Derren Brown: Secret
Opening Night: September 15, 2019
Closing: January 4, 2020
Theater: Cort Theatre
From stage to screen, two-time Olivier Award winner Derren Brown has mesmerized millions worldwide with his unique brand of mind reading, persuasion, and psychological illusion. Now, for the first time ever, this U.K. phenomenon and Netflix star brings his talents to Broadway. After a sold-out, critically acclaimed run off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company, Derren Brown: Secret returns with a spellbinding experience that dares us — in the most jaw-dropping way — to take a closer look at the stories and beliefs that guide our lives. Behold a theatrical event of the mind in this “thrilling spectacle of psychological magic” (Entertainment Weekly). Performances begin September 6 at the Cort Theatre.
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September 15, 2019
Audiences love to be fooled, whether it’s with clever plotting with a twist, the arrival of an unexpected character or even a charming flimflam man with a British accent. The latter is Derren Brown, and he’s entertaining audiences for a limited run at the Cort Theatre, where he is playing head-scratching mind games and other tricks of the trade on his gleefully willing, how’d-he-do-it subjects. Previously at the Atlantic Theater Company two years ago, Brown now expands his show to a Broadway-sized house without losing the sense of intimate wonder. In some ways, it makes his feats of bamboozlement all the more impressive as he sends Frisbees out into the audience to find far-flung volunteers.
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September 15, 2019
Yet every time I visit the dapper Mr. Brown, I leave in a lighter, less-polluted mood — brainwashed in the most positive sense of the term. That’s because this British stage performer (who is also a television star and best-selling author across the Atlantic) doesn’t use his gifts to assert his dominance over those of us who are telepathically challenged. Well, O.K., maybe he does a little bit. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to hold a big stage by himself and leave us all slack-jawed at his ability to do things that he made us swear not to talk about. (His may be a benign presence, but I still wouldn’t want to cross him.) He insists, though, that he is no oracle — and he consults the Oxford English Dictionary, which defines such a being as infallible. His persona is pointedly that of a fallible everyman, who has simply trained himself to observe his fellow humans more carefully than most of us do.
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September 15, 2019
Brown’s showmanship is never more apparent than in the second act when he reveals that we’ll be treated to a short film. It turns out to be not much of a film. But Brown’s build-up regarding the effect this movie may have on us is very much like those warnings at the end of a TV commercial for the latest cholesterol or diabetes drug. His list of possible dire symptoms dares you to watch. No doubt about it: Brown is the William Castle of illusionists.
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September 15, 2019
Critics and audiences are sworn to secrecy – well, requested politely but firmly to do so – by the masterful British magician (or take your pick: mentalist, hypnotist, “psychological illusionist”) at the start of his bewildering, beguiling Broadway debut Derren Brown: Secret, opening tonight at the Cort Theatre. So no spoiler alerts needed here – even to describe what goes on, much less reveal the outcomes, would be to ruin the show for anyone who intends to see it on Broadway or whatever no-brainer filmed special spins from it. So descriptors, all accurate, will have to suffice. Stunning. Captivating. Thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. Etc. Even his previous Netflix specials can’t quite capture the dizzying buzz of watching him do what he does in person.
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September 15, 2019
The eponymous star doesn’t make it easy on reviewers when it comes to writing about the Broadway production of Derren Brown: Secret. “Don’t talk about anything that happens in the show,” the British mentalist urges audience members and any journalists in attendance at the beginning of the evening. At least, I think he says that. Frankly, after being manipulated by this master of psychological illusion for two-and-half hours, I don’t really trust any of my perceptions anymore.
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