SIEGFRIED & ROY PROMISE “THE MAGIC IS BACK.” THE FULL INCREDIBLE EXCLUSIVE INSIDE STORY
Siegfried & Roy, the masters of the impossible, vowed to perform magic again—within the next 12-months. They made the startling promise over the weekend, sitting alongside world-heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali at the 12th annual Keep Memory Alive gala to benefit the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute.
“I feel incredible about it,” Siegfried told me seconds after I gave him the mic to reveal their secret plan. “Robin—you nailed me down nicely about it—but now we’ve made the promise, we’ve got a rush from it. We know we can do it. Roy is very excited about it and we will make it a signature Siegfried & Roy moment of magic again.”
It was back in October of 2003 that Roy, celebrating his 59th birthday, suffered an on-stage stroke resulting in serious neck injuries when his favorite 600-pound Siberian white tiger, Montecore dragged the illusionist off-stage. He was raced to the UMC Trauma Center with major blood loss and suffering an additional major stroke that forced surgeons to remove one-quarter of his skull to enable the swollen brain to expand. Surgeons and brain specialists said that he died three times on the operating table with a series of other strokes but fought with the strength of a thousand men to come back to life. After 25-days he was transferred to the UCLA Medical Center where he began to move his hands and speak a few words again.
“The doctors say it was a miracle,” Siegfried told me at the time. “It was a miracle to even survive and then go to the recovery stage,” their manager, Bernie Yuman told me back then. Everybody feared Roy might never walk or talk again, let alone ever perform magic again.
But he persevered with his recovery and railed against the gloom and doom naysayers. His first promise was to support our local Opportunity Village Christmas Santa Run charity. The first year he said he’d walk to get it started—and he did. Then the second year he promised to walk the half-kilometer—and he did. The third year he promised to walk the full 1k course—and he did.
Now, defying all the odds and the doctor’s original bleak forecasts, he has set a new goal—to once again perform magic. Siegfried made the surprise announcement when I walked through the star-studded crowd introducing the celebrities and asking each of them to continue their support for the life-saving, life-changing cause. He took my mic and made his small, yet powerful, speech—and the room erupted with cheers at their unbelievable undertaking.
Siegfried & Roy plan to present the new magic act exactly 12-months from tonight at the next annual gala of the Keep Memory Alive charity fundraiser. It has provided millions of dollars for the opening of the Frank Gehry-designed Lou Ruvo Brain Institute building on 62-acres of downtown land in Las Vegas this fall. Next year’s 13th annual event will raise the ongoing research funds for the world-famous medical team’s belief they will find a cure for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington, ALS and other degenerative memory disorders.
The miracle magicians supported the gala with their manager, Bernie Yuman and good friend, former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali who suffers from Parkinson’s. They were attending the MGM Convention Center Power of Love dinner along with Sopranos’ stars Lorraine Bracco and Steve Schirripa, actor Danny DeVito, Desperate Housewives’ star Teri Hatcher, and TV talk-show host Leeza Gibbons—all of whom have experienced the devastating effects of the diseases on family and friends. Over a thousand guests paid over $3-million for tables at the dinner, which featured gourmet courses by celebrated chefs Wolfgang Puck, Guy Savoy and Tom Colicchio.
I have known Siegfried & Roy for many years, going back to my early days of Entertainment Tonight. Then they appeared on my very first two-hour Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous special and the debut Nightlife program I hosted for ABC. They have been great loyal friends, and I value and respect the friendship. Late last fall when Siegfried and I showed up coincidentally at a magic tribute to legendary veteran John Calvert, we chatted about the possibility of Siegfried & Roy ever being able to do magic again. Siegfried said they hoped to—but it could only be in private for a very small group of their closest friends. Last month I invited Siegfried to lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago restaurant in Caesars Palace.
He said, “When you first approached me at lunch in Spago, I said to myself they want something from me—NO, NO, NO is the answer. But when you talked me through it and presented us with the opportunity to do magic again for a very special moment for a special cause I left with an unbelievable high—I had a real rush. I said to myself, ‘now I have a new goal for Roy.’ Once he said we should try I went to my warehouse and put some things together. Now my head was spinning. It was racing with the possibilities. It is all very exciting now. I know I have the time and everything comes together a year from now and Siegfried & Roy can do something very impressive again.”
Originally I had hoped to convince the two magicians to try and perform for this weekend’s gala fundraiser. With only 24-days of advance notice it proved too rushed so we agreed we’d keep the secret between us and make the announcement this year for next year’s gala.
Siegfried promised me, “As we get it started and working it all out you must come to the warehouse and see us do it.”
At the gala I had walked chairman Larry Ruvo over to super-manager Bernie Yuman’s table where Siegfried, Roy and Muhammad Ali were waiting. I introduced them all to the audience: “Tonight we have seen magic and a miracle as the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute becomes a reality. This life-saving, life-changing building is now under construction and moving forward to the next stage. In a sense, that’s what Siegfried and Roy have also achieved. You set an impossible goal to walk the full 1K Santa Run—and you achieved it. That was a miracle. So now Siegfried and Roy are willing to take one more incredible step and prove once again that the impossible is possible and create something magical.”
When Siegfried jumped on a chair to make the promise the crowd went wild erupting in applause and cheers. It truly was one magical moment in itself for the history of Vegas.
Luxe Life will be back tomorrow with the full photo coverage of the amazing star-filled night. We hoped to raise over $10-million from automobile raffles, silent and live auction packages donated by Robin Williams, Quincy Jones, Mike Milken, Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, The Sopranos, Frankie Valli, FOX News political analyst Frank Luntz, the Monaco Grand Prix drivers, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff, plus a Caribbean cruise for 110 people on the SeaDream, a candlelit dinner in the caves of the Dom Perignon chateau and a five-day “rich and famous” experience on Guiseppe Cipriani’s private jet and yacht. We’ll have all the details tomorrow right here.