Siegfried & Roy Present Havana Nights Part TresInside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

Nicole “ND” Durr

We wrote earlier about Siegfried & Roy?s sponsorship of the fabulous ?Havana Night Club: The Show,? its rave reviews, its incredible pacing and fantastic performers. We told you that the show was engaged for a very limited time at the Wayne Newton Theater at our favorite hotel for sports wagering, The Stardust Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

That story has taken a wonderful turn ? wonderful for Siegfried & Roy, The Stardust, the show?s producer Nicole Durr (?ND? as we call her), and the theater-going public of the strip. The story isn?t so great for Cuba, though.

While the show celebrates all that was wonderful about pre-Castro Cuba, it is no longer a Cuban show.

ND, the German-born record and show producer, went to the island nation about seven years ago to develop a show featuring the fantastic singers, dancers and musicians she found. Thanks to ND?s persuasive abilities, the Cuban government agreed to permit the 50 or so folks to travel with her on an Asian and European tour.

Ever gregarious, ND met Siegfried and they discussed her show and the Cuban cast. Thanks to Siegfried & Roy, ND was able to wade through the frustrating waters that metaphorically and actually separate Cuba from America to bring the show to Las Vegas.

Hardliners on both sides of the Straits of Florida were against the Cuban show becoming Headliners.

…

Nicole “ND” Durr

While the show celebrates all that was wonderful about pre-Castro Cuba, it is no longer a Cuban show.

Hardliners on both sides of the Straits of Florida were against the Cuban show becoming Headliners.

The Miami Herald reported, ?Cuban officials were so suspicious of the group’s real intent that they shut down the troupe’s rehearsal space and deported Durr. And hard-liners in the United States were no better. The idea of allowing 50 Cuban performers to enter the country was roundly criticized.?

Once in Las Vegas, the group set about to seek asylum in the United States. While they did not ask for political asylum, they did ask for asylum as artists. Some of the folks in the Little Havana area of Miami were aghast that they would not seek to publicly denounce Fidel Castro. Our take: coming from a repressive government where one?s life is cheap in comparison to bread, it made sense that they would be cautious in their public declarations lest they be sent back to Cuba and executed for the free speech they exercised on our land.

Tuesday night, Ms. Calle Ocho, Gloria Estefan, appeared in the audience. She even got up on stage and sang with the company, after which she declared: “Welcome to the United States.”

ND told reporters she intends to host the group in a packed Miami Arena next year.

The show will be at the Stardust until January 11, 2005. If you have even the slightest chance to visit Vegas, you must see this show. We promise ? and you can sue us if we?re wrong ? you will love this show.

Read the full Miami Herald article here.