Word: merlin
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...SOLEIL. A few tattered folk wander into the big top and presto! turn into the world's most beguiling circus performers. This luminous spectacle, which sets up its tent next week in Santa Monica, Calif., and can be seen on HBO throughout this month, packs more magic than Merlin's wand. The Montreal-based Cirque may have lost a spangle or two since its first U.S. tour, but it remains, whatever Ringling may say, the greatest show on earth...
...might imagine, there are plenty of funny scenes in this play. One of the more hysterical ones is the musical number led by Merlin (Richard Claflin), who is the father of Thumb. Claflin leads the audience in a rowdy rendition of "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" while simultaneously leading the cast in a chorus kick-line. Equally ridiculous is the light saber battle scene between Thumb and rival Lord Grizzle (Carl Bj Fox). Also garnering a high reading on the laughmeter is the cameo appearance of the ghost of Gaffer Thumb (Eric Olsen), who surfaces...
...television audiences, the Super Bowl came accompanied with the usual baggage: hundreds of advertisements and horrendous commentary from Dick Enberg and Merlin Olson. For once, it was worth wading through the sludge of commercialism in order to see the game. The Bengals--surprise--were good. The 49ers were better...
...dramatic monologues. But it is Davies' own voice that seems most memorable: confident, unhurried, interested and amused. Late in the novel, on the brink of the opera's opening night, the narrative pauses briefly to consider Oliver Twentyman, a trouper in his 80s who will sing the role of Merlin the magician: "He liked being old -- and still a great artist. Age, linked with achievement, was a splendid crown to life." So it is, as this novel and Davies' remarkable career munificently demonstrate...
...great player," teammate Jim Masland said. "He's the master. He's the wizard. He's Merlin without a beard...