Home / Arts and Entertainment / Magic Mansion Opens: $50M Bet on Astonishment
Magic Mansion Opens: $50M Bet on Astonishment
7 Apr
Summary
- A new 35,000-square-foot magic venue, The Hand and the Eye, has opened in Chicago.
- Entrepreneur Glen Tullman invested $50 million of his own money into the venture.
- The venue aims to offer an immersive, offline experience with a focus on close-up magic.
A new 35,000-square-foot magic venue, The Hand and the Eye, has opened in downtown Chicago. Entrepreneur Glen Tullman has personally invested $50 million into this audacious venture, which occupies a renovated Gilded Age mansion designed by architect David Rockwell.
The venue is meticulously crafted for close-up magic, featuring five performance spaces, seven bars, and two dining rooms across five floors. It aims to host up to 350 guests nightly with a rotating roster of 22 magicians, offering an immersive, offline experience that eschews digital distractions with a strict dress code and mobile phone restrictions.
This ambitious project reflects a broader renaissance in magic, fueled by social media and a public craving for communal experiences. Tullman views The Hand and the Eye as a "gift to Chicago," designed to become a premier destination for both tourists and locals, despite the significant ticket price of $225 for a three-hour evening.
Tullman and Rockwell's collaboration on this project follows a previous, unrealized magic venue in 1998. Their shared passion for magic, stemming from childhood experiences at a Manhattan magic emporium, drives this current endeavor to elevate the art form and offer pure bewilderment.
