This is an accepted version of this page
138-587: EFX may refer to: EFX (show) , a Las Vegas show EFX (album) , an album of the show Enerflex Systems , a Canadian company listed as EFX on the Toronto Stock Exchange Equifax , a U.S. consumer credit reporting agency listed as EFX on the New York Stock Exchange Effects Extension (EFX), a set of digital signal processing extensions for
276-401: A Phoenician prince, was instructed by Apollo to follow a heifer and found a city wherever it laid down. Cadmus and his men followed the heifer and, when it laid down, Cadmus ordered his men to find a spring so he could sacrifice the heifer to Athena. His men found a spring, but it was guarded by a dragon, which had been placed there by the god Ares , and the dragon killed them. Cadmus killed
414-430: A Yeouiju which had fallen from heaven. Another explanation states they are hornless creatures resembling dragons who have been cursed and thus were unable to become dragons. By other accounts, an Imugi is a proto-dragon which must survive one thousand years in order to become a fully-fledged dragon. In either case, they are said to be large, benevolent, python -like creatures that live in water or caves, and their sighting
552-529: A black dragon who was born to a poor family in Shandong . When his mother saw him for the first time, she fainted and, when his father came home from the field and saw him, he hit him with a spade and cut off part of his tail. Li burst through the ceiling and flew away to the Black Dragon River in northeast China, where he became the god of that river. On the anniversary of his mother's death on
690-731: A certain style of show here. When half your audience doesn't speak English, you have to be very visual. Dragon A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire. Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence. Commonalities between dragons' traits are often
828-621: A detailed description of the Leviathan, who is described as being so powerful that only Yahweh can overcome it. Job 41:19–21 states that the Leviathan exhales fire and smoke, making its identification as a mythical dragon clearly apparent. In some parts of the Old Testament, the Leviathan is historicized as a symbol for the nations that stand against Yahweh. Rahab, a synonym for "Leviathan", is used in several Biblical passages in reference to Egypt . Isaiah 30:7 declares: "For Egypt's help
966-475: A different power, rank, and ability, so people began establishing temples across the countryside dedicated to these figures. Many traditional Chinese customs revolve around dragons. During various holidays, including the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival , villagers will construct an approximately sixteen-foot-long dragon from grass, cloth, bamboo strips, and paper, which they will parade through
1104-493: A disenchanted bus boy who's serving drinks in the audience. David reveals that he's lost something in his life since losing his love Laura (an audience member selected by the cast before every performance). The Masters tell him that they'll help him regain that lost part of himself, and find Laura, if he's willing to go on a journey to do so. David agrees, and the Master of Magic turns him into King Arthur. Merlin explains that magic
1242-585: A few months into Springfield's run. Paul's understudy duties were subsequently given to Salangsang. As with Tommy Tune, Rick Springfield initially signed a one-year contract. Despite becoming the newest victim in EFX 's long history of performance-related accidents, fracturing his arm and spraining his wrist early on in his run, Springfield renewed his full contract and stayed with the show until it closed permanently on December 31, 2002. The final performances of EFX Alive! were shot with several cameras. The result
1380-505: A fiery on-stage battle before Arthur pulls the sword from the stone and defeats the evil sorceress. The audience is left with the message that "good must triumph always." The Master of Laughter then sends us deep into outer space where we meet up with the EFX Master, now P.T. Barnum , and his crazy alien circus. Mishaps and hilarity abound as the intergalactic ensemble perform, and, led by the assistant Vladimir, eventually try to upstage
1518-404: A futuristic P.T. Barnum and his alien circus, the last days of Harry Houdini , and H.G. Wells ' classic novella, The Time Machine . Each story was its own "act", and was introduced by a "helper" of the EFX Master's based upon their "mastership" of that story's overall theme. After being introduced to the world of EFX, the EFX Master transforms himself into Merlin as the Master of Magic tells
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#17327984472661656-684: A general protective emblem. It seems to have originally been the attendant of the Underworld god Ninazu , but later became the attendant to the Hurrian storm-god Tishpak , as well as, later, Ninazu's son Ningishzida , the Babylonian national god Marduk , the scribal god Nabu , and the Assyrian national god Ashur. Scholars disagree regarding the appearance of Tiamat , the Babylonian goddess personifying primeval chaos, slain by Marduk in
1794-493: A head made of flint . Thunderstorms and earthquakes were thought to be caused by Apep's roar and solar eclipses were thought to be the result of Apep attacking Ra during the daytime. In some myths, Apep is slain by the god Set . Nehebkau is another giant serpent who guards the Duat and aided Ra in his battle against Apep. Nehebkau was so massive in some stories that the entire earth was believed to rest atop his coils. Denwen
1932-479: A humorous go at the light-hearted Master of Time, David becomes H.G. Wells and travels into the far distant future. Upon his arrival, he discovers that Laura has been kidnapped by the monstrous creatures known as the Morlocks, and is being held captive, along with other humans, in the Morlocks' caverns. Wells enlists the help of two slaves who managed to escape, and together, they defeat the Morlocks and free Laura and
2070-543: A hybridization of reptilian , mammalian , and avian features. The word dragon entered the English language in the early 13th century from Old French dragon , which, in turn, comes from Latin draco (genitive draconis ), meaning "huge serpent, dragon", from Ancient Greek δράκων , drákōn (genitive δράκοντος , drákontos ) "serpent". The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent, not necessarily mythological. The Greek word δράκων
2208-526: A kind of giant serpent that either possesses supernatural characteristics or is otherwise controlled by some supernatural power. The first mention of a "dragon" in ancient Greek literature occurs in the Iliad , in which Agamemnon is described as having a blue dragon motif on his sword belt and an emblem of a three-headed dragon on his breast plate. In lines 820–880 of the Theogony , a Greek poem written in
2346-465: A large number of Asian countries has been influenced by Chinese culture, such as Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and so on. Chinese tradition has always used the dragon totem as the national emblem, and the "Yellow Dragon flag" of the Qing dynasty has influenced the impression that China is a dragon in many European countries. The Korean dragon is in many ways similar in appearance to other East Asian dragons such as
2484-456: A result, Cassidy chose not to renew his contract, and in 1999, he left the show. The cast of EFX changed once again in 1999. The EFX Master was cut from the show completely, as was David Cassidy's character of Bus Boy. King Arthur was portrayed once again as a young boy, and the roles of Morgana and Bess Houdini were once more performed by the same actress. Cast New additions to the cast included Ernest Chambers and Ken Young, who performed
2622-532: A reward. The word "dragon" has come to be applied to the legendary creature in Chinese mythology , loong (traditional 龍, simplified 龙, Japanese simplified 竜, Pinyin lóng ), which is associated with good fortune, and many East Asian deities and demigods have dragons as their personal mounts or companions. Dragons were also identified with the Emperor of China , who, during later Chinese imperial history,
2760-467: A spiritual battle. In Ferdowsi's Shahnameh , the Iranian hero Rostam must slay an 80-meter-long dragon (which renders itself invisible to human sight) with the aid of his legendary horse, Rakhsh . As Rostam is sleeping, the dragon approaches; Rakhsh attempts to wake Rostam, but fails to alert him to the danger until Rostam sees the dragon. Rakhsh bites the dragon, while Rostam decapitates it. This
2898-996: A study which found that approximately 39 people in a hundred are afraid of snakes and notes that fear of snakes is especially prominent in children, even in areas where snakes are rare. The earliest attested dragons all resemble snakes or have snakelike attributes. Jones therefore concludes that dragons appear in nearly all cultures because humans have an innate fear of snakes and other animals that were major predators of humans' primate ancestors. Dragons are usually said to reside in "dark caves, deep pools, wild mountain reaches, sea bottoms, haunted forests", all places which would have been fraught with danger for early human ancestors. In her book The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times (2000), Adrienne Mayor argues that some stories of dragons may have been inspired by ancient discoveries of fossils belonging to dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. She argues that
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#17327984472663036-589: A thirty-minute comedic pre-show, and casting Paul May as not only the Master of Time, but the lead understudy to David Cassidy and the other three Masters. The David Cassidy version of the EFX cast album was released in 1997 by the MGM Grand and was available only through the EFX gift shop at the hotel. The musical theatre feel of the Michael Crawford cast album was replaced with a more pop/rock sound that
3174-473: A world of dreams. The darker, more serious themes of the show were also cut and replaced by more humorous elements, particularly those that poked fun at the Master of Time. The show opens with the EFX Master (now a projection of James Earl Jones ' face) instructing the Masters of Magic, Laughter, Spirit, and Time to find a human who has "lost their imagination" and bring them to EFX. The Masters discover David,
3312-495: Is "Song and Dance Man" and track 17 is "The Wedge". Tommy Tune originally signed a one-year contract to appear in EFX . At the end of his run in 1999, he extended his contract for another six months before leaving in mid-2000. Rick Springfield took over for Tommy Tune, completely revamping the show and debuting his version in 2001. EFX , now retitled EFX Alive! , became more of a "theatrical concert production" as opposed to being an actual musical. The Masters were written out of
3450-628: Is a giant serpent mentioned in the Pyramid Texts whose body was made of fire and who ignited a conflagration that nearly destroyed all the gods of the Egyptian pantheon. He was ultimately defeated by the Pharaoh , a victory which affirmed the Pharaoh's divine right to rule. The ouroboros was a well-known Egyptian symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail. The precursor to the ouroboros
3588-650: Is an Attic red-figure kylix dated to c. 480–470 BC, showing a bedraggled Jason being disgorged from the dragon's open mouth as the Golden Fleece hangs in a tree behind him and Athena , the goddess of wisdom, stands watching. A fragment from Pherecydes of Athens states that Jason killed the dragon, but fragments from the Naupactica and from Herodorus state that he merely stole the Fleece and escaped. In Euripides's Medea , Medea boasts that she killed
3726-494: Is associated with good luck. Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China. Like some other dragons, most Japanese dragons are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet. Gould writes (1896:248), the Japanese dragon is "invariably figured as possessing three claws". A story about
3864-574: Is careful to point out that not all stories of dragons and giants are inspired by fossils and notes that Scandinavia has many stories of dragons and sea monsters, but has long "been considered barren of large fossils." In one of her later books, she states that, "Many dragon images around the world were based on folk knowledge or exaggerations of living reptiles, such as Komodo dragons , Gila monsters , iguanas , alligators , or, in California, alligator lizards , though this still fails to account for
4002-467: Is described in the form of cattle: "You won the cows, hero, you won the Soma ,/You freed the seven streams to flow" ( Rigveda 1.32.12 ). In another Rigvedic legend, the three-headed serpent Viśvarūpa , the son of Tvaṣṭṛ , guards a wealth of cows and horses. Indra delivers Viśvarūpa to a god named Trita Āptya , who fights and kills him and sets his cattle free. Indra cuts off Viśvarūpa's heads and drives
4140-604: Is immortal, but Sophocles and Euripides both describe Heracles as killing him, although neither of them specifies how. Some suggest that the golden apple was not claimed through battle with Ladon at all but through Heracles charming the Hesperides. The mythographer Herodorus is the first to state that Heracles slew him using his famous club. Apollonius of Rhodes , in his epic poem, the Argonautica , describes Ladon as having been shot full of poisoned arrows dipped in
4278-403: Is in nature and is accessible by everyone. Arthur is skeptical until Morgana arrives and engages Merlin in a wizard's duel. Just when it seems that Merlin is about to lose the battle, Arthur understands the lesson that the old wizard was trying to teach him, and pulls the sword from the stone to defeat Morgana. With his belief in the impossible and the power of imagination restored, David is sent on
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4416-505: Is most likely derived from the Greek verb δέρκομαι ( dérkomai ) meaning "I see", the aorist form of which is ἔδρακον ( édrakon ). This is thought to have referred to something with a "deadly glance", or unusually bright or "sharp" eyes, or because a snake's eyes appear to be always open; each eye actually sees through a big transparent scale in its eyelids, which are permanently shut. The Greek word probably derives from an Indo-European base * derḱ- meaning "to see";
4554-474: Is often shown playing with on kagamibuta . The shachihoko is a creature with the head of a dragon, a bushy tail, fishlike scales, and sometimes with fire emerging from its armpits. The fun has the head of a dragon, feathered wings, and the tail and claws of a bird. A white dragon was believed to reside in a pool in Yamashiro Province and, every fifty years, it would turn into a bird called
4692-588: Is one of the national symbols of Bhutan . In the Dzongkha language, Bhutan is known as Druk Yul "Land of Druk", and Bhutanese leaders are called Druk Gyalpo , "Thunder Dragon Kings". The druk was adopted as an emblem by the Drukpa Lineage , which originated in Tibet and later spread to Bhutan. The tale of a hero slaying a giant serpent occurs in almost all Indo-European mythology . In most stories,
4830-430: Is so named because he is the third man on earth, but a three-headed serpent named * Ng hi steals them. *Tritos pursues the serpent and is accompanied by *H a nér , whose name means "man". Together, the two heroes slay the serpent and rescue the cattle. The ancient Greek word usually translated as "dragon" (δράκων drákōn , genitive δράκοντοϛ drákontos ) could also mean "snake", but it usually refers to
4968-465: Is stronger than the love that I have for you. I only wish I learned that sooner." They then say their goodbyes, promising to be reunited again someday. The final act is introduced by the Master of Time, who asks us if we are brave enough to see what the years ahead have in store for us. He takes us to see the EFX Master, who has now become H.G. Wells . Wells expresses his amazement that his novel The Time Machine has been so enthusiastically received by
5106-578: Is the third trial of Rostam's Seven Labors . Rostam is also credited with the slaughter of other dragons in the Shahnameh and in other Iranian oral traditions, notably in the myth of Babr-e-Bayan . In this tale, Rostam is still an adolescent and kills a dragon in the "Orient" (either India or China, depending on the source) by forcing it to swallow either ox hides filled with quicklime and stones or poisoned blades. The dragon swallows these foreign objects and its stomach bursts, after which Rostam flays
5244-575: Is traditionally said to have originated after the poet Qu Yuan committed suicide by drowning himself in the Miluo River and people raced out in boats hoping to save him. But most historians agree that the custom actually originated much earlier as a ritual to avert ill fortune. Starting during the Han dynasty and continuing until the Qing dynasty, the Chinese emperor gradually became closely identified with dragons, and emperors themselves claimed to be
5382-503: Is worthless and empty, therefore I have called her 'the silenced Rahab '." Similarly, Psalm 87:3 reads: "I reckon Rahab and Babylon as those that know me..." In Ezekiel 29:3–5 and Ezekiel 32:2–8, the pharaoh of Egypt is described as a "dragon" ( tannîn ). In the deuterocanonical story of Bel and the Dragon from the Book of Daniel , the prophet Daniel sees a dragon being worshipped by
5520-506: The Homeric Hymn to Apollo , the god Apollo uses his poisoned arrows to slay the serpent Python , who has been causing death and pestilence in the area around Delphi . Apollo then sets up his shrine there. The Roman poet Virgil in his poem Culex , lines 163–201 Appendix Vergiliana: Culex , describing a shepherd having a fight with a big constricting snake , calls it " serpens " and also " draco ", showing that in his time
5658-602: The Pistis Sophia , an early Gnostic text, describes "a great dragon whose tail is in its mouth". In medieval alchemy, the ouroboros became a typical western dragon with wings, legs, and a tail. A famous image of the dragon gnawing on its tail from the eleventh-century Codex Marcianus was copied in numerous works on alchemy. Ancient people across the Near East believed in creatures similar to what modern people call "dragons". These ancient people were unaware of
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5796-1110: The mušḫuššu of ancient Mesopotamia ; Apep in Egyptian mythology ; Vṛtra in the Rigveda ; the Leviathan in the Hebrew Bible ; Grand'Goule in the Poitou region in France ; Python , Ladon , Wyvern and the Lernaean Hydra in Greek mythology ; Kulshedra in Albanian Mythology ; Unhcegila in Lakota mythology ; Quetzalcoatl in Aztec Culture ; Jörmungandr , Níðhöggr , and Fafnir in Norse mythology ;
5934-406: The samurai Minamoto no Mitsunaka tells that, while he was hunting in his own territory of Settsu , he dreamt under a tree and had a dream in which a beautiful woman appeared to him and begged him to save her land from a giant serpent which was defiling it. Mitsunaka agreed to help and the maiden gave him a magnificent horse. When he woke up, the seahorse was standing before him. He rode it to
6072-691: The Akkadian Period ( c. 2334 – 2154 BC) until the Neo-Babylonian Period (626 BC–539 BC). The dragon is usually shown with its mouth open. It may have been known as the (ūmu) nā’iru , which means "roaring weather beast", and may have been associated with the god Ishkur (Hadad). A slightly different lion-dragon with two horns and the tail of a scorpion appears in art from the Neo-Assyrian Period (911 BC–609 BC). A relief probably commissioned by Sennacherib shows
6210-620: The Chinese and Japanese dragons . It differs from the Chinese dragon in that it developed a longer beard. Very occasionally, a dragon may be depicted as carrying an orb known as the Yeouiju (여의주), the Korean name for the mythical Cintamani , in its claws or its mouth. It was said that whoever could wield the Yeouiju was blessed with the abilities of omnipotence and creation at will, and that only four-toed dragons (who had thumbs with which to hold
6348-456: The EFX original cast album was released in 1999 by the MGM Grand and, like its predecessor, was available only through the hotel gift shop. More changes were made to the music to accommodate the changes in the script, and several new songs by Bill Wray were added, heightening the emotional impact of the album. The packaging of the 1999 cast recording contained an error on the track list: "The Wedge" and "Song and Dance Man" were reversed; track 16
6486-423: The Hebrew Bible , in the Book of Psalms , Psalm 74 , Psalm 74:13–14, the sea-dragon Leviathan , is slain by Yahweh , god of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah , as part of the creation of the world. Isaiah describes Leviathan as a tanin ( תנין ), which is translated as "sea monster", "serpent", or "dragon". In Isaiah 27:1, Yahweh's destruction of Leviathan is foretold as part of his impending overhaul of
6624-531: The OpenAL audio API .efx, the Everett Efax file format, see List of file formats EFX item allocation - a rule for fair allocation of indivisible objects among people with different preferences. See also [ edit ] FX (disambiguation) Das EFX , an American hip-hop group Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
6762-581: The Sanskrit root दृश् ( dr̥ś- ) also means "to see". Draconic creatures appear in virtually all cultures around the globe and the earliest attested reports of draconic creatures resemble giant snakes. Draconic creatures are first described in the mythologies of the ancient Near East and appear in ancient Mesopotamian art and literature. Stories about storm-gods slaying giant serpents occur throughout nearly all Near Eastern and Indo-European mythologies. Famous prototypical draconic creatures include
6900-540: The Sumiyoshi temple, where he prayed for eight days. Then he confronted the serpent and slew it with an arrow. It was believed that dragons could be appeased or exorcised with metal. Nitta Yoshisada is said to have hurled a famous sword into the sea at Sagami to appease the dragon-god of the sea and Ki no Tsurayuki threw a metal mirror into the sea at Sumiyoshi for the same purpose. Japanese Buddhism has also adapted dragons by subjecting them to Buddhist law ;
7038-550: The stunts and the extreme physical demand required to perform the show, Michael Crawford sustained many serious physical injuries during his run in EFX , during both rehearsals and performances. Crawford, famous for his penchant to perform his own stunts, refused to use a stunt double (except for the end of the H.G. Wells act, in which a double was necessary due to a costume change). Many times, especially during early runs of EFX , Crawford took tumbles from scenery and zip-lines . Scenery would often fly out from under him (most notably
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#17327984472667176-415: The 1995 production was rewritten by Chisholm and Shaun Cassidy under David Cassidy's supervision, and the music was profoundly changed by Bill Wray, who thought that the audience would better appreciate a more "coherent" story with a logical plot progression. The resulting book focused on David the bus boy , a character that it was felt the audience would identify with more, rather than an EFX Master who ruled
7314-457: The Babylonian creation epic Enûma Eliš . She was traditionally regarded by scholars as having had the form of a giant serpent, but several scholars have pointed out that this shape "cannot be imputed to Tiamat with certainty" and she seems to have at least sometimes been regarded as anthropomorphic. Nonetheless, in some texts, she seems to be described with horns, a tail, and a hide that no weapon can penetrate, all features which suggest she
7452-545: The Babylonians. Daniel makes "cakes of pitch, fat, and hair"; the dragon eats them and bursts open. Azhi Dahaka (Avestan Great Snake) is a dragon or demonic figure in the texts and mythology of Zoroastrian Persia, where he is one of the subordinates of Angra Mainyu. Alternate names include Azi Dahak, Dahaka, and Dahak. Aži (nominative ažiš) is the Avestan word for "serpent" or "dragon. The Avestan term Aži Dahāka and
7590-487: The Chinese lunar calendar, Old Li returns home, causing it to rain. He is still worshipped as a rain god. In China, a dragon is thought to have power over rain. Dragons and their associations with rain are the source of the Chinese customs of dragon dancing and dragon boat racing . Dragons are closely associated with rain and drought is thought to be caused by a dragon's laziness. Prayers invoking dragons to bring rain are common in Chinese texts. The Luxuriant Dew of
7728-497: The Colchian dragon herself. In the final scene of the play, Medea also flies away on a chariot pulled by two dragons. In the most famous retelling of the story from Apollonius of Rhodes's Argonautica , Medea drugs the dragon to sleep, allowing Jason to steal the Fleece. Greek vase paintings show her feeding the dragon the sleeping drug in a liquid form from a phialē , or shallow cup. In the founding myth of Thebes , Cadmus ,
7866-491: The Crown Prince wore four-taloned dragon insignia. Korean folk mythology states that most dragons were originally Imugis (이무기), or lesser dragons, which were said to resemble gigantic serpents. There are a few different versions of Korean folklore that describe both what imugis are and how they aspire to become full-fledged dragons. Koreans thought that an Imugi could become a true dragon, yong or mireu , if it caught
8004-516: The Hydra's heads was immortal, so Heracles buried it under a heavy rock after cutting it off. For his Eleventh Labor, Heracles must procure a golden apple from the tree in the Garden of the Hesperides , which is guarded by an enormous serpent that never sleeps, which Pseudo-Apollodorus calls " Ladon ". In earlier depictions, Ladon is often shown with many heads. In Pseudo-Apollodorus's account, Ladon
8142-415: The Hydra, but, by the end of the sixth century BC, it was agreed that the clubbed or severed heads needed to be cauterized to prevent them from growing back. Heracles was aided in this task by his nephew Iolaus . During the battle, a giant crab crawled out of the marsh and pinched Heracles's foot, but he crushed it under his heel. Hera placed the crab in the sky as the constellation Cancer . One of
8280-489: The Intergalactic Circus of Wonders, the Master of Spirits appears and asks us if we wish to make contact with the other side. The audience is then brought to a seance led by Bess Houdini in which she asks to speak to the spirit of her dead husband, the famous illusionist Harry Houdini . The EFX Master, as Houdini, appears, and he and Bess reunite briefly to relive various moments of their past, starting with
8418-478: The Japanese Buddhist deities Benten and Kwannon are often shown sitting or standing on the back of a dragon. Several Japanese sennin ("immortals") have taken dragons as their mounts. Bômô is said to have hurled his staff into a puddle of water, causing a dragon to come forth and let him ride it to heaven. The rakan Handaka is said to have been able to conjure a dragon out of a bowl, which he
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#17327984472668556-430: The Master of Magic, Saif Eddin took over Rick Stockwell's Master of Time, and Joe Machota was cast as (a much younger) H.G. Wells. In addition to the casting changes, there were also alterations made to the show itself. While it largely remained true to the original version, all of the lyrics for the Masters of Magic, Laughter, Spirit, and Time were rewritten, and some scenes were edited down. Barnum's entire stand-up routine
8694-495: The Masters, and co-starred with Andy Pellick as the understudy to Tommy Tune, Paul providing vocals and Andy dancing Tommy's choreography. Stewart Daylida was recognized as the only cast member to have performed in all three versions of EFX , having originated the role of the Master of Laughter and playing the character until the Masters were written out of the show by Rick Springfield in 2001. Tommy Tune brought his own vision to EFX when he replaced David Cassidy in 1999. The show
8832-689: The Middle Persian azdahāg are the sources of the Middle Persian Manichaean demon of greed "Az", Old Armenian mythological figure Aždahak, Modern Persian 'aždehâ/aždahâ', Tajik Persian 'azhdahâ', Urdu 'azhdahā' (اژدها), as well as the Kurdish ejdîha (ئەژدیها). The name also migrated to Eastern Europe, assumed the form "azhdaja" and the meaning "dragon", "dragoness" or "water snake" in the Balkanic and Slavic languages. Despite
8970-463: The Ogonchô, which had a call like the "howling of a wild dog". This event was believed to herald terrible famine. In the Japanese village of Okumura, near Edo , during times of drought, the villagers would make a dragon effigy out of straw, magnolia leaves, and bamboo and parade it through the village to attract rainfall. The Vietnamese dragon ( Vietnamese : rồng ) was a mythical creature that
9108-587: The Scandinavian legends, as no such animals (historical or otherwise) have ever been found in this region." Robert Blust in The Origin of Dragons (2000) argues that, like many other creations of traditional cultures, dragons are largely explicable as products of a convergence of rational pre-scientific speculation about the world of real events. In this case, the event is the natural mechanism governing rainfall and drought, with particular attention paid to
9246-537: The Spring and Autumn Annals , attributed to the Han dynasty scholar Dong Zhongshu , prescribes making clay figurines of dragons during a time of drought and having young men and boys pace and dance among the figurines in order to encourage the dragons to bring rain. Texts from the Qing dynasty advise hurling the bone of a tiger or dirty objects into the pool where the dragon lives; since dragons cannot stand tigers or dirt,
9384-426: The audience that they are about enter the time of a young Arthur, before he became king. Arthur begs Merlin to teach him about magic, and Merlin explains that Arthur first needs to learn how to live in harmony with nature. Their lesson is interrupted by the arrival of the witch Morgana , who seeks to kill Arthur to keep him from fulfilling his destiny of becoming king. Merlin and Morgana duke it out as giant dragons in
9522-480: The blood of the Hydra. In Pindar 's Fourth Pythian Ode , Aeëtes of Colchis tells the hero Jason that the Golden Fleece he is seeking is in a copse guarded by a dragon, "which surpassed in breadth and length a fifty-oared ship". Jason slays the dragon and makes off with the Golden Fleece together with his co-conspirator, Aeëtes's daughter, Medea . The earliest artistic representation of this story
9660-508: The cattle home for Trita. This same story is alluded to in the Younger Avesta , in which the hero Thraētaona , the son of Āthbya, slays the three-headed dragon Aži Dahāka and takes his two beautiful wives as spoils. Thraētaona's name (meaning "third grandson of the waters") indicates that Aži Dahāka, like Vṛtra, was seen as a blocker of waters and cause of drought. The Druk ( Dzongkha : འབྲུག་ ), also known as 'Thunder Dragon',
9798-471: The city as part of a dragon dance . The original purpose of this ritual was to bring good weather and a strong harvest, but now it is done mostly only for entertainment. During the Duanwu festival, several villages, or even a whole province, will hold a dragon boat race , in which people race across a body of water in boats carved to look like dragons, while a large audience watches on the banks. The custom
9936-580: The creature that he ran away. In Chinese legend, the culture hero Fu Hsi is said to have been crossing the Lo River , when he saw the lung ma , a Chinese horse-dragon with seven dots on its face, six on its back, eight on its left flank, and nine on its right flank. He was so moved by this apparition that, when he arrived home, he drew a picture of it, including the dots. He later used these dots as letters and invented Chinese writing , which he used to write his book I Ching . In another Chinese legend,
10074-657: The dancers doubled as the Masters, usually lip-synching to previously recorded tracks by the Masters). Saif Eddin had already left the show and his replacement as the Master of Time, Joe Mahoda, had learned the H.G. Wells part and went on but Stewart Daylida kept performing as P.T. Barnum instead of being replaced by Paul Finocchiaro since special material had been written to make that section work. David Cassidy took over as headliner in November 1996, but only after he requested that he be given creative control. Dissatisfied with
10212-508: The dragon from Beowulf ; and aži and az in ancient Persian mythology, closely related to another mythological figure, called Aži Dahaka or Zahhak . Nonetheless, scholars dispute where the idea of a dragon originates from, and a wide variety of hypotheses have been proposed. In his book An Instinct for Dragons (2000), anthropologist David E. Jones suggests a hypothesis that humans, like monkeys , have inherited instinctive reactions to snakes, large cats , and birds of prey . He cites
10350-487: The dragon and fashions a coat from its hide called the babr-e bayān . In some variants of the story, Rostam then remains unconscious for two days and nights, but is guarded by his steed Rakhsh . On reviving, he washes himself in a spring. In the Mandean tradition of the story, Rostam hides in a box, is swallowed by the dragon, and kills it from inside its belly. The king of China then gives Rostam his daughter in marriage as
10488-452: The dragon in revenge, either by smashing its head with a rock or using his sword. Following the advice of Athena, Cadmus tore out the dragon's teeth and planted them in the earth. An army of giant warriors (known as spartoi , which means "sown men") grew from the teeth like plants. Cadmus hurled stones into their midst, causing them to kill each other until only five were left. To make restitution for having killed Ares's dragon, Cadmus
10626-617: The dragon king of the West Sea. And King Munmu of Silla who, on his deathbed, wished to become a dragon of the East Sea in order to protect the kingdom. Dragon patterns were used exclusively by the royal family. The royal robe was also called the dragon robe (용포). In the Joseon dynasty , the royal insignia, featuring embroidered dragons, were attached to the robe's shoulders, the chest, and back. The King wore five-taloned dragon insignia while
10764-823: The dragon lore of northern India may have been inspired by "observations of oversized, extraordinary bones in the fossilbeds of the Siwalik Hills below the Himalayas " and that ancient Greek artistic depictions of the Monster of Troy may have been influenced by fossils of Samotherium , an extinct species of giraffe whose fossils are common in the Mediterranean region. In China, a region where fossils of large prehistoric animals are common, these remains are frequently identified as "dragon bones" and are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine . Mayor, however,
10902-475: The dragon of the pool will cause heavy rain to drive the object out. Rainmaking rituals invoking dragons are still very common in many Chinese villages, where each village has its own god said to bring rain and many of these gods are dragons. The Chinese dragon kings are thought of as the inspiration for the Hindu myth of the naga. According to these stories, every body of water is ruled by a dragon king, each with
11040-461: The emperor Qi are both described as being carried by two dragons, as are Huangdi, Zhuanxu , Yuqiang , and Roshou in various other texts. According to the Huainanzi , an evil black dragon once caused a destructive deluge, which was ended by the mother goddess Nüwa by slaying the dragon. A large number of ethnic myths about dragons are told throughout China. The Houhanshu , compiled in
11178-611: The end of his run surfaced in Nevada and on the US West Coast. While the video featured the majority of the show, several elements had been cut out of the tape, most notably the songs "Nexus", "Merlin Ballet", "Counting Up to Twenty", and all act introductions made by the Masters of Magic, Laughter, Spirit, and Time. The video eventually made its way onto YouTube with most of the ballet and "Counting Up to Twenty" added back in. However,
11316-512: The end, a fall from a zip-line during the Barnum act required hospitalization and a hip replacement, causing Crawford to leave the show permanently in August 1996. Bootleg recordings of live performances of Crawford's EFX surfaced around 1997, possibly in response to fans of the original version's poor reception of David Cassidy's re-write of the show. A VHS of Michael Crawford's performance near
11454-522: The entire cast, he praises the human imagination and encourages us to continue to create incredible tales and believe in ourselves and our capacity for creation. We're asked to open ourselves up to infinite possibilities. EFX was originally conceived as a showcase for performer Michael Crawford , who was fresh off his four-year run in The Phantom of the Opera and enjoying a successful solo career at
11592-490: The existence of dinosaurs or similar creatures in the distant past. References to dragons of both benevolent and malevolent characters occur throughout ancient Mesopotamian literature. In Sumerian poetry , great kings are often compared to the ušumgal , a gigantic, serpentine monster. A draconic creature with the foreparts of a lion and the hind-legs, tail, and wings of a bird appears in Mesopotamian artwork from
11730-484: The fifth century BC by Fan Ye , reports a story belonging to the Ailaoyi people, which holds that a woman named Shayi who lived in the region around Mount Lao became pregnant with ten sons after being touched by a tree trunk floating in the water while fishing. She gave birth to the sons and the tree trunk turned into a dragon, who asked to see his sons. The woman showed them to him, but all of them ran away except for
11868-735: The film Somewhere in Time was also used as pre-show music during the show's original 1995 run. Barry, who had worked with Michael Crawford before on previous projects such as the West End musical Billy and the British movie musical of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , gave Crawford permission to add vocals to the Somewhere in Time theme. Lyrics were provided by B.A. Robertson. The original EFX cast album , featuring Michael Crawford,
12006-515: The flying saucer) and either send him crashing to the stage or leave him dangling from a safety harness up to twelve feet in the air. One rehearsal of the Merlin act even resulted in his costume catching on fire, with half of it reportedly burned away before the flames could be extinguished. Crawford often took pain killers in order to perform every night, and some of the more demanding scenes were rewritten to accommodate performing around his injuries. In
12144-529: The four Masters, and it's his story that the audience witnesses. Former cast members Tina Walsh and Lisa Geist did not return for the 1997 version of the show. Geist's role as Young King Arthur was cut to allow Cassidy to play an older version of the character, while Walsh's roles as Morgana and Bess Houdini were divided and given to Amelia Prentice-Keene and Satomi Hofmann, respectively. Other casting changes included bringing in Sal Salangsang to perform
12282-488: The fourteenth emperor of the Xia dynasty , was given a male and a female dragon as a reward for his obedience to the god of heaven, but could not train them, so he hired a dragon-trainer named Liulei, who had learned how to train dragons from Huanlong. One day, the female dragon died unexpectedly, so Liulei secretly chopped her up, cooked her meat, and served it to the king, who loved it so much that he demanded Liulei to serve him
12420-667: The gods Ashur , Sin , and Adad standing on its back. Another draconic creature with horns, the body and neck of a snake, the forelegs of a lion, and the hind-legs of a bird appears in Mesopotamian art from the Akkadian Period until the Hellenistic Period (323 BC–31 BC). This creature, known in Akkadian as the mušḫuššu , meaning "furious serpent", was used as a symbol for particular deities and also as
12558-428: The hero is some kind of thunder-god . In nearly every iteration of the story, the serpent is either multi-headed or "multiple" in some other way. Furthermore, in nearly every story, the serpent is always somehow associated with water. Bruce Lincoln has proposed that a Proto-Indo-European dragon-slaying myth can be reconstructed as follows: First, the sky gods give cattle to a man named *Tritos ("the third"), who
12696-462: The incarnations of a divine dragon. Eventually, dragons were only allowed to appear on clothing, houses, and articles of everyday use belonging to the emperor and any commoner who possessed everyday items bearing the image of the dragon was ordered to be executed. After the last Chinese emperor was overthrown in 1911, this situation changed and now many ordinary Chinese people identify themselves as descendants of dragons. The impression of dragons in
12834-456: The lead role were Michael Crawford , David Cassidy , Tommy Tune , and Rick Springfield . The original production of EFX featured a loose plot involving the celebration of the human mind . The EFX Master, in charge of EFX, a world where "anything is possible" thanks to imagination, invites the audience to relive their childhood innocence and wonder by taking them on a journey through four different stories: those of Merlin and King Arthur ,
12972-623: The most famous Chinese dragons is Ying Long ("responding dragon"), who helped the Huangdi , the Yellow Emperor, defeat the tyrant Chiyou . The dragon Zhulong ("torch dragon") is a god "who composed the universe with his body." In the Shanhaijing , many mythic heroes are said to have been conceived after their mothers copulated with divine dragons, including Huangdi, Shennong , Emperor Yao , and Emperor Shun . The god Zhurong and
13110-424: The negative aspect of Aži Dahāka in mythology, dragons have been used on some banners of war throughout the history of Iranian peoples. The Azhdarchid group of pterosaurs are named from a Persian word for "dragon" that ultimately comes from Aži Dahāka. In Persian Sufi literature, Rumi writes in his Masnavi that the dragon symbolizes the sensual soul ( nafs ), greed and lust, that need to be mortified in
13248-490: The next part of his journey. David becomes P.T. Barnum, the ringmaster of the Intergalactic Circus of Wonders (whose theme song of the same name is now a rap performed by One Spirit). Barnum performs with the circus, and in the process, rediscovers his sense of humour and ability to have a good time. As the circus comes to an end, Barnum spots Laura in the audience, but she's whisked away before he can get to her. He has no choice but to continue on. Wondering if Laura might be in
13386-478: The night that they first met at one of Houdini's escapes. Upon being reminded of Harry's dangerous career, a disillusioned Bess asks Houdini if he ever really loved her, or if his feelings were really an illusion like his many tricks: "Did you just make me believe that you loved me and not even care enough to stay alive?" We then see Houdini's death, drowning in a water tank before freeing himself from his chains, and Houdini tells Bess, "There's nothing here on Earth that
13524-420: The opening and closing number, as well as for Houdini), Stewart Daylida (Master of Laughter) took over as Merlin, Sheldon Craig (Master of Magic) took over as P.T. Barnum and Saif Eddin took over the H.G. Wells role. Sheldon had already committed to do STARLIGHT EXPRESS after those 3 days so Stewart Daylida did double-duty as Merlin and P.T. Barnum. They performed as the leads for several more weeks (while some of
13662-624: The orbs) were both wise and powerful enough to wield these orbs, as opposed to the lesser, three-toed dragons. As with China, the number nine is significant and auspicious in Korea, and dragons were said to have 81 (9×9) scales on their backs, representing yang essence. Dragons in Korean mythology are primarily benevolent beings related to water and agriculture, often considered bringers of rain and clouds. Hence, many Korean dragons are said to have resided in rivers, lakes, oceans, or even deep mountain ponds. And human journeys to undersea realms, and especially
13800-475: The original set list . While most of the initial technical issues that plagued EFX 's original run and forced Michael Crawford to leave his contract early had been ironed out by 1996, the show was still not without risk. The five-lead-roles-in-one were still highly physically demanding, causing frequent exhaustion, and multiple issues with trap-door exits not only aggravated pre-existing injuries, but resulted in new leg and back injuries for David Cassidy. As
13938-490: The original cast remained with Kevin Koelbl playing the roles of the EFX Master and Harry Houdini in addition to the Master of Spirits, and Stewart Daylida taking on the additional roles of Merlin and P.T. Barnum while still playing the Master of Laughter. Tina Walsh remained to play Morgana and Bess Houdini, and Lisa Geist continued to play a young King Arthur to Ginny Grady's recorded vocals. Sheldon Craig replaced Jeffrey Polk as
14076-455: The others. Laura and Wells then return to the present time where the cast presents Laura, who is played by an audience member, with flowers for her participation in the show. David, now reunited with his long-lost love and filled with a new-found joy for life, reflects on his adventure and celebrates with the cast while encouraging the audience to embrace all the wonders life has to offer. The casting of EFX also underwent changes. The EFX Master
14214-546: The phenomenon of the rainbow. In Egyptian mythology , Apep or Apophis is a giant serpentine creature who resides in the Duat , the Egyptian Underworld. The Bremner-Rhind papyrus, written around 310 BC, preserves an account of a much older Egyptian tradition that the setting of the sun is caused by Ra descending to the Duat to battle Apep. In some accounts, Apep is as long as the height of eight men with
14352-562: The physician Ma Shih Huang is said to have healed a sick dragon. Another legend reports that a man once came to the healer Lo Chên-jen, telling him that he was a dragon and that he needed to be healed. After Lo Chên-jen healed the man, a dragon appeared to him and carried him to heaven. In the Shanhaijing , a classic mythography probably compiled mostly during the Han dynasty , various deities and demigods are associated with dragons. One of
14490-420: The public, and goes on to explain that his own personal interest in the story lies in the scientific possibility of actually traveling through time for research purposes. He has even built a real time machine, but is hesitant to use it, citing the "effects on future generations not yet shaped. It could be dangerous." The Master of Time urges him to "take the journey you've always dreamed of", adding that sometimes
14628-462: The rearing of dragons. The Zuo zhuan , which was probably written during the Warring States period , describes a man named Dongfu, a descendant of Yangshu'an, who loved dragons and, because he could understand a dragon's will, he was able to tame them and raise them well. He served Emperor Shun, who gave him the family name Huanlong, meaning "dragon-raiser". In another story, Kong Jia ,
14766-628: The rest of the cast. EFX was originally created by Gary Goddard and Tony Christopher , with additional material and dialogue provided by Michael Crawford and Bruce Vilanch , respectively. The show was directed by Scott Faris and Anthony van Laast, who also provided the choreography, and Theoni V. Aldredge provided the costumes. The original music was composed by Don Grady , Ted King, Gary Goddard, Andy Belling, B. A. Robertson , and Michael Crawford, and featured lyrics by Doug Brayfield, Ted King, Gary Goddard, Andy Belling, Marty Panzer , and B. A. Robertson. Composer John Barry 's theme from
14904-452: The rest up the mountains. To this day, Vietnamese people often describe themselves as "Children of the dragon, grandchildren of the fairy" ( Con rồng cháu tiên ). In the Rigveda , the oldest of the four Vedas , Indra , the Vedic god of storms, battles Vṛtra , a giant serpent who represents drought. Indra kills Vṛtra using his vajra (thunderbolt) and clears the path for rain, which
15042-414: The ringmaster Barnum. This act of the show is the one that was the most re-written. It originally featured a long, innuendo-laced solo-stand-up act by Barnum that included a mind-reading trick involving playing cards and audience participation, an evade-the-blade stunt with the ill-fated Martian Mingo-Sniffer named Muffy, and a juggling act using the cannonballs of Bull Run. The card trick was quickly cut from
15180-457: The risks are worth it. Wells agrees, and uses the time machine to enter the far-distant future, an effect achieved through a 3D music video projected onto a scrim during the scene change. Wells arrives in a beautiful garden to find that the surviving human population has been enslaved by a race of reptilian-like creatures, the Morlocks , who force the humans to work underground. The Morlocks steal
15318-467: The same meal again. Since Liulei had no means of procuring more dragon meat, he fled the palace. One of the most famous dragon stories is about the Lord Ye Gao, who loved dragons obsessively, even though he had never seen one. He decorated his whole house with dragon motifs and, seeing this display of admiration, a real dragon came and visited Ye Gao, but the lord was so terrified at the sight of
15456-457: The seventh century BC by the Boeotian poet Hesiod , the Greek god Zeus battles the monster Typhon , who has one hundred serpent heads that breathe fire and make many frightening animal noises. Zeus scorches all of Typhon's heads with his lightning bolts and then hurls Typhon into Tartarus . In other Greek sources, Typhon is often depicted as a winged, fire-breathing serpent-like dragon. In
15594-404: The show's original loose and free-flowing story line, Cassidy asked for a major overhaul. Bill Wray was brought in to refine and replace music, and writer David Chisholm and Cassidy's half-brother Shaun Cassidy were brought in to reconstruct the libretto (the book) together with Cassidy. The plot was rewritten and about half of the original songs were either cut or replaced. The original plot from
15732-479: The show, along with scenes that featured dancer Andy Pellick and the Flying Kaganovich, a trapeze troupe that had joined the Barnum ensemble in 1996. Sal Salangsang's role was said to have been expanded, though no further details were given. Paul May and Kevan Patriquin shared the role of lead understudy to Rick Springfield. Paul stayed on as a lead understudy until he left the production for other projects
15870-491: The show, and Bull Run was reworked to become part of a human cannonball stunt, which gets botched up nicely by Vladimir. Barnum was also supposed to dance the entire Irish jig with the cast, but a hip injury sustained during one of the many stunts left Michael Crawford unable to dance for long, and the number was re-staged to feature just the ensemble performing the jig while Barnum tries in vain to catch Vladimir in an effort to stop his assistant from upstaging him. After leaving
16008-467: The show, two of the Masters left to pursue other jobs. Rick Stockwell was replaced as the Master of Time by Saif Eddin and Jeffrey Polk was replaced as the Master of Magic by Sheldon Craig. During the time Michael Crawford left the show, the four masters, who were the official understudies for the lead to be split into four acts took over for the first few days while it was being decided if Mr. Crawford would return. Kevin Koelbl (Master of Spirits) took over
16146-477: The song "River in Time", and dancer Andy Pellick. Original cast member Tina Walsh returned to reprise her roles as Morgana and Bess Houdini, and her re-casting led to the song "Tonight" being added back into the Houdini act of the show. Sal Salangsang stayed on to perform the pre-show, and at Tommy Tune's insistence, was formally recognized as a cast member during the curtain call. Paul May continued to understudy all
16284-480: The spirit world, David becomes Harry Houdini. He fails to find Laura, but Houdini and his wife Bess are briefly reunited and relive some of his greatest escapes before he has to perform one more daring feat: escaping from the spirit world before the Master of Spirits traps him there for all eternity. Houdini escapes, and now remembering what it's like to love, continues his quest for Laura. The final part of David's journey requires him to travel through time. After having
16422-545: The time machine while Wells befriends one of the female slaves who managed to escape. Together, Wells and the slave girl enter the caves to free the other slaves and take back the time machine. After successfully defeating the Morlocks, the slave girl tries to persuade Wells into taking her back with him. He refuses and she kisses him. Moved by the kiss, and an earthquake, Wells agrees to let the slave girl join him, and together they travel back to his own time. The EFX Master then appears one final time, this time as himself, and with
16560-585: The time. Crawford jumped at the opportunity to showcase his talents, and the result was his being cast as all five of the show's main characters, which included Crawford revisiting the role of P.T. Barnum, a role he originated in the West End production of the Cy Coleman musical Barnum . Tina Walsh and Kevin Koelbl doubled-up on a few supporting roles, while Jeffrey Polk, Stewart Daylida, Rick Stockwell, Lisa Geist, and over seventy ensemble members rounded out
16698-441: The title EFX . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=EFX&oldid=1255341732 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages EFX (show) EFX
16836-412: The track "Nexus", Ginny Grady duets with Crawford on the reprise of "The Magic That Surrounds You", and Tina Walsh provides vocals on the track "Tonight". The CD also features two instrumentals, "Morgana's Arrival" and "The Jig". "Somewhere in Time" and "Open Your Eyes" were bonus tracks that were used as pre- and-post-show music, respectively, during Crawford's run in the show. Due to the intensity of
16974-543: The two words were probably interchangeable. Hesiod also mentions that the hero Heracles slew the Lernaean Hydra , a multiple-headed serpent which dwelt in the swamps of Lerna . The name "Hydra" means "water snake" in Greek. According to the Bibliotheka of Pseudo-Apollodorus, the slaying of the Hydra was the second of the Twelve Labors of Heracles . Accounts disagree on which weapon Heracles used to slay
17112-472: The undersea palace of the Dragon King (용왕), are common in Korean folklore. In Korean myths, some kings who founded kingdoms were described as descendants of dragons because the dragon was a symbol of the monarch. Lady Aryeong , who was the first queen of Silla , is said to have been born from a cockatrice , while the grandmother of Taejo of Goryeo , founder of Goryeo , was reportedly the daughter of
17250-480: The universal order: בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִפְקֹד יְהוָה בְּחַרְבּוֹ הַקָּשָׁה וְהַגְּדוֹלָה וְהַחֲזָקָה, עַל לִוְיָתָן נָחָשׁ בָּרִחַ, וְעַל לִוְיָתָן, נָחָשׁ עֲקַלָּתוֹן; וְהָרַג אֶת-הַתַּנִּין, אֲשֶׁר בַּיָּם In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent — Leviathan the coiling serpent — and He will slay the dragon of the sea. Job 41:1–34 contains
17388-540: The videos have subsequently been deleted due to copyright claims. Two audio recordings of the entire show, one of the March 23 opening night performance with Crawford and another with the 1996 post-Crawford/pre-Cassidy cast, circulated in Germany. These are the only complete recordings of the show that are known to exist. EFX continued without Michael Crawford and while David Cassidy was in rehearsals to take over. Most of
17526-468: The youngest, who the dragon licked on the back and named Jiu Long, meaning "sitting back". The sons later elected him king and the descendants of the ten sons became the Ailaoyi people, who tattooed dragons on their backs in honor of their ancestor. The Miao people of southwest China have a story that a divine dragon created the first humans by breathing on monkeys that came to play in his cave. The Han people have many stories about Short-Tailed Old Li,
17664-463: Was a Las Vegas Strip production show residing at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino which opened on March 23, 1995 and closed on December 31, 2002. When it premiered, it was the most expensive and largest-scaled theater installation in the world. A significant entertainment landmark of the strip for nearly eight years, it was known for changing its headline star every two years. Performers in
17802-464: Was a complete DVD video of EFX Alive! (compiling footage from multiple performances) released exclusively by Springfield's Gomer Records as part of a three-disc limited edition of his 2005 studio album, The Day After Yesterday and available only through the official Rick Springfield merchandise site. An original cast album of the Springfield version of EFX was not released. You have to have
17940-499: Was better suited to David Cassidy's musical style. The new music was written by Bill Wray, David Cassidy, Andrew Gold , Sue Shifrin, and One Spirit. "Tonight" was cut from performances because Cassidy felt it was "too sad" for the audiences to handle. It was included on the cast album as a bonus track; however, it was erroneously labeled as having been "inspired by the Houdini Scene in EFX " instead of being credited as part of
18078-612: Was conceived as some form of dragoness. In the mythologies of the Ugarit region, specifically the Baal Cycle from the Ugaritic texts , the sea-dragon Lōtanu is described as "the twisting serpent / the powerful one with seven heads." In KTU 1.5 I 2–3, Lōtanu is slain by the storm-god Baal , but, in KTU 1.3 III 41–42, he is instead slain by the virgin warrior goddess Anat . In
18216-405: Was cut almost completely. All that remained of the character was a giant projection of his face that appeared briefly at the beginning of the show. The Masters of Magic, Laughter, Spirit, and Time became the main characters of the world of EFX, and are responsible for leading the audience through the show. The lead role written for Cassidy was that of a bus boy who's brought into the world of EFX by
18354-405: Was cut and replaced with a group ensemble number that featured a tumbling troupe and later, a flying trapeze act from Russia. Other changes included the addition of 1930s-style radio voice-over commentary (recorded by Stewart Daylida) that played during the Houdini scene, the editing down of the music in the finale, and cutting the pre- and-post-show music all together. Around the second year of
18492-542: Was often used as a deity symbol and was associated with royalty. Similar to other cultures, dragons in Vietnamese culture represent yang and godly beings associated with creation and life. In the creation myth of the Vietnamese people , they are descended from the dragon lord Lạc Long Quân and the fairy Âu Cơ , who bore 100 eggs. When they separated, Lạc Long Quân brought 50 children to the sea while Âu Cơ brought
18630-465: Was once again rewritten, this time to better suit Tommy's performance style, most particularly his dancing. The 1999 plot was a somewhat more serious show than the David Cassidy version; however, it still retained some of the humor that had been introduced by Cassidy. There was also an emphasis on dreams, with the line "Wake up and dream!" becoming the unofficial slogan. The Tommy Tune version of
18768-586: Was released in 1995 on the Atlantic Theatre label, which was a division of the Atlantic label that Crawford held a record deal with at the time. To date, this version of the cast album is the only EFX cast album to receive a general release. Subsequent albums were only available through the EFX gift shop. The recording features Michael Crawford on lead vocals. Jeffrey Polk, Kevin Koelbl, Rick Stockwell, and Stewart Daylida provide brief solo vocals on
18906-531: Was the "Many-Faced", a serpent with five heads, who, according to the Amduat , the oldest surviving Book of the Afterlife , was said to coil around the corpse of the sun god Ra protectively. The earliest surviving depiction of a "true" ouroboros comes from the gilded shrines in the tomb of Tutankhamun . In the early centuries AD, the ouroboros was adopted as a symbol by Gnostic Christians and chapter 136 of
19044-618: Was the only one permitted to have dragons on his house, clothing, or personal articles. Archaeologist Zhōu Chong-Fa believes that the Chinese word for dragon is an onomatopoeia of the sound of thunder or lùhng in Cantonese . The Chinese dragon ( simplified Chinese : 龙 ; traditional Chinese : 龍 ; pinyin : lóng ) is the highest-ranking creature in the Chinese animal hierarchy. Its origins are vague, but its "ancestors can be found on Neolithic pottery as well as Bronze Age ritual vessels." A number of popular stories deal with
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