Dale Sapp was born several weeks early by an emergency Cesarean section. At 24 hours old, he went into respiratory distress. Although he survived the attack, he will never walk, and never speak. Because he can’t go outside and play in the snow like other children, his mother puts buckets in the yard to collect it, and then brings them inside so he can play with the snow until it melts.
A few years ago Dale was able to experience snowfall firsthand. A lineup of all-star magicians had descended upon Columbus and brought a blizzard with them: snowflakes showered down over the audience as part of the grand finale of the Miracles & Magic Show.
Since April 2001, the annual Miracles & Magic Show has put smiles on the faces of local children with life-threatening illnesses, and also their over-stressed parents and family. Sponsored by National City and many other public and private donors, the show benefits Adventures for Wish Kids, a local non-profit group headquartered in Columbus. The organization serves hundreds of children in the Columbus area, and the Miracles & Magic show is one of their largest events each year.
Headlining the April 2007 performance is Kevin James, the star of Las Vegas’ “The World’s Greatest Magic Show.” Joining him on stage will be Eric Buss, an internationally known entertainer with a reputation for using unconventional stage props; Jon Petz, the show’s producer and a 17-year veteran who has dazzled audiences across the world; and Stan Allen, the publisher of MAGIC: The Magazine for Magicians, the world’s highest selling magic periodical.
Besides the sudden outpouring of snow, the audience can expect to see a variety of ground-breaking tricks, such as a paper-rose mysteriously dancing and levitating on a child’s hand, a sports-car abruptly appearing out of thin-air, and a very unpredictable new twist on the classic favorite of cutting an audience member in half.
Adventure’s Executive Director Jeffrey Damron explained that the purpose of shows like Miracles & Magic is to give children ongoing hope. While granting a single wish can make a child happy for a day, once the wish is over the child has nothing left to look forward to, and is left to fight their illness without the benefit of hope. Adventure’s mission is to keep providing something new for the children to look forward to each day.
“We want them to look past the pain of today towards the sunshine of tomorrow and the next great adventure. You know, kids at school can be a little rough, and say things like, ‘Why don’t you have a leg? That’s weird. What’s wrong with you? What happened to your hair?’ But when you’re all sick, all walking together in the same shoes, you understand each other, you encourage each other, and you support each other. You start to feel a sense of normalcy, especially when you’re all having fun,” said Damron.
Although the Miracles & Magic show is free for all Adventures children and their immediate families, the event is also open to the public. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for children. All proceeds of the event go directly to Adventures for Wish Kids.
Located in the Capitol Theater of the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts at 77 S. High St., Miracles & Magic will be performed at 1 and 4 p.m. Sunday, April 1st. The show is expected to sell out. Tickets may be purchased from the CAPA box office at (614) 469-0939, or at any Ticketmaster outlet (
www.ticketmaster.com).
An introductory gala for sponsors will be held Friday, March 30. For additional information, visit
www.miraclesandmagic.com.