Richard "Rick" Heath was the artist behind the beautiful props, scenery, and posters that adorned the stage and theater of Le Grand David and His Own Spectacular Magic Show in Beverly, Massachusetts. This grand spectacle of a show ran for 35 years, the longest running magic show in the history of the world, according to the Guinness World Book of Records.
The show had over 1,000 costumes, 700 entrances and exits, 100 classic illusions, 45 backdrops, 35 years in a small town, 4 hours of stage magic, and 2 antique theaters. It was a time in history that can never be repeated. And the cast and crew were more than employees...they were family. I had an opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with many of them and I was called a friend.
Marco the Magi (Cesareo Pelaez) presided over the family as a kindly patriarch and visionary who treated everyone with respect though without a doubt, he ruled and his word was final. Early in the creation of the show, Rick Heath was designated by Cesareo to be the artist in the company. He could see some spark in Rick's character that led him to prompting his latent abilities as an artist. But everyone had a job and each was tasked with different jobs.
As it related to the painting of backdrops and props, Rick gives credit to everyone that includes those who washed the paintbrushes, who mixed the paint, who prepared the canvas and props, and all of the other details that go into a painting, As a result, Rick still doesn't like to put his name on any of his artwork as he feels that it is unwarranted vanity.
Rick discussed this and more during his speech before the Order of Merlin breakfast at the recent I.B.M. convention in San Antonio, Texas. You can hear that speech on the podcast from Day Four. And the companion booklet that accompanied his speech is online HERE.
In this podcast, Rick talks about how he became associated with the Le Grand David show and how he met Cesareo Pelaez and became part of the troupe. He also tells some stories about Cesareo and how he came to the U.S. from Cuba, his background and education, his association with Maslow, the Company, his philosophy, and his current commissioned work as an artist. You can visit Rick's website to find out more about "Magician With A Paintbrush" at http://www.magicianwithapaintbrush.com/
This podcast was live streamed on Facebook so during this podcast from time to time you will hear us checking on questions posted from those watching/listening online in real time.
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