totally kills this role, definitely, and I really appreciate the difficulty of what he is so deftly doing in every episode. And he’s just a joy to watch and a marvel to behold. I’m so happy to be working with Eric McCormack. And then on top of being as good as he is, he’s also a real professional. There are a lot of kids who want to be famous these days who come to Los Angeles and say that, you know, they want to be an actor or an actress but really what they want is to be famous. Eric is a real pro, right. He takes what he does seriously, yet he doesn’t take himself as a celebrity seriously, so he’s one of those people who knows, understands what it means to be the number one on the call-sheet. You know what I mean when I say that? Number one on the call-sheet. Eric knows, he knows what it represents. He knows how to do that. People like Scott Bakula, Mark Harmon, they’re guys who know how to be number one on the call-sheet, right. They care about the work and saying good night to everybody when they leave just that their humanity is a part of how they move in the world and it shows up in their inter-personal relationships with cast and crew and it just wonderful when you see that in action.

MG: Your career has been marked by such really important and really iconic roles and a whole slew of awards for “Reading Rainbow”. What do you still want to accomplish at this point in your career as an actor and director? What still keeps you working on every day?
LB: Aside from “Perception”, I’ve really taken a bit of a side-step and as much as the last two years of my life have dedicated and wholly devoted to the “Reading Rainbow” app. We launched it just last week and in 36 hours shot to number one in education. It’s still the number one grossing education app. This really feeds my passion. My mother was an English teacher. My older sister is a teacher. My son is in education. I have cousins, nieces, this is the family business, you know what I’m saying? I did “Reading Rainbow” the television show for 25 years and Rick Berman, the executive producer of “Star Trek”, having produced a children’s television series “The Big Blue Marble”, knew how important the show was to me and knew how important the show was to television. And so, he made it possible for me to do both “Trek” and ‘Reading Rainbow” at the same time. Ken knows it fully well how important “Reading Rainbow” is to me and this is what I feel like I’m really, really supposed to be doing. And the reason why we brought Reading Rainbow back is there is such a need right now. We have fallen so far behind our own expectations as a nation in terms of how we educate our kids and what the outcome of a public school education is these days. And we can’t rely on government to get it done anymore. It has to be a public-private partnership. Our government is brokaye, right? We’ve spent the last decade plus engaged in funding the machineries of war and our kids have been left behind. And, you know, from my point of view that’s just not OKAY.

MG: So with the app out, this is maybe a nice break for you being in a recurring role on television?
LB: It brings a balance to my life because I stepped away from acting after Next Generation and became a full-time director. And then my business partner, (Mark Wolfe) and I decided to re-launch the Reading Rainbow brand. And so that’s been a two-year journey. And now through Perception, I haven’t been on television in, I don’t know what, 10 or 12 years in a series. So I get to return to my first love here. And Ken, as the writer-producer, is committed to giving me notes to play that he knows the public hasn’t seen from me before. So I get to go to work and act and love every minute of that and love the people that I’m working with, Eric and Rachel and just really tremendously talented, quality human beings. My day job right now is continuing that mission of inspiring children who are making decisions as to whether they’re going to be readers or not, to choose the light.

MG: Do you think there’ll be any controversy when a show airs considering it’s like a fully-functioning schizophrenic with a job but doesn’t take any medication?
LB: Well, it’ll be interesting to see if there is, isn’t there? I think the whole idea of mental illness and the stigma that we have associated with it in this country is up for discussion. We are ripe to reevaluate that stigma. And to be able to, as I say, have that conversation begin with a television show, I know the value of that. I watched this nation become transformed in eight nights of television around an issue that goes to the heart of almost everything that happens in this country, in this culture. And that’s the subject of slavery and its legacy on subsequent generations. So I know and appreciate fully what the value of the medium to be an alive part of the evolution of culture. And I just think that we really need to have this conversation in America about how we feel about out-of-balance brain chemistry, just like we needed to have the conversation about racism in America, its roots and its legacy.

MG: You always seem to star in series that thrive on intelligence. How important is intellect and programming to you as an actor?
LB: Oh, my gosh. It’s everything. Unless the story-telling is smart, it’s hard to have impact. I’m really drawn to intelligence and to intelligent story telling. And, you know it when you see it. Even if you can’t define it, you know it when it smacks you in the face, right? And I’ve been really lucky. I’ve been very, very blessed throughout the course of my career. I just am grateful. I’m enormously grateful.

MG: You’ve been on a lot of shows with a lot of big fan bases like “TNG” and Reading Rainbow, obviously. You’re quite interactive with your fans via Twitter, so what are you enjoying most about interacting with them?
LB: Twitter I love because it’s an opportunity for me to have a conversation with people who are from different parts of my life and my career, “Roots” fans and “Star Trek” fans and “Reading Rainbow” fans. I can converse with them absent gatekeepers. I get to say what I want, when I want in a manner that I want 140 characters at a time. And there’s no studio or network or publicist between me and my voice. That’s what I love about it.

MG: Are you going to be going to San Diego Comic-Con and also sort of what’s your take like the fan experience at a Comic-Con versus sort of the insider experience at the Comic-Con?
LB: Definitely, I mean, I will at Comic-Con this year. This is the 25th anniversary of “Star Trek: Next Generation” coming on here, so we are actually doing, not in San Diego but we are doing a sort of a reunion tour where all of the cast is getting back together. We did the first one in Calgary back in April. We have dates coming up in Orlando and Austin and Toronto, I think. So from the inside when two or three and in these cases all of us are together, it’s just a glorious experience because we all remain incredibly close even though we don’t see each other every day like we used to when we were shooting the show. Patrick lives in England, Jonathan is always off working, we’re all doing other stuff with our lives. However, when we’re together there’s just nothing better.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Interviews, TV Interviews Tagged With: 25th, anniversary, app, burton, generation, ipad, ...

Interview with Kate Burton

Kate Burton is known for her role of Margo in John Carpenter’s “Big Trouble in Little China”.  Kate is co-starring in NBC’s new show “Grimm”, playing the character Marie.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Kate about working on “Grimm” and also some of her upcoming projects.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you give us some background about your new show “Grimm”
Kate Burton: The story is an updated/modernized version of the Grimm fairy tales. I play Marie, who is the aunt of the main character Nick. Aunt Marie is sick with cancer and she tells Nick that he is a Grimm. Being a Grimm means Nick has supernatural powers which allow him to see things that normal people can’t. I have been in a lot of pilots and this is one of the best I have ever been in. The way the story is told is very gripping and funny. There is a little bit of a “Twin Peaks” feel to it but a little less perverse. My character was originally meant to be killed off in the pilot but it was decided against, so I return for the first episode and I am also going to also be in some dream sequences.

MG: You are currently shooting now correct?
KB: Yes. I just filmed the first episode in August and they have been filming ever since. I think they are going to be shooting 12 episodes plus the pilot. The show has been picked up for the beginning of the season and we will see where it goes from there.

MG: What do you think makes this show stand out and will make people want to watch it?
KB: Anyone who is interested in sci-fi/supernatural stories or magical themes, I think will like this show. I really think the show could take off! There are some really good stories. The Brothers Grimm really knew what they were doing. It’s just an interesting and gripping series.

MG: What was it like working on “2 Days in New York”?
KB: That was really fun as I don’t get to do comedy very much. Julie Delpy is very specific and knows what she wants. I worked for 2 days on the film on some really funny little scenes. Julie is really great and inspiring. The cast on the film is really great and a lot of fun.

MG: Can you tell us about another project of yours titled “Puncture”?
KB: That was a lot of fun. We shot that film in Houston about a year ago. The Kassen brothers were a lot of fun and really nice. It was a very happy experience. I have a wonderful scene with Chris Evans. I wish I was going to be able to go to the premier but I am shooting another television titled “Scandal”?

MG:  What can you tell us about that show?
KB: The show is a mid-season replacement and I am not really sure when it’s going to air. I start shooting later in the week.

MG: Can you tell us about the film “Liberal Arts”?
KB: That’s a great movie that I really love. We shot in Ohio with director/writer/actor Josh Radnor. The film has a great cast which features Zack Efron, Allison Janney, Richard Jenkins and Elizabeth Olsen, who is an up and coming actress. Josh was really great to work with and our location was really great as well.

MG: What can you tell us about working on “Big Trouble in Little China”?
KB: That film is such a cult classic and it was my first movie. Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall and I were the only three white people in that movie [laughs]. Everyone else was Asian and I got to meet practically every Asian actor that was working in Hollywood at the time. We also met a lot of great actors that came over from China to be in the film. John Carpenter was fantastic to work with as he is such a pro. My character was really fun to play. We didn’t know how great the film was as it came out the same day as “Aliens”. The film has really endured and people just love that film. Victor Wong was so funny!

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: TV Interviews Tagged With: burton, interview, kate
Page 1 of 1