Editor’s Note: This is the first of two articles about Harry Houdini’s triumphant performance in Cumberland.
He was well known as a magician and escape artist, but it wasn’t until Harry Houdini appeared in Cumberland that he became a superstar.
In “Houdini: The Key” by Patrick Culliton, he wrote, “Opening the show last night, Houdini referred to Cumberland as marking an important epoch in his life and said that if he ever wrote an autobiography of his life, he would devote a chapter to his experiences in Cumberland inaugurating a new phase of his career as a public entertainer.”
Houdini was a vaudeville star, which meant that although he was a headline entertainer, he appeared on stage as part of a roster of acts. His time on stage was never more than half an hour.
Some professional magicians had moved up from vaudeville to touring with their own shows, but Houdini was at the top of his game in vaudeville.
“But Vaudeville was the mass entertainment of its time, and not only was Houdini at one point the highest paid performer in American Vaudeville, but he dominated the circuits and the cities in which he played,” according to the Wild About Harry blog. “It could be said that part of Houdini’s all-eclipsing fame had to do with the fact that he appeared on more stages and in more cities more often than any other major magician of that time.”
He could have remained in vaudeville and remained the big fish in a slowly shrinking pond for years to come.
However, he wasn’t someone to rest on his laurels. He was always pushing himself to get better at his craft. In 1925, Houdini decided that it was time to have a show that was entirely his own.
He teamed up with L. Lawrence Weber, a well-known theatrical manager, and the pair met daily to plan what Houdini promised would “be the most novel and gorgeous entertainment of its kind ever seen,” according to advanced publicity for the show.
He commissioned original music for the show and hired what eventually totaled eight assistants. His wife, Bess, made the costumes. When boxed up, the show filled 50 crates and a 60-foot-long railroad car.
“Houdini was hands on with every detail, which included all the tour and travel, the theatres and the technical aspects, accommodations, promotional material and all designing decisions,” according to Dean Carnegie in his Magic Detective blog. “This was another major move for Houdini in his performing career, and every detail was planned fully and how everything was to be executed was very important to this great legend.”
The show arrived in Cumberland to perform at the Maryland Theatre at 37 N. Mechanic St. on Aug. 31, 1925. The theater first opened on Nov. 21, 1907, and sat 1,800 people.
“Some of the magicians thought I was going to use a lot of women in my forthcoming show, and they are trying to beat me to it,” Houdini said of his show. “They have been misinformed. I am going to specialize in Houdini stuff.”
And that “Houdini stuff” was above average magic, amazing illusions, death-defying escapes and the debunking of spiritualists and mediums.
He performed at the theater from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2. His final day also included a special matinee tailored to delight children.
“In many ways it was the culmination and a celebration of his entire career,” according to the Wild About Harry blog.