Review: ‘The Illusionists’ is all tricks, but little magic

The Vegas-style entertainment show “The Illusionists” has returned to Broadway in time for the holidays. Unfortunately this latest iteration, the group’s fourth appearance on Broadway, offers many tricks, but little magic. A flashy extravaganza on a world tour, the show is a revue on steroids that rotates headlining magic talent. The current cast features a “hit parade” of five magicians who set out to “wow” us in turn with their credibility defying stunts. In addition to sporting superhero names, “The Grand Illusionist,” “The Sorceress” and so forth, the pop culture credentials of the group — Shin Lim was the recent winner of “America’s Got Talent” — are relentlessly touted by host Adam Trent (“The Futurist”) in case we would rather not read the Playbill.