“Magic Mike” is on the move…
Channing Tatum is bringing his famous “Magic Mike” moves to New York City for a live show.
The former Copacabana nightclub at 47th Street and 8th Avenue has been renovated and redesigned into a 425 seat theater for an immersive show catered to its female visitors – a hybrid between a really beautiful nightclub and a theatrical space. The show is set to open October 8 with an official opening on October 22.
Speaking on the upcoming show Tatum said, hybrid between a really beautiful nightclub and a theatrical space “we’re going to turn the gas up a little bit and make it a little hotter, just pour some gasoline on it. It’s New York. So you’ve got to throw everything at it.”
Co-director and choreographer Alison Faulk added, “it’s kind of like a dance spectacular that has a sexy twist, and sexy for us is a lot of things. Sexy is funny. Sexy is athletic. Sexy is smart. So we try to approach the dance with all of those things in mind.”
She continued, “there’s very few spaces that are made with women in mind. This is made with the woman in mind and making her whole night happy and easier and fun, just to like to take a load off. There’s few places like that. This New York production is the culmination of 10 years of work and thought and watching millions of people, men and women go to this show.”
“’Magic Mike Live’ flips the traditional, cheesy male revue on its head, putting the women in the audience first at a time when toxic masculinity is under fire. The show features 13 ripped male dancers and a female emcee, combining songs, aerial acrobatics, comedy, plenty of drink service and audience participation, only if wanted.” No matter where a visitor is in the room, they will be just feet from one of the performers.
Creative director and executive producer Vincent Marini spoke on the show saying, “what we really try to do is to create an evening of surprise and delight that gives you a bit of what you expect and then a whole bunch of things you never thought you’d ever get. What we did for the male revue is very similar to what Cirque du Soleil did to circus.”
A former “male dancer”, Channing Tatum spoke on the show he conceived saying, “one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to make this show was to kill that old version of male entertaining, because I’ve worked in that version and it’s misogynistic and degrading to women. It’s just gross a little bit. I ain’t gonna lie. Like, I did it for like about 10 months and I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy. This is nuts. Most of the people that end up loving our show, I think, the most are the people that kind of hate that type of thing the most.”
Not a part of the regular lineup, Tatum hinted that he will one day perform at the show…with no advance notice; saying, “we have a water routine that we’re very, very proud of. I knew when we created it, I was like, ‘There’s no version of me not doing this at some point.’ And I was gonna do it in Vegas, and I went to go and kind of rehearse it. And then, for reasons I won’t get into, it didn’t happen. And so, I’m still waiting to get my chance to go on stage in my own show. So I won’t advertise it, it’ll just happen.” Tatum noted that he hopes the show will be there for the long haul, “as long as “The Lion King”.