Southam News: A week to go

There's only a week to wait until world famous magician, Paul Daniels, and his charming assistant, Debbie McGee, come to Southam.

The occassion of the visit is to mark the opening of Mask-arade's new premises in Southfield Road.

The move, from Ford Farm to the new location marks another successful milestone in Mask-arade's history since they were rejected by those fools on Dragon's Den.

Debbie and Paul will be attending the opening at 13:00 on Saturday September 24. And, the good news keeps on coming: You're all invited.

In honour of the event, Southam News has a countdown timer in the left hand column to ensure you won't miss the event of the year.

Paul Daniels is without doubt one of the most accomplished magicians in the World, and certainly one of the most exciting. Add to that a unique comedy style and you have a complete entertainer and one of the funniest men in show business.

His fame and achievements are not confined to the UK where he is a household name. The USA, Canada, New Zealand, Germany, Spain, and Japan have all recognised him as a world class entertainer. Amongst his numerous achievements, he has starred in his own hugely successful West End Theatre Show, headlined in Las Vegas and Broadway, as well as performing more unique magic on TV than any other magician in history..

With a reputation as one of the most popular society and show-business entertainers, Paul has entertained The Royal Family including princes William and Harry, The Sultan of Brunei, The Sultan of Oman, Prince Rainier of Monaco, Barry White, John Major (Prime Minister), James Callaghan (Prime Minister), Princess Michael of Kent, The Duke and Duchess of Wessex, and countless others.

In the world of TV no-one has enjoyed more success than Paul Daniels. From the moment he burst onto the ITV network, and later switched to the BBC, his magic shows topped the ratings. A recent book on TV facts calls him the most successful TV magician of the 20th century. His creative genius enabled him to produce consistently stunning shows, never rivalled in spectacle, covering the full range of the world of entertainment magic, from small, ‘close-up’ effects, to enormous outside broadcast illusions.

In 1983 Paul was presented with the prestigious ‘Magician of the Year’ Award by the Hollywood Academy of Magical Arts before a star-studded audience in Los Angeles. It was a tremendous achievement for Paul, and he was the first magician from outside the USA to receive the award.

Debbie McGee’s career has spanned the widest range of show business genres, incorporating Classical ballet, Modern Dance, Cabaret, Theatre, Television and Films.

After finishing her training at the Royal Ballet School Debbie joined the Iranian National Ballet until political reasons forced her to return to the UK. There she went into the more commercial side of dance and appeared on many TV Light Entertainment shows.

Debbie also enjoyed performing abroad, appearing on TV shows and touring with Abba, Chris de Burgh and James Last.

Passing one audition changed her life. The Delfont Organisation placed her as a dancer in the Paul Daniels Summer Show in Great Yarmouth and the rest, as they say, is history.

Since then, together, they have appeared in countless television shows, had a record breaking run at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London’s West End and also returned there for two short runs. Another West End credit was a successful Christmas show at The Savoy Theatre. Together with Paul, Debbie has performed for most of the major companies in after dinner cabarets. The list is endless.

Of course, whilst continuing to perform with Paul, Debbie has almost as many credits in her own right, as presenter, an after dinner speaker and a most magical performer.

From the year 2000 until 2003 Debbie fulfilled a lifelong dream, as Artistic Director and Choreographer, of the highly successful Classical Ballet Company, Ballet Imaginaire. As well as presenting the well-known classics Swan Lake and Coppelia, Debbie has created two completely new Classical Ballets, The Artist’s Dream and Phantom – The Ballet for the company.

Since June 2008 Debbie has added the role of Radio DJ to her credits, presenting her own Sunday morning radio show on BBC Radio Berkshire.