The Magic Castle

I had a great and rare opportunity to have dinner at The Magic Castle last weekend with some new friends of mine. The father of one of the girls used to be a member of the club years ago and the maitre d' remembered her and allowed her to make a dinner reservation, even though she herself is not a member.

What a truly magical place it is! The Magic Castle was the Lane Mansion, built in Hollywood in 1908. It's a beautiful Victorian mansion built on a hill. A residence for many years, the mansion was turned into the Magic Castle, a private clubhouse and school for magicians in 1963.

As one enters the club, the doorway seems to be a bookcase, to which you say "Open Sesame" and it slides open, allowing you to enter. The gourmet dinner was quite good, and expensive. I ordered Filet Mignon, medium-rare and it was perfect. After dinner, we made our way upstairs to the Palace of Mystery to see the first magic show. Then we went downstairs to the basement area, called the Inner Circle, to the tiny W.C. Fields bar, where another magic show and comedy routine was going on. (They also had Fields' trick pool table on display.) Finally, we caught the midnight show of traditional magic in The Parlour Theater.

It's a huge building full of posters and pictures of famous magicians who were members of the club. Current members include Siegfried & Roy, David Copperfield, Johnny Carson, and Steve Martin, who got his start in show biz doing magic tricks at Disneyland.

For dinner, we were seated at an intimate table in the corner near a beautiful beveled glass window. During the meal, one of the dinner hosts stopped by to greet us and to inform us that we were at the VIP table which was where Cary Grant always sat when he came for dinner at the Magic Castle. I was so excited to be sitting right where one of my favorite stars used to sit!

Overall, it was a magical and memorable evening. The performances were top-notch, the food delicious, and the ambience unbeatable. If you are ever lucky enough to spend an evening at The Magic Castle in Hollywood, don't hesitate to do it. You will have a wonderful time!