EFX was a Las Vegas Strip production show residing at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino which opened on March 23, 1995 and closed on December 31, 2002. When it premiered, it was the most expensive and largest-scaled theater installation in the world. A significant entertainment landmark of the strip for nearly eight years, it was known for changing its headline star every two years. Performers in the lead role were Michael Crawford, David Cassidy, Tommy Tune, and Rick Springfield.
Michael Crawford version, 1995 Plot The original production of EFX featured a loose plot involving the celebration of the human mind. The EFX Master, in charge of EFX, a world where "anything is possible" thanks to imagination, invites the audience to relive their childhood innocence and wonder by taking them on a journey through four different stories: those of Merlin and King Arthur, a futuristic P.T. Barnum and his alien circus, the last days of Harry Houdini, and H.G. Wells' classic novella, The Time Machine. Each story was its own "act", and was introduced by a "helper" of the EFX Master's based upon their "mastership" of that story's overall theme.
After being introduced to the world of EFX, the EFX Master transforms himself into Merlin as the Master of Magic tells the audience that they are about enter the time of a young Arthur, before he became king. Arthur begs Merlin to teach him about magic, and Merlin explains that Arthur first needs to learn how to live in harmony with nature. Their lesson is interrupted by the arrival of the witch Morgana, who seeks to kill Arthur to keep him from fulfilling his destiny of becoming king. Merlin and Morgana duke it out as giant dragons in a fiery on-stage battle before Arthur pulls the sword from the stone and defeats the evil sorceress. The audience is left with the message that "good must triumph always."
The Master of Laughter then sends us deep into outer space where we meet up with the EFX Master, now P.T. Barnum, and his crazy alien circus. Mishaps and hilarity abound as the intergalactic ensemble perform, and, led by the assistant Vladimir, eventually try to upstage the ringmaster Barnum. This act of the show is the one that was the most re-written. It originally featured a long, innuendo-laced solo-stand-up act by Barnum that included a mind-reading trick involving playing cards and audience participation, an evade-the-blade stunt with the ill-fated Martian Mingo-Sniffer named Muffy, and a juggling act using the cannonballs of Bull Run. The card trick was quickly cut from the show, and Bull Run was reworked to become part of a human cannonball stunt, which gets botched up nicely by Vladimir. Barnum was also supposed to dance the entire Irish jig with the cast, but a hip injury sustained during one of the many stunts left Michael Crawford unable to dance for long, and the number was re-staged to feature just the ensemble performing the jig while Barnum tries in vain to catch Vladimir in an effort to stop his assistant from upstaging him.
After leaving the Intergalactic Circus of Wonders, the Master of Spirits appears and asks us if we wish to make contact with the other side. The audience is then brought to a seance led by Bess Houdini in which she asks to speak to the spirit of her dead husband, the famous illusionist Harry Houdini. The EFX Master, as Houdini, appears, and he and Bess reunite briefly to relive various moments of their past, starting with the night that they first met at one of Houdini's escapes. Upon being reminded of Harry's dangerous career, a disillusioned Bess asks Houdini if he ever really loved her, or if his feelings were really an illusion like his many tricks: "Did you just make me believe that you loved me and not even care enough to stay alive?" We then see Houdini's death, drowning in a water tank before freeing himself from his chains, and Houdini tells Bess, "There's nothing here on Earth that is stronger than the love that I have for you. I only wish I learned that sooner." They then say their goodbyes, promising to be reunited again someday.
The final act is introduced by the Master of Time, who asks us if we are brave enough to see what the years ahead have in store for us. He takes us to see the EFX Master, who has now become H.G. Wells. Wells expresses his amazement that his novel The Time Machine has been so enthusiastically received by the public, and goes on to explain that his own personal interest in the story lies in the scientific possibility of actually traveling through time for research purposes. He has even built a real time machine, but is hesitant to use it, citing the "effects on future generations not yet shaped. It could be dangerous." The Master of Time urges him to "take the journey you've always dreamed of", adding that sometimes the risks are worth it. Wells agrees, and uses the time machine to enter the far-distant future, an effect achieved through a 3D music video projected onto a scrim during the scene change. Wells arrives in a beautiful garden to find that the surviving human population has been enslaved by a race of reptilian-like creatures, the Morlocks, who force the humans to work underground. The Morlocks steal the time machine while Wells befriends one of the female slaves who managed to escape. Together, Wells and the slave girl enter the caves to free the other slaves and take back the time machine. After successfully defeating the Morlocks, the slave girl tries to persuade Wells into taking her back with him. He refuses and she kisses him. Moved by the kiss, and an earthquake, Wells agrees to let the slave girl join him, and together they travel back to his own time.
The EFX Master then appears one final time, this time as himself, and with the entire cast, he praises the human imagination and encourages us to continue to create incredible tales and believe in ourselves and our capacity for creation. We're asked to open ourselves up to infinite possibilities.
Casting EFX was originally conceived as a showcase for performer Michael Crawford, who was fresh off his four-year run in The Phantom of the Opera and enjoying a successful solo career at the time. Crawford jumped at the opportunity to showcase his talents, and the result was his being cast as all five of the show's main characters, which included Crawford revisiting the role of P.T. Barnum, a role he originated in the West End production of the Cy Coleman musical Barnum. Tina Walsh and Kevin Koelbl doubled-up on a few supporting roles, while Jeffrey Polk, Stewart Daylida, Rick Stockwell, Lisa Geist, and over seventy ensemble members rounded out the rest of the cast.
Cast The EFX Master, Merlin, P.T. Barnum, Harry Houdini, and H.G. Wells: Michael Crawford Morgana and Bess Houdini: Tina Walsh The Master of Spirits and Vladimir: Kevin Koelbl The Master of Magic: Jeffrey Polk The Master of Laughter: Stewart Daylida The Master of Time: Rick Stockwell Young King Arthur: Lisa Geist
Creative team EFX was originally created by Gary Goddard and Tony Christopher, with additional material and dialogue provided by Michael Crawford and Bruce Vilanch, respectively. The show was directed by Scott Faris and Anthony Van Laast, who also provided the choreography, followed by Arlene Phillips who took over as director and choreographer. Theoni V. Aldredge provided the costumes. The Animatronic Dragon Morgana featured in the show was produced by Advanced Animations.
The original music was composed by Don Grady, Ted King, Gary Goddard, Andy Belling, B. A. Robertson, and Michael Crawford, and featured lyrics by Doug Brayfield, Ted King, Gary Goddard, Andy Belling, Marty Panzer, and B. A. Robertson. Composer John Barry's theme from the film Somewhere in Time was also used as pre-show music during the show's original 1995 run. Barry, who had worked with Michael Crawford before on previous projects such as the West End musical Billy and the British movie musical of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, gave Crawford permission to add vocals to the Somewhere in Time theme. Lyrics were provided by B.A. Robertson.
Original cast album The original EFX cast album, featuring Michael Crawford, was released in 1995 on the Atlantic Theatre label, which was a division of the Atlantic label that Crawford held a record deal with at the time. To date, this version of the cast album is the only EFX cast album to receive a general release. Subsequent albums were only available through the EFX gift shop.
The recording features Michael Crawford on lead vocals. Jeffrey Polk, Kevin Koelbl, Rick Stockwell, and Stewart Daylida provide brief solo vocals on the track "Nexus", Ginny Grady duets with Crawford on the reprise of "The Magic That Surrounds You", and Tina Walsh provides vocals on the track "Tonight". The CD also features two instrumentals, "Morgana's Arrival" and "The Jig".
Track listing
Somewhere in Time Nexus EFX The Magic That Surrounds You, Part 1 Merlin Ballet, Part 2 The Magic That Surrounds You (Reprise), Part 3 Morgana's Arrival The Intergalactic Circus of Wonders The Jig Tonight Counting Up to Twenty Finale Open Your Eyes
"Somewhere in Time" and "Open Your Eyes" were bonus tracks that were used as pre- and-post-show music, respectively, during Crawford's run in the show.
Crawford's departure Due to the intensity of the stunts and the extreme physical demand required to perform the show, Michael Crawford sustained many serious physical injuries during his run in EFX, during both rehearsals and performances. Crawford, famous for his penchant to perform his own stunts, refused to use a stunt double (except for the end of the H.G. Wells act, in which a double was necessary due to a costume change). Many times, especially during early runs of EFX, Crawford took tumbles from scenery and zip-lines. Scenery would often fly out from under him (most notably the flying saucer) and either send him crashing to the stage or leave him dangling from a safety harness up to twelve feet in the air. One rehearsal of the Merlin act even resulted in his costume catching on fire, with half of it reportedly burned away before the flames could be extinguished. Crawford often took pain killers in order to perform every night, and some of the more demanding scenes were rewritten to accommodate performing around his injuries. In the end, a fall from a zip-line during the Barnum act required hospitalization and a hip replacement, causing Crawford to leave the show permanently in August 1996.
Alternate version with understudy cast, 1996 EFX continued without Michael Crawford and while David Cassidy was in rehearsals to take over. Most of the original cast remained with Kevin Koelbl playing the roles of the EFX Master and Harry Houdini in addition to the Master of Spirits, and Stewart Daylida taking on the additional roles of Merlin and P.T. Barnum while still playing the Master of Laughter. Tina Walsh remained to play Morgana and Bess Houdini, and Lisa Geist continued to play a young King Arthur to Ginny Grady's recorded vocals. Sheldon Craig replaced Jeffrey Polk as the Master of Magic, Saif Eddin took over Rick Stockwell's Master of Time, and Joe Machota was cast as (a much younger) H.G. Wells. In addition to the casting changes, there were also alterations made to the show itself. While it largely remained true to the original version, all of the lyrics for the Masters of Magic, Laughter, Spirit, and Time were rewritten, and some scenes were edited down. Barnum's entire stand-up routine was cut and replaced with a group ensemble number that featured a tumbling troupe and later, a flying trapeze act from Russia. Other changes included the addition of 1930s-style radio voice-over commentary (recorded by Stewart Daylida) that played during the Houdini scene, the editing down of the music in the finale, and cutting the pre- and-post-show music all together.