Roy Horn in Critical Condition

[Dustin Stinett]

Roy (of Siegfried & Roy) was attacked by one of his tigers on stage. The latest news (10 PM PST) has him in critical condition.

Hang in there Roy.

Dustin

(Today is Roy's birthday as well.)

[malbright]

Here's the latest link: http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/10/04/r ... index.html

[Pete Biro]

Roy.... hang tough... you will make it... :genii:

[Dustin Stinett]

11 PM - Roy is in surgery: prognosis unknown. He was talking in the ambulance but having difficulty breathing and suffered massive blood loss.

[Steve Hook]

And HERE .

[Robert Allen]

I'm not particularly religious, but I 'pray for him' :( . This is just not the way to Go :( .

[Daniel]

We've woken up to the news here in the UK. I read that the tiger that attacked him had been making its debut that evening. (Since read that this is a line used in the show, and the tiger concerned had performed many times before).

There's always a terrible risk working with these sorts of animals, and no doubt the debate will kick-off again soon enough.

I hope Mr Horn pulls through.

[Andrew Martin Portala]

Are prayers are with you Roy.Remember Your MOI. :)

[Josh Mandel]

Last I heard was that he was in critical BUT STABLE condition; the tiger just missed severing Roy's carotid artery, which certainly would've been fatal.

--Josh

[Matthew Field]

Terrible news about one of the hardest working people in magic.

My thoughts are with him.

Matt Field

[Pete Biro]

Here's a link to Steve Dacri's detailed report from Las Vegas...

http://www.magicwebchannel.com/columnABRA.htm

[Michael Jay]

It was not the tiger's first time on stage. They say that it is, but that is more a private joke than anything...They've been using this tiger in front of audiences for some 6 years now.

Fortunately, the tiger did not lunge into the audience. The ramifications of such a thing are too far reaching to even think about. Hopefully, this will not call for the destruction of the tiger. If, however, Roy does not pull through this, there will be no alternative and the animal will need to be destroyed.

Normally, I am against what Sigfried and Roy do, which is parade what should be wild animals around for the audience's thrills. However, nobody has done more to ensure that we don't lose these magnificent creatures to extinction. That, alone, allows me to give these two men a bit of leeway in their decision to use these animals as though they were a circus attraction. Never the less, when dealing with animals such as this, you simply cannot trust them 100%, ever.

So, which is more dangerous...The use of animals like these in an act, or putting a gun to your head, ala Derren Brown?

No matter what, I do hope that all will be well with Roy, as was stated above, that just ain't the way to go. Wishing you all the best, Roy.

Mike.

As a side note, the most comprehensive article on this that I've seen is:

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/ ... 02613.html

[Guest]

I wonder if Fielding West will have to change his act now that the unthinkable has happened to Roy? I doubt there's much laughter in faking a tiger attack under a sheet these days... :(

[Richard Kaufman]

Roy's condition is stable at the moment. He has neither improved nor deteriorated in the past 6 hours. He is being kept heavily sedated and will remain so for at least four or five days.

[Guest]

Asrah:

I don't understand the reference to faking a tiger attack under a sheet as it applies to Fielding West?

[Dustin Stinett]

Tim,

Fielding West does a bit where he says he's going to produce a tiger from under a sheet. He goes under it, struggles & screams and throws off the sheet to show his suit shredded to bits.

Asrah is correct in wondering how funny this funny bit will be after this incident.

Dustin

[Richard Kaufman]

The latest word is that Kenneth Feld has closed the Siegfried and Roy show for between six months and a year. The cast was informed of this, given pay checks, and told to find new jobs.
Here's a link to the lastest story from the Associated Press, which claims that Roy is responsive:
http://start.earthlink.net/newsarticle? ... lead_story

[Ira Rush]

My thoughts and prayers are with you ...wishing a speedy recovery

[Richard Kaufman]

More information:
Roy is undergoing a third operation today.
The items in the media that have called Roy "responsive" are based on comments by their long-time assistant and friend Lynette Chapel. She has been at Roy's bedside and he has been able to squeeze her finger with his right hand in response to a few questions.
A picture is beginning to emerge about what happened backstage just prior to the incident, as well as immediately afterward.
The tiger's handler noticed that the animal was not behaving normally while it was still in its cage, just moments before Roy came backstage. He did not have time to alert Roy before Roy brought the animal onstage.
When the tiger dragged Roy offstage, there were no animal handlers there, just stagehands. They risked their lives by physically trying to get the tiger to release Roy from its mouth by trying to pull the animal off of him. The tiger did drop Roy for a second, but then picked him up again. Eventually one of the stagehands discharged a fire extinguisher and the noise distracted the animal and it dropped Roy. By then the animal handlers had arrived and got the tiger into a cage. The stagehands ripped their shirts off and pressed them against Roy's wounds to try and stop the bleeding.
Roy was conscious during all of this, and losing a tremendous amount of blood. He was heard to instruct the stagehands not to hurt the tiger.

[Richard Kaufman]

5 p.m. East Coast time: more details are emerging on Roy's condition yesterday. According to an article only hours old in the Las Vegas Review Journal, Roy expired on the operating table during the first operation on Friday night and was revived. He suffered a stroke on Saturday morning and was rushed in for a second operation. You can read more here:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/ ... 05515.html

[Carl Mercurio]

A horror. And the biter irony is that he did so much to preserve these tigers.... :confused:

[Oakes]

I just read a poignant quote in Newsweek's "Perspectives" section. While the accident is not mentioned elsewhere in the issue, I think this one quote beautifully touches on the tragic irony and of it all...

"This is like if a bald eagle attacked the president of the United States."
- Longtime Las Vegan Frank Danielsohn, on the white tiger's status as Vegas icons and Roy Horn as their master.

[Guest]

Here's a link to an article that indicates how the shock waves are affecting other entertainers and/or their acts... Thanks to Meir Yedid's Magic Times...

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/ ... 05927.html

It's an old expression, but I think we've just seen a paradigm shift in the way magic is presented, particularly with animals. Magicians have been kind of 'off the screen' with animal rights groups until now. I think this will have repercussions for a long time after Roy has recovered. --Asrah

[CraigMitchell]

Dear Richard

Please be advised that the details you provided about what happened are refuted by one of the on-stage cast members:

"I feel I must alert you to how incredibly
WRONG it is. There was NO report from the handlers that Manticore was acting strangely before his onstage appearance, and there were
THREE animal handlers ONSTAGE with Roy trying to release him, and the entire staff of animal handlers were there backstage instantly,
and it was the lead animal handler that got the cat to drop Roy by curling his upper lips over his teeth, causing him to bite himself.
The fire extinguisher went off about 20 feet away at the same time, so many associated it with the release. Trust me, that cat wasn't
going to give that grip up for a fire extinguisher; he was very focused. One stagehand took off his shirt to soak up the blood, but
they used the many towels we have backstage. Please don't allow the brave and wonderful handlers to be portrayed in this light; they
were RIGHT THERE with Roy, and they did their jobs admirably. Take it from someone who was there -- ME. The handlers are wonderful and
well trained and may have saved his life. I am VERY close to one of them, so I feel I can tell you this with confidence ..."

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
A picture is beginning to emerge about what happened backstage just prior to the incident, as well as immediately afterward.
The tiger's handler noticed that the animal was not behaving normally while it was still in its cage, just moments before Roy came backstage. He did not have time to alert Roy before Roy brought the animal onstage.
When the tiger dragged Roy offstage, there were no animal handlers there, just stagehands. They risked their lives by physically trying to get the tiger to release Roy from its mouth by trying to pull the animal off of him. The tiger did drop Roy for a second, but then picked him up again. Eventually one of the stagehands discharged a fire extinguisher and the noise distracted the animal and it dropped Roy. By then the animal handlers had arrived and got the tiger into a cage. The stagehands ripped their shirts off and pressed them against Roy's wounds to try and stop the bleeding.
Roy was conscious during all of this, and losing a tremendous amount of blood. He was heard to instruct the stagehands not to hurt the tiger.

[CraigMitchell]

Herewith is an update from the LVRJ:

--------

We had one heck of a run," Bernie Yuman, longtime manager of Siegfried and Roy, said Monday after delivering the definitive word
that the long-running show has closed for good.

Even before Roy was bitten onstage by one of the show tigers Friday, Siegfried Fischbacher and Yuman had maintained that as the illusionists aged, they would not change the format of the show to incorporate other magicians such as protg Darren Romeo.

"I would say that's not something he will be considering," Yuman said of the 64-year-old Fischbacher. "It's over."

"Siegfried & Roy at The Mirage," as the show was officially known, was "one of the more complicated entertainment agreements you'll
ever come across," Misiura noted.

In essence, Feld -- the circus impresarios who tour Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus -- produced the show and paid the 60 onstage performers. Siegfried and Roy were business partners analogous to A-list movie stars who form their own production companies and retain executive producer credit for their films.

MGM Mirage paid the stagehands and staff members such as ushers and cocktail servers. When the Siegfried & Roy show is on vacation, as
it was scheduled to be after Nov. 25, The Mirage books the showroom with headliners. ...

-----

Yuman acknowledged Horn's condition is such that the longtime Las Vegas entertainer won't be the Roy of old.

"Roy was one person then and he'll be another person now," said Yuman. Asked if that meant Horn won't be able to speak again, Yuman
declined to go into details.

[CraigMitchell]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/ ... 16860.html
Some excerpts:

Strip illusionist Roy Horn has suffered paralysis on his left side, according to a source at University Medical Center, where the entertainer remained Monday in critical condition.

Horn, who according to the source also suffered bone chips in his neck, has been able to communicate with doctors and perform some movements at their request.

On Sunday, the entertainer was able to move his right arm and right leg, said Bobby Baldwin, chief executive officer with Mirage Resorts. Horn was also able to move his left hand and left foot and give doctors the thumbs-up sign.

But a day after Baldwin and other friends, family and co-workers expressed hope in that bit of good news, show producers confirmed Monday that the stage show has closed permanently after 5,750 performances.

[Richard Kaufman]

It's not surprising that there are conflicting reports coming from behind the scenes as to what actually happened, and I think it's a safe bet that these will continue and multiply.
My source is extremely close to the action, but I cannot vouch for Craig Mitchell's source since I don't know who it is. Both accounts sound equally plausible.
It's strange to note that within two paragraphs of one another in the same Vegas Review Journal report which is quoted above, Roy is variously described as being paralyzed on his left side and ALSO moving his left hand and foot. Huh?
The other sad news is that the business people involved have decided to close the show for good. I think that given the long period of Roy's recovery, this was their only possible economic choice. Having the Siegried and Roy theater sit empty, or with temp acts booked, for a long period of time could spell economic doom for the Mirage.

[Jim Maloney_dup1]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was confused by the paralysis report. I guess we'll just have to wait for more detail, perhaps when Sigfried's on Larry King later this week?

I think the decision to close the show permanently makes sense, not only because they'd be shut down for several months anyway, but also becuase Roy will likely not even be able to perform the show anymore even after he DOES recover, from what I understand. It's very physically demanding and when you take into account that he's 59 years old (though in great shape), I just don't know that it would be possible. I do think that if, sometime in the future, Roy has recovered fully and is still able to perform, the Mirage would be more than happy to take them back, if possible. If not, I don't think they'd have any problem finding a place to do their show.

-Jim

[CraigMitchell]

Hi Richard

Thanks for the info ... I couldn't agree more - those involved will always have a different "take" on things ... the inconsistency in some of the media's reporting is also cause for concern, but that is indicative of the 'report now, verify later' frenzy in which we now find ourselves.

Throughout this all, we can only but pray for Roy's speedy recovery


Craig
www.collegeofmagic.com

[Robert Allen]

Strokes don't necessarily completely wipe movement out in a given area, they can just make it very difficult (often near impossible) to use that side of body reliably. But 'moving' a foot or hand is not unheard of.

[Pete Biro]

The problem with news organizations is that in today's world they are too eager to get out news, any news, before someone else... and more often than not are not accurate. :whack:

All anyone can do now is wait and see and hope for the best. :(

[CraigMitchell]

Herewith is more info from one of the cast members ...

"The crew of the show is not trained to deal with this situation directly. They are trained to get away from it as fast as possible, or to freeze if theysee the cat looking at them. If a crew member has a transport box, they are
trained to get it to the cat as soon as possible, which they did. The ANIMAL HANDLERS are VERY well trained on what to do, and they did it. The crew may have made this situation worse by beating on the cat as they did, causing him to become possesive of Roy, making the handlers' job a little more difficult.

One more word about this fire extinguisher thing: If the extinguisher had worked to get the cat off Roy, we would not be discussing a recovery; he would be dead. The only way to get a tiger safely off of someone is to OPEN HIS
MOUTH AND PULL, which is what the lead handler did. If the extinguisher had been used before the handler opened the cat's mouth, Roy's neck would have been torn to shreds. A tiger will NOT let go unless forced to, and he was BY THE
ANIMAL HANDLERS BACKSTAGE.

... And by the way, to show dominance, it is indeed appropriate to hit a cat on the nose, just as his mother did when he was a cub. These cats are raised with Roy and the handlers in the role of Alpha Male, and they only act up when
having a very bad day, and then they are removed as quickly as possible ..."

[Richard Kaufman]

Craig, thanks for the update.
Now for some really hopeful news from the hospital today: Siegfried brought Roy's little dog to visit him and Roy was able to pet the dog.
So, take a deep breath and keep your fingers crossed.
We'll all be rooting for Siegfried as he appears on Larry King tomorrow night. It's going to be a difficult hour.

[CraigMitchell]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/ ... 26178.html

Some excerpts:

"Fischbacher said Roy noticed something was off with the tiger, so he departed from the routine and moved between the tiger and the audience. It was then that Roy stumbled, Fischbacher said.

A carpenter sprayed the tiger with a fire extinguisher, causing the animal to free Horn. The fire extinguisher method was part of the show's emergency procedures, Feldman said, though not all cast members were aware of that.

"You're going to get different answers from the cast members because many of them don't know," Feldman said. "The simple fact is, this is a prescribed safety measure. It doesn't mean every single person backstage would have known that."

[CraigMitchell]

Siegfried Says Show to Continue (Reuters)

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtm ... ID=3576728

Some excerpts:

The co-star of the Las Vegas duo "Siegfried & Roy" said in an interview Wednesday their show would go on despite his partner's severe mauling by a tiger.

The German-born duo's popular "Siegfried & Roy" act would continue, Fischbacher told Bild.

"What happened does not mean it's ended," Fischbacher told Bild. "Our show will go on. We've always been fighters. The history of 'Siegfried & Roy' is nowhere near its conclusion."

[CraigMitchell]

Sources inside the show say that good news is on its way regarding Roy ... Siegfried should be filling us in on Larry King ...

"I understand everyone's fears for what Siegfried will say tonight, but I want you to know this: I heard some WONDERFUL news last night that I can't repeat (I'm so sorry for that, but I think if they want it out it is for Siegfried to say). Just know that it is
not all you hear in the papers or on T.V., and I, for one, woke up very hopeful this morning. Keep the faith!!"

[Wolfgang]

I watched the Larry King show and was hoping to find the good news that you hinted. I was disappointed and now believe that things are really not good. Siegfried and Bernie seemed to be very concerned and also they say different they seemed to be both fearing for the worst.
Lets keep the hopes up and wish for the best

[CraigMitchell]

A message posted by a cast member ...

"I don't know how this will play out since "Siegfried & Roy at The Mirage"
is closed. How closed, you ask? So closed that all backstage personnel have a meeting this Friday to which we are supposed to "bring all Mirage issued property", i.e., keys and ID badges. The cast and crew can never be
reassembled. We all have to find jobs somewhere else. Even if you could bring back 40% of the cast and crew, I really don't think someone could
learn the cuesets/dances correctly from just reading them on paper.

S&R are under a lifetime contract to perform at The Mirage, so they cannot perform anywhere else. They're too associated with the Mirage brand to ever be let out of that contract.

Logistically, it would be nigh on impossible to relocate the show since everything for the animals is right there. Until you've been backstage, you just can't grasp how much that place is a custom theatre built specifically
for those effects. There's no way you could move the dragon and the finale dome to another site because their positioning has to be precise down to the inch. It would require a superhuman effort and untold tens of millions of dollars, if not over a hundred million. Heck, the show cost $54Million (?) back in 1990. Even knowing what to do now and avoiding the mistakes
from the original install wouldn't help that much.

Most, if not all, of the companies that originally provided the equipment are out of business now. We put so much time and effort into
rennovating/updating two major systems lately. The Par Batten movement system (the swinging bars of lights on the dome) and the laser system.
Personally, I spent the majority of the last dark time tracking down problems with the laser system and figuring out the computer problems we
had with it. Granted, I was glad for the project, but it took so much effort and energy just to have it work for a handful of shows. It did work beautifully and perfectly for something that used an ancient projector with the most modern controller, but there were still things to tweak.

Part of the "separation anxiety" that the crew is experiencing is the abrupt halt to these projects into which we'd poured so much time, effort, and thought. We'll never see the new 6K projector system install finished. We'll never see the IWerks projector installed. (Both of which were bought at bargain basement prices from EFX.) Same thing with the Par Batten and
fiber optic projects.

We'll never find out what happened to that key to the lift that we hid underneath one of the seats in F row!

On a smaller scale, I'll never get to see how precisely I aligned one of the two fixtures that projected the Origami dot (the big red Japanese sun) right before that last show. (It's a *real* pain, but I did it quicker than ever before and it looked perfect. You can only tell under full show conditions and if it's off, it's very noticable.)

I hate to be depressing, but that's reality for "the show"."

[Richard Kaufman]

I think it's quite clear that the show is over, and that they are going to use the theater for other purposes.
When Siegfried talks about the show NOT being over, no one really has any idea what he means. In fact, I don't think he really knows at this point.
The show as it existed will never be rebuilt or play anywhere else, and it will never play again in the Mirage. It's just over.

[Richard Kaufman]

Roy has too many tubes coming out of him to possibly move from the bed and he is also heavily sedated. IF he sat up, it certainly would not be in a chair. They may have raised the head portion of the bed, but even that seems unlikely at this early point.