Two performers, one wearing a blue shirt and black vest and the other wearing a red shirt, overalls, red glasses and a blue hat, make silly faces on stage and appear on a large screen above the stage.
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The Magic City

Manual Cinema
from Chicago, Illinois

March 29 – April 6, 2025
Recommended Ages
For everyone 6 and up
Price
Tickets start at $24*
Members save 30%
 *Price includes service fees
What Kind of Show?
Puppetry with live music and projections; poignant and inventive
Content Considerations
Widowed parents
Running Time
55 minutes with no intermission
Venue
The New Victory Theater 209 W 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
public schools

Select a Performance

Available

Few Seats Left

Unavailable

Week of June 29 – July 5

Dec 31

Wed, 7pm

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About the Show

Nine-year-old Philomena loves building miniature cities with her big sister, Helen. But when Helen gets engaged, what will become of their world? And who wants a weird new stepbrother? So Philomena fashions herself a new world from books, toys and found objects that come alive when she falls asleep. Will she retreat into her imagination, or can she open up to her newly blended family? Brought to adventurous life through Manual Cinema’s (Leonardo!, 2022) signature fusion of actors, puppets, live music and miniatures, The Magic City encourages us to build bridges rather than walls.

The Magic City lets everyone in.

—Chicago Tribune

Things to Know

  1. Manual Cinema was last at the New Victory in 2022 with Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About a Terrible Monster.
  2. As cinematic as the world of The Magic City is, everything on stage will be performed live—including the music!
  3. The Magic City is based on Edith Nesbit’s 1910 novel of the same name.

 

The show on stage is just one act of your experience! Come early or stay late for free lobby activities on the day of the show. Then whether you’re building anticipation, continuing the fun or looking for laughs at any time, at-home New Victory Arts Break activities await you whenever and wherever.

About the Artists

A performance troupe, design studio and production company, Manual Cinema tells visually exciting stories that redefine the term “multimedia.” Vintage overhead projectors, puppets, actors and live feed cameras cross moviegoing with theatergoing, remaking the cinema experience with liveness and theatricality for the stage. Their ingenuity won them an Emmy in 2017 for The Forger, a documentary short made in collaboration with The New York Times.

Photos

A woman holds up an image of a girl with bright red hair and glasses reading in a windowsill while the image is projected largely onto a screen above her.
Two lamps shine on a boy who plays with miniatures of a city on a table. To the left, a girl watches and moves the miniatures around too.
On the left, a person talks in a microphone, and behind them, two people look at large shadow puppets on the right of a girl talking to a big head on a white and pink screen.
A behind-the-scenes look at the factors that go into the production: a stage manager reads cues into a microphone while three cast members create shadows for a projection screen and one actor interacts with the shadows on the screen.
A girl wearing red glasses and a blue hat plays with a miniature city on a table with three lamps shining on it. On the left, a boy wearing a blue shirt plays along, and on the right, another person watches them.
A woman holds up an image of a girl with bright red hair and glasses reading in a windowsill while the image is projected largely onto a screen above her.
Photo: Chuck Osgood
Two lamps shine on a boy who plays with miniatures of a city on a table. To the left, a girl watches and moves the miniatures around too.
Photo: Katie Doyle
On the left, a person talks in a microphone, and behind them, two people look at large shadow puppets on the right of a girl talking to a big head on a white and pink screen.
Photo: Katie Doyle
A behind-the-scenes look at the factors that go into the production: a stage manager reads cues into a microphone while three cast members create shadows for a projection screen and one actor interacts with the shadows on the screen.
Photo: Chuck Osgood
A girl wearing red glasses and a blue hat plays with a miniature city on a table with three lamps shining on it. On the left, a boy wearing a blue shirt plays along, and on the right, another person watches them.
Photo: Katie Doyle

Creative Team

Cast
Brandon Boler, Sarah Fornace, Kasey Foster, Jeffrey Paschal and Alicia Walter

Devisers
Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, Ben Kauffman and Julia Miller

Writers
Drew Dir and Sarah Fornace

Music, Lyrics & Sound Designer
Ben Kauffman

Art Direction & Puppets
Drew Dir

Costume & Wig Designer
Mieka van der Ploeg

Lighting Designer
David Goodman-Edberg

Additional Sound Designer
Kyle Vegter

Stage Manager & Board Operator
Ryn Hardiman

Accessibility

On the left, a paper puppet of a woman with curly brown hair holds a smaller kid with red glasses and a blue hat in her backpack, and on the right, an ASL interpreter signs against a gray background.
Watch The Magic City's ASL-interpreted trailer!
Watch Trailer

For every performance at the New Victory Theater…

  • You can head downstairs to the Accessibility Table (across from the bathrooms and lockers) to borrow supports like fidgets, earplugs, assisted listening devices, wheelchairs and more.
  • Our quiet Cozy Zone and a live feed of the performance are available in the lower lobby at all times for patrons with sensory sensitivities or anyone who needs a break from the theater.
  • Wheelchair-accessible seats and Companion seat tickets are available for purchase (see more details on the seat selection page when buying tickets).

 
Get additional accessibility details, and prepare for your visit with our New Victory Social Narrative.

An ASL interpreter signs a post-show talk-back inside the New Victory Theater.

Accessibility

Our facilities and programs

We strive to make our programs, performances and spaces accessible.

Interior of the New Victory Theater with stage lights in balcony

Plan Your Visit

Amenities and free activities

Dive into everything to know about seeing a show at the New Victory.

Two kids shown from behind in an at-home office as they watch a person on a computer screen speaking while holding three juggling pins

New Victory Arts Break

Explore the arts from home!

Flex your creativity and stretch your imagination.