Mat Franco—Magic Reinvented Nightly, the hit headlining Strip residency that is heading toward its eighth anniversary this summer, has been reinvented. Franco, 34, took some time off as he and his wife welcomed a baby into their family last month, but he returned to Mat Franco Theater this month with new illusions, technological advancements and stagecraft seasoned by more than seven years of performing in a room of his own.
“Excitement” is his response when asked for one word that comes to mind when he thinks about the new show. “I am literally so excited,” he says. Franco spent most of his time with his family leading up to his first curtain call of the year, but managed to pull himself away to check on how things were progressing with his creative team at the theater. “It’s exciting to see things happening and things in motion, and celebrating the small wins of each step of the process.”
Franco’s creative team worked around the clock during the baby break to get everything for the new production in place. “Based on the long-running success of the show, we made huge investments into the theater and the show itself,” he says.
Magic Reinvented Nightly, circa 2015, an immediate success due in large part to Franco’s rapport with audiences and innovations such as video screens that zoomed in as he made cards disappear, could be considered the acoustic or unplugged version in contrast to what Franco presents now. “The show has blossomed into a full-on production, and it’s tailored to enhance every single magic moment,” he says.
It’s also the culmination of more than seven years of imagining the potential of his eponymous theater, and 30 years of conjuring a magical future. As a boy in Rhode Island, he recorded television specials featuring David Copperfield, Penn & Teller, Lance Burton and Mac King, and had a photo of Las Vegas tacked to his wall.
He eventually visited the Strip and saw magician Jeff McBride perform live. The idea of being a Vegas headliner was a prime motivator early on, but Franco segued into a more pragmatic path that led from being a performing college student in Rhode Island to becoming a breakout star on America’s Got Talent. Now the lifelong student of sleight-of-hand secrets is an established star on the Strip about to enter a new self-charted phase of his career.
“I think this is the type of thing where the space has been modified in such a way that when people walk into the room they’re going to know they chose the right show, that they’re in the right place, that we’re going to pack the maximum amount of entertainment Vegas can offer,” says Franco. “Just by walking in and seeing the space and what we’re doing with it, I think people will feel that impact of value before I even step out onstage, which is new territory for me.”
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