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entertainment
Magic Man
Maxwell Blade
Words Dwain Hebda images courtesy Brian G. Wilson Photography
IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT in Hot Springs and Arkansas’s
Suddenly, the lights go down, the overture rises and for the
entertainment hub is buzzing, if not quite at capacity, at
seven thousand-one hundred-and-seventh time, Maxwell
least enough to make you feel the new excitement that has
Blade takes the stage. Over the course of the next two hours
come into downtown in recent years. Aromas from nearby
he’s working, but it’s clear he’s at home.
restaurants fill the air, a stream of cars and motorcycles glides by and bright lights pour out of bathhouse and bar.
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Smack in the middle of it is the historic Malco Theatre, home
“I will never stop performing. It’s just what I do.”
to Maxwell Blade’s Theatre of Magic. The old girl looks good these days, thanks to nearly $1 million spent in renovations
Maxwell Blade reclines in a front-row seat during an off-day.
a few years back. Inside, the payoff from that investment is
His trademark mane about his shoulders still yells rock-
immediately apparent; the Malco is stunning and contains
and-roll, but outside the spotlight he is soft-spoken and
surprises around every corner, from the pocket bar to the
self-deferential, his voice barely cutting through the darkness
original staircase mural to the main auditorium chock-full of
of the main theater, which feels a lot bigger empty.
theatrical and multi-media technology. When you tell him he doesn’t fit either the wacky magical A full house is defined differently in the era of social
madman or the brooding tortured-soul wizard you’d
distanced seating charts, but that’s what’s on hand for the
imagined, he laughs.
family-friendly show. Nearby, a local family chats about the number of times they’ve been back to see performances
“After all these years, my character and myself have gelled
while a couple of rows over, newlyweds gaze lovingly over
and morphed into this person. It’s not really a character, it’s
popcorn. Sprinkled throughout are youngsters of all ages,
just me,” he says. “I do feel like, once the adrenaline pumps
each here ready to be amazed.
and you come out onstage, you do become a different DOSOUTHMAGAZINE.COM
