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Orlando’s New Family of Magic: Drew Thomas Redefines the City’s Enchanted Legacy
It’s not a stretch to suggest the modern era of Orlando was founded on magic. From Walt Disney’s decision to build “the most magical place on Earth” in Central Florida to our Orlando Magic basketball team and 21 years of Visit Orlando’s Magical Dining program, The City Beautiful has a strong foundation of wizardry and enchantment.
But as conjurors and illusionists go, Drew Thomas and his signature show might have them all beaten by dint of a real family formula that involves his wife, Rebecca, and their two boys, Sam and Milo. In fact, you might call them Orlando’s new family of magic.
Fans of America’s Got Talent probably need no introduction to Drew and his talents, ever since he became the first magician to reach the TV show’s semifinals in 2009, a major milestone in a nearly 40-year career of prestidigitation.
Drew and the family can currently be seen in The Magic Show at Grande Lakes Resort, that ritzy hotel, spa, and golf complex on Central Florida Parkway, where their twice-nightly weekend performances showcase much of Drew’s light-fingered flair from half a lifetime’s work in the genre. His experience has taken him to the stages of SeaWorld Ohio, various cruise ships, several of Orlando’s theme parks, and, perhaps more unusually, the Atlanta Ballet.
In fact, it was the historic ballet company that set him on his magical journey, because its production of The Nutcracker required a real magician (and one who could dance a bit) to play Uncle Drosselmeyer.
Early Inspiration and a Break
Barely out of high school, Drew was still in the early stage of his career as an illusionist. He had been inspired as a kid by seeing Doug Henning on TV and a local magician working up-close magic in a Columbus restaurant. His younger years were marked by visits to the library to read about the magical arts and then the requisite shops to build up his own array of tricks, with the help of his dad, who was quick to encourage Drew’s inner Henning.
Drew’s road to magical maturity was also boosted by an unfortunate accident. While out skateboarding with his teenage buddies, he tried to land a spectacular trick but succeeded only in breaking his leg, necessitating weeks of inactivity.
Instead of moping, Drew recounts, “I started practicing magic very aggressively, pretty much 24-7, because I couldn’t go anywhere or do much else. That was the turning point in my career in high school. I started creating all these different ideas for routines and competing at the local magic convention, and that led to me performing at the school, where I suddenly became Mr. Popularity. I was certainly an outsider, kind of a nerdy kid, but my senior year I’m walking through the halls, and everyone’s like, ‘Hey, what’s up Mr. Magic?’ I’m like, ‘Wow, why didn’t I figure this out as a freshman?’”
From a Bar Gig to the Atlanta Ballet
From high school, Drew began performing in local bars, where one night he just happened to be spotted by a choreographer for the Atlanta Ballet. The next thing he knew, John McFall, the company’s renowned artistic director, was on the phone asking if he’d like to be Uncle Drosselmeyer in that season’s production of The Nutcracker.
“Apparently, they had a magician lined up, but he just couldn’t move well enough to be the lead character. They’d seen me in this bar, dancing and doing a kind of Michael Jackson thing along with my tricks, and it led to me doing [The Nutcracker] for five years. It was one of the most powerful things to happen in my career.”
From Atlanta Ballet, he was noticed by SeaWorld Ohio and then Royal Caribbean. The cruise world opened up to him as a fertile playground in which to hone his burgeoning skills. That, in turn, led to more theme park work back in Ohio, until September 11, 2001.
“It was post 9/11, and things really started to dry up for us, so it forced us to rethink and relocate,” Drew recalls. “Our business in Ohio was all about private events and working for theme parks, so we figured, ‘Where’s the best place in the world for that?’ and it had to be Orlando, the number one destination on planet Earth for both of those things. We moved here in 2003 and pretty much hit the bullseye.”
By then, Drew had “recruited” Rebecca from her regular job as a manager for Caribou Coffee to be his partner in the show. “I’d been offered a gig at a small Ohio recreational park and didn’t have an assistant for the Fall shows,” Drew says. “I knew Rebecca from working to become a manager at Caribou, and I knew she had a background in dance and just asked her to audition for me.”
The Making of Orlando’s New Family of Magic
Being cut in half every night might not sound like anyone’s idea of a relationship, but it was definitely a magic charm for the two of them. Rebecca took to the challenge like a rabbit to a top hat, and the new dynamic duo soon had their hands full doing shows throughout the Midwest.
“We put thousands of shows under our belt the first few years, doing a toughening-up experience at the theme parks. We got a lot of experience together as a team, and she was great. It was like she was born to be this fearless [person], which is great, because you need a little bit of a tomboy attitude. Glamorous when you need to be, but then crawling around on hands and knees behind the scenes to make the magic happen.”
If the Midwest theme parks set them on the path to a magical future together, Orlando provided the polish, imagination, and artistry of the city’s attractions, as well as a rich convention business with a hunger for themed private events. America’s Got Talent then added the ultimate seal of approval, putting the magic act in rarefied air with an extra level of star-studded respectability.
The jobs came thick and fast – working as a show director for Disney and Universal, designing illusions for Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, creating an immersive version of the Dracula story, and dreaming up shows for the Orlando Magic. Drew and Rebecca checked just about every box for magical creativity. There was one thing, though, they hadn’t tried – incorporating an additional family element into the theatrical formula.
Their boys, Sam and Milo, 19 and 14 respectively, attended a music school and dabbled in the performing arts as musicians, including being members of a rock band. They initially worked behind the scenes on the cameras and other equipment for the show, but then Drew took Milo on a short cruise gig in front of a 1,400-seat audience and discovered his son handled the big stage – including a grand piano – with aplomb. With Sam becoming increasingly proficient on guitar, the next move was obvious: Bring both boys in as show musicians.
And there they are today, adding to the overall slick presentation and up-close drama of The Magic Show. The 75-minute performance is a welcome surprise for hotel guests and an opportunity for locals to step out in search of that “something different” factor.
The show includes clips of Drew’s appearances on America’s Got Talent and highlights the kind of transformative skill characteristic of the long-running Siegfried and Roy act in Las Vegas, as well as his own unique brand of “Now you see it, now you don’t.” Rebecca adds the glamour – and some dazzling costume-change moments – while the boys provide musical backing at several points, including an instrumental version of Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters. Fittingly, with Drew’s work for Halloween Horror Nights, there is also a Halloween version of The Magic Show and a more musically accented holiday version in the works.
A Magical Restaurant Dream Gets Close to Reality
Drew has another item on his theatrical wish list – a magical restaurant. Not a dinner show, but a genuine, high-quality restaurant that just happens to have a unique performing arts component.
“The idea of a magic restaurant is not new,” says Drew. “This has been done many times, all around the world, like in The Magic Castle in California. It’s just we have an idea that, in my opinion, goes further; it delivers even more on that experience, and the only way I feel this could come to fruition is from our life experiences and from living life and tasting the different things we’ve tasted. And we really do want to create it.
“We’ve had the privilege of being an armchair quarterback in Orlando, being privy and exposed to all of the best entertainment companies in the world, seeing what makes things work,” he says. “What I want to do is create a genuine experience where we can do different things, in an environment where, when I walk through the door as a guest, I don’t need to be prepared for anything. I’m an entertainer; I want to go to a place where they’re going to entertain me, but it has to be multifaceted. It can’t just be a band or a magician or a juggler.
“It’s almost like a show with dinner, but not a dinner show. I’m not a fan of that. I think a dinner show limits the potential of the two different entities. If you will, there’s dinner, and then there’s a show. How those two play together needs to be carefully choreographed to ensure you enjoy both at their utmost potential. So this is not that it happens to be a place where you will eat; you also happen to be entertained with a fantastical experience. I don’t want to give away anything yet, but that’s what we want to create.”
So, any hints as to where and when this might happen? “As it turns out, we’re already getting an opportunity to take this concept for a test spin here [at Grande Lakes],” says Drew. “Watch this space…”
The Magic Show, performed by Drew Thomas and his family, offers two performances, 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., on Fridays and Saturdays, at a speakeasy-type hideaway adjacent to the JW Marriot’s Citron brasserie, JW Marriot Orlando, Grand Lakes, 4040 Central Florida Parkway, Orlando. Tickets for the 75-minute show start at $49.99 for general admission and go up to $89.99 for VIP seats. For more information and a coupon code, visit https://www.drewthomasmagicwowshow.com/
Mike Synan
News | Sports | Politics
- After two decades in news and politics, Mike Synan is returning to his roots to write Sports as “The Sportsaholic”. Mike hosted a talk show for 6 years on WDBO after Magic home games called “Magic Til Midnight”, and spent years working as an in-game correspondent for both ESPN and Fox Sports Radio. His column “Synan Says” has appeared on both www.wdbo.com and www.floridadaily.com. He has a BS in Political Science from Clemson University. You can reach him at msynan@sportsmail.com
