Setting the Stage: Siegfried & Roy put magic on map in Vegas

      A soft smile creases the face of Siegfried Fischbacher, the blond-haired half of the magic duo of "Siegfried & Roy," as he recalls the infamous first words that greeted the German-born duo when they arrived in Las Vegas 25 years ago in quest of stage work and a dream.
      "Magic won't work in Las Vegas," someone once warned him.
      "When we started out there was no such thing as a magician being a closing act," Siegfried says. "They said people didn't want to be mystified, that you couldn't leave them wondering, `What did they do with that tiger?'Ö"
      They wrangled front-of-curtain work as a specialty act in the Stardust's "Lido de Paris" -- essentially killing time until scenery for the next big production number was ready -- but within three years they became the first Lido act to ever warrant special mention on a marquee.
      Having successfully bucked the anti-magic warnings, the duet further altered the Las Vegas scene with "Beyond Belief," which opened in 1981 minus traditional nudes in a drive to bring families into the Frontier, where they remained for six years.
      But it wasn't until 1990 when the duo opened as "Siegfried & Roy" in a lavish, $50 million show at The Mirage that their full impact on the city's entertainment scene would be realized. The elaborate production featuring large-scale illusions and world-class staging in a theatrical setting upped the ante for shows that would follow.
      An argument can be made that minus Siegfried and Roy's success, there would be no "Mystere" or "EFX," not forgetting the resident and touring magic shows and acts that have transformed Las Vegas into the magic capital of the world.
      "We're responsible for the whole mess," jokes Roy Horn, seated on a couch in the duet's subtly appointed "inner sanctum" just moments after another capacity show, another standing ovation. A few steps away, four of his white lion cubs take a collective snooze on a bed in Horn's "meditation room."
      Today, Siegfried and Roy sit atop a magic empire that grossed $64 million in ticket sales last year, a figure that doesn't include revenues from merchandising, television and sundry other moneymakers.
      And yes, they still love their work, but in a private conversation held between shows, they make it clear that overcoming early resistance has not left them cruising on easy street.
      They continue to struggle against complacency, battle their boss, Mirage chief Steve Wynn, against price increases for what is already the most expensive show in town (from $83.85 to $89.85, effective today) and are coping with the expected strains that come when you've been working with the same partner for 38 years.
      "We are established and we can be more relaxed in that way," says Siegfried, sipping on a soda while Roy nurses a cognac and puffs casually on a small cigar. "It's all very comfortable, but you can't become too comfortable. When we are onstage we have to give everything ... you can't just walk through it.
      "You have to work at it to create that energy even when you feel bad. When it comes it's almost like a drug. It's a high and when that doesn't happen or that dies ..." his voice trails off.
      The competition that has cropped up -- David Copperfield is a regular at Caesars Palace while resident magic shows such as "Spellbound" and Lance Burton are drawing steady crowds -- has turned them into mentors, of sorts, as they survey the scene they created.
      When asked for advice from newcomers, Siegfried says he tells them: "The difficulty has to become easy, and when it becomes easy, you will be able to feel the heart of the audience and you will know what to do."
      Adds Roy: "If Lance's camp wants something, we can do it. I think there is nothing wrong with interchanging with the process, but it is important that everybody be original in their own way."
      The competition also poses little problem as "we're still sending hundreds of people away at every show," notes Siegfried, later adding a wry comment that suggests that "EFX," the MGM Grand Hotel's production show that also features mechanical dragons as props, was strongly influenced by their groundbreaking show at The Mirage.
      "The MGM has this great history of movies, and they have to go that way," he says. "That doesn't make any sense."
      He's also less than enthused over seeing what he terms "fast-food entertainment" creeping onto the Strip. "There is a place for roller coasters and all that," he says. "But there's such a wealth of talent here. Is it such a problem to get something new for Las Vegas that is created right here?
      "Don't tell me that people don't want to see a production show anymore," he continues. "I'm happy to tell my friends, `You have to see "Cirque du Soleil"Ö' (at Treasure Island)."
      Onstage, Siegfried does much of the speaking -- he gently chides a visitor for once knocking his continued use of the old joke, "Is that your wife, sir, or are you here on a business trip?" -- while Roy interacts more closely with the rare white tigers and newly added white lions that are part of the duet's worldwide conservation efforts.
      A question about how their performance duties are divided prompts this playful exchange:
      Roy: "I think I am just as equal to Siegfried with the magic. When you watch the show I actually disappear more than he does."
      Siegfried: "Yes, I just smile and say, `Voil‡!'Ö"
      Roy: "And he takes the paycheck."
      Both men volunteer their dismay over the ongoing price hikes that have nonetheless turned "Siegfried & Roy" into the hottest ticket in town.
      "That's the only thing we don't have any influence on, the prices," says Roy. "When I say to Steve (Wynn), `You can't do that,' we always have an argument ... that's something he's always anticipating."
      Wynn always prevails, and Siegfried says ticket costs could have been contained had Wynn followed his advice and constructed the showroom to hold 2,000 people instead of just over 1,700.
      That's now a moot point, of course, and Roy says "we try to help out a little bit" at obtaining tickets for people who might otherwise be unable to watch the city's biggest magic attraction.
      Both men talk of maintaining separate residences -- the famed "Jungle Palace" near Las Vegas Golf Club is now more of a "meeting place" -- and there's an implication that the partners who met 38 years ago on a German cruise ship are spending increasingly less time together away from the stage.
      "I have another hideaway (Little Bavaria) where even he needs an invitation to get in," says Roy. "Because that's for the animals and myself. It's where I meditate and run around immediately after the show. All the white lions and cubs go there and I can study their personalities. I need that. It gives me my energy."
      Siegfried says he's still adjusting to having two days off each week (Wednesdays and Thursdays) -- the extra day was added last fall -- and notes he'll sometimes call up his partner and try to arrange a night out to relieve the boredom.
      "We do sometimes go to the movies and mingle with the locals," Roy says. Siegfried adds they'll sit down together for an occasional beer but suggests that those appearances on the town are becoming less frequent.
      With a contract that runs through the year 2000 at The Mirage, Siegfried and Roy are just beginning to contemplate their future after the millennium. While there's every indication that they will remain at The Mirage, where the world arrives at their doorstep, Siegfried says he'd love to one day perform in their native Germany.
      "Look, we are Germans and we have a big name in Germany. If you are German and come to Las Vegas and don't see `Siegfried & Roy,' they will put you in jail," he laughs.
      "But we've never really performed in Germany and that was the place where we grew up and we're very grateful for that."
      Adds Roy, "He's always off on some new idea, some new adventure. There is no country in the world that doesn't want us to come over there, and he always plays with the idea (of touring)."
      Assistants enter the performers' backstage sanctum and notify them that they have 10 minutes to get dressed for the evening's late show.
      They are asked to reflect back on a longtime partnership and their ability to overcome the roadblocks that awaited them upon their arrival in Las Vegas.
      "A thousand things can happen," says Siegfried. "Thirty-eight years ago it was tough. In the middle it was tough, and it's still difficult.
      "But it takes all those difficulties to get there ... that's what I tell the newcomers."
      And do they, as a result of their overwhelming success, perhaps feel taken for granted in their own town?
      "No, not really," says Roy. "People forget about Mount Rushmore. We are Las Vegas and Las Vegas is part of us. This has become our destiny."