☆☆☆☆☆

As the audience filters in to Norvil and Josephine’s venue for Rabbits out of the Hat, their first glimpse is of the wonderfully vintage vaudeville stylings of the stage and costumes. Josephine is on hand to welcome everyone in, chit chatting with the early arrivals while the rest make their way up the stairs. There’s definitely a hearty substance to the show once it gets going, but the stylish backdrop remains, and both sets off that substantive element and even becomes integral to how to unfolds.

Rabbits out of the Hat is firmly and unapologetically a children’s show, geared toward the younger age range even by those standards. The magic is nevertheless creative and impressive by any standards. With two performers there’s more range in what can be done and how it can be presented, which Norvil and Josephine take full advantage of. Even an effect as basic as the linking rings is given a vintage vaudevillian rejuvenation, and becomes hilarious and exciting in their hands. Their big illusion routines are particular highlights, with the presentation shifting in a way that feels natural over the course of the show to bring the themes to life.

With two performers there’s not as much of a need for audience participation. It’s sprinkled in at appropriate moments, with opportunities for both children and adults to get involved. With an audience that skews younger, Norvil and Josephine occasionally have to deal with the unfiltered heckling of children, as at the reviewed performance that featured a young child shouting out her strong preference for Josephine. Norvil and Josephine acknowledged such interruptions when they could without breaking character, and luckily the children’s adults were on hand to get them to save their voices for the times when the performers invited vocalization.

The wholesome theme of being yourself is notable, both for being a great message for children and for how it’s realized over the course of the show. This is a uniquely magical story, it not only makes perfect use of magic in how it’s told, it feels like the performers chose magic to tell it with intention as it’s the right medium for their message. Norvil and Josephine acknowledge the gendered past of magic while forging an egalitarian path forward. It’s a timely message for the art form, which is certainly getting increasingly better, but still has plenty of room for growth. There are other timely implications as well to a story about women’s rights and particularly how they benefit any gender—the adults may pick up on this close-to-the-surface subtext but making it explicit would probably crowd a show that is already brimful with magic and story elements.

Norvil and Josephine: Rabbits out of the Hat demonstrates perfection in both children’s entertainment and magical innovation. At a magic review publication the focus is of course on the magic, but there are also other adjacent art forms on display here, chiefly singing, dancing, and acrobatics, that enhance the performance. It’s ideal both for families with children looking for wholesome entertainment and grown ups with an interest in seeing another facet of modern, exciting magic.