John Shea (3/89 Magic Moments)
Excerpt from The Modesto Bee 3/5/89: John Shea & Lakeland Ledger | Magic Moments
In Step with John Shea
Shea and I got together for coffee to talk about all that and about his current off-Broadway play and a new TV movie called Magic Moments, coming up on Showtime this month, in which Shea plays a magician.
© The Modesto Bee
Excerpt from Chicago Sun Times 3/17/98: John Shea
Good actors struggle with ridiculous plot in `Magic Moments'
March 17, 1989 | Ernest Tucker
Magic Moments (STAR) (STAR) Troy Gardner John Shea Melanie James Jenny Seagrove Brian Swann Paul Freeman Showtime presents a made-for-TV movie directed by Lawrence Gordon Clarke and written by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham. Premiering from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday over local cable systems.
© Chicago Sun Times
Excerpt from Tulsa World 3/17/89: John Shea
John Shea // Actor Is Up to Some New Tricks
By JOHN WOOLEY on Mar 17, 1989
TV Movie: "Magic Moments"
Stars: John Shea and Jenny Seagrove
Date and Time: Sunday, 7 p.m. (also airs March 25, 26 and 28)
Channel: Showtime, Pay Cable Channel 37
You couldn't find two TV movies much more different than "Baby M" and "Magic Moments." One was a naturalistic, torn-from-today's-headlines story of surrogate motherhood and angry, confused emotion. The other is a gauzy, dewy-eyed tale that's so romantic it's presented by Harlequin Romances, the famous paperback book line. The two films have one thing in common, though, and that's actor John Shea, a Yale University-trained actor with impressive credits in theater, movies and television. Shea won an Emmy for his portrayal of William Stern, the father of "Baby M." He may not win any awards for his portrayal of suave magician Troy Gardner in "Magic Moments," but that doesn't mean he didn't like doing it. "When you look at the films that are being made today, they all seem to be gritty social or political docudramas," the articulate Shea said in a recent telephone interview. "There doesn't seem to be too much opportunity to play romantic leads any more. I remember watching the great romantic leads of the past - Leslie Howard, Cary Grant, even Humphrey Bogart - and I've always thought it would be a blast to play one of those kinds of characters.
"I also wanted to do this ("Magic Moments') because it was the exact opposite of "Baby M.' This guy (Troy Gardner) is romantic, theatrical, single, flamboyant. In "Baby M,' my character was this button-down, middle-age, uptight, corporate kind of guy. One of the reasons I was attracted to this role was so people wouldn't just think of me as that guy in "Baby M.' This guy is a lot closer to me than that other guy was," he added with a laugh.
Besides his desire to play a romantic lead and his wish to avoid being typecast as Baby M's father, there was another, simpler reason that he took the role. "I thought it would be fun," he said. "The other things I've done (including the mini-series "Kennedy' and "Hitler's SS: Portrait of Evil') have tended to be serious and political; this one doesn't have a brain in its head. It's not trying to change anyone's political viewpoint. It's just there to entertain people. It's sleight of hand."
Sleight of hand - literally - was one thing that Shea learned while on location in England and Spain for "Magic Moments." There, he studied with veteran British magician Harold Taylor, who showed him some of the illusions used by professional magicians. "He started by teaching me the digital manipulations - how to make coins appear and disappear - then went to making doves and flowers appear, on up to the big illusions you see in the film. Because I play the piano and violin, I have the digital dexterity required for sleight of hand. I made sure there was a wide enough shot (in the film) so that you could see me doing it. Those things you see are things Harold taught me - I studied for weeks to do those little moments.
"I thought when I became familiar with how the magic was done, I might become disillusioned," he added. "I have to tell you honestly that I'm even more amazed at how things are done. There really is magic. It's the magic of dexterity, the magic of making the impossible possible, the magic of illusion."
As a part of his apprenticeship with Taylor, the magician took him to a meeting of the Magic Circle in London. The Magic Circle's membership consists of some of the most prestigious magicians in the world, and Shea was made an honorary member. Or, rather, his character was. "Harold introduced me as Troy Gardner," Shea said. "I was this mysterious figure in black, just beginning to get into my role. We sat and talked and sipped gin-and-tonics, and, as fate would have it, a young magician from Houston was auditioning for all of these great old British magicians that night. It was the beginning of the voyage I took into magic."
One of the things Shea learned was how seriously magic is taken by its practitioners. "They have two rules," he said. "The first is that you never tell anybody how you do an illusion, and the second is that you never repeat an illusion."
In "Magic Moments," Shea's character is a world-famous magician in love with a young television producer (British actress Jenny Seagrove). At the film's climax, the magician attempts a never-before-done illusion involving several locked safes and potential suffocation. Does he escape, or does he run out of air? Do the two lead characters unite after a series of misunderstandings? Viewers of "Magic Moments" will see for themselves, although the fact that the film is presented by Harlequin Romances should indicate how everything turns out. As far as John Shea is concerned, everything turned out just fine. "The English have always been able to get across that sophisticated kind of romantic feeling," he said. "And really, there's nothing more delightful than taking a beautiful woman in your arms, falling in love with her, and having it all work out."
As Shea would undoubtedly agree, that, too, is magic.
© Tulsa World
Excerpt from Los Angeles Times 3/18/89: John Shea
TV Reviews : A Romance Movie That Lacks 'Magic Moments'
March 18, 1989|LYNNE HEFFLEY
He's an irresistibly charming magician with a past. She's a sweet and innocent, uh, television producer. Love kindles, passion rages . . . and yawns abound in the Showtime cable channel's "Harlequin Romance Movie: Magic Moments" (Sunday at 8 p.m.). There's plenty of blame to go around for this soggy bonbon. Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham wrote the cliche-ridden teleplay, based on Nora Roberts' novel, "This Magic Moment." Lawrence Gordon Clark directs with an emphasis on "significant" close-ups; John Shea as Troy is a more believable magician than lover, and Jenny Seagrove, as Melanie the smitten producer, proves she can open her eyes very wide--a lot.
© Los Angeles Times
Excerpt from Albany Times Union 3/19/89: John Shea
JOHN SHEA BRINGS MAGIC TO NEW CABLE TV MOVIE ABOUT MAGICIAN.
Byline: Janet Trinkaus Televison editor
Don't ask John Shea the secret to the magic feats he performs in "Magic Moments" (tonight at 9 p.m. on Showtime). "There are two rules for magicians that I learned for the movie," Shea said recently by phone from his home in lower Manhattan. "Never do the same trick twice and never tell anybody how."
Shea, 40, is an actor on the brink of catapulting to huge fame - and deservedly so. He's currently in Los Angeles, wrapping up a deal on "a Hollywood mainstream feature film, in which I play the bad guy with a charming edge. It'll be shot in California with a great leading lady. I'm really excited about it." Like lots of unsigned projects, Shea wouldn't jinx the movie deal by naming names. The new film just might make his name a household word.
....
His film roles have included "Missing," with Jack Lemmon and Cissy Spacek, in which he played an American lost in the shuffle of Chilean politics, and "A New Life," with Alan Alda and Ann-Margret. "Magic Moments" is a romantic story about an American magician, played by Shea, who meets a British TV producer, played by Jenny Seagrove. "Jenny was great. You might remember her as the mermaid in the big- screen film, 'Local Hero,' and on TV in 'A Woman of Substance.' After I read the script, I had a hunch this was a good one, and told them to find me a leading lady with theatrical background. All the best actors have stage experience."
Based on a Harlequin romance novel, "This Magic Moment," the movie is noteworthy not so much for its romantic story line, but for its magic. "It's supposed to be fun, and people can't help but think of David Copperfield and Doug Henning, but Troy Gardner is a fictitious character.
"I'm a little more like Troy than I was William Stern - he's romantic, single, theatrical. Of course, I'm not single, and my son loved me to do magic tricks for him."
To prepare for the role, Shea read all available books on the master of magic, Harry Houdini, and watched movies such as "Magic," with Anthony Hopkins. "But there are no movies on Houdini because if magicians act, it looks like they're faking it. Also, Houdini never shared his secrets."
But the most important part of Shea's preparation was learning the tricks of the magician trade. Showtime hired Harold Taylor, a 70-year-old English magician, to work with him before and during the filming of the movie. "When we first met, Harold asked me what I wanted to do first. And I told him I wanted to go to a meeting of the Magic Circle."
That's Magic Circle, the international fraternity of some 2,000 magicians that meets weekly in London. "It was wonderful. Taylor introduced me as Troy Gardner, a New York magician. There was a zodiac painted on the ceiling and the room was all done in red velvet plush. Books on magic and boxes of props surrounded us. They all talked about magic and traded secrets. A young magician from Houston tried out for half an hour to be accepted as a member and then they all voted. "They were mostly older men, since older women weren't allowed in. Now there are some young girls - the feminist movement is changing a lot of things."
Shea had never done any magic before this movie. "Even though I'd always been fascinated by it. Harold taught me beginning a couple of weeks before shooting, and for the two months we spent shooting in London and Madrid."
The movie reaches its climax with Shea's performing a death-defying trick in which he's locked into a small safe, which is inside a slightly larger safe, which is locked into a larger safe. "Sure it's dangerous," Shea admitted. "As a matter of fact, Houdini worked on it for years, but never got it. He apparently never did any trick he couldn't do on stage.
"You know," Shea continued, "you can suffocate if you fail at the safe trick." But he doesn't, and all ends happily ever after in "Magic Moments," just like a good Harlequin romance.
© Albany Times Union
Excerpt from Nora Roberts Examiner 9/6/09: John Shea
Nora Roberts' novel This Magic Moment became a Harlequin Romance Movie
Carol Thomas September 6, 2:42 PM
Although not a part of either of her Lifetime Movie Collections, Nora Roberts' Golden Medallion award-winning novel, This Magic Moment also became a televised movie. One of the early Harlequin romances to be adapted for television, this movie premiered on March 3, 1989 on the Showtime Network as Magic Moments. Magic Moments portrayed the efforts an American magician, Troy Gardner, to win the heart of his English television producer, Melanie James. The film starred John Shea as Troy Gardner and Jenny Seagrove as Melanie James, Troy Gardner's television producer.
© The Examiner