From the Magic of Lyn to the High-Voltage of Deni

2018 has been described as “the Year of the Woman.” In celebration, the Rosen Performing Arts Center, located in the YMCA, One Pike Drive, Wayne, New Jersey, kicks off and then ends its Eight Summer Concert Series with women who have earned their fame in professions known only for its male stars. Lyn Dillies, who opens the series on Thursday, July 12 at 7:00 PM is the first female illusionist in history to receive the prestigious Milbourne Christopher Academy of Magic Award from the Society of American Magicians (past recipients have included David Copperfield, Penn and Teller and Siegfried and Roy), and the Merlin Award for Female Illusionist of the Year from the International Magician’s Society. Eight weeks later, on August 30, Deni Bonet, leads a troupe of musicians with her ultra-high-voltage performance on violin.

Lyn was the first illusionist ever to make two live Asian elephants appear, to produce a DVD which empowers children to perform their own magic, to create a magic show that promotes the importance of voting in a democracy, and to create a program that sets some of the most breathtaking illusions against the beauty and drama of symphonic classics. As Lyn says, “Magic has been my vehicle to not only entertain, but also inspire lives and make a difference. It’s what I was born to do.”

To watch the show-stopping Magic of Lyn, it’s hard to believe she was once a painfully shy little girl, but it’s true. It wasn’t until Bill Bixby came along as TV’s The Magician that Lyn’s life was changed forever. She may have only been 12, but there was no questioning her destiny to become not only a first-rate female illusionist, but undeniably one of the finest, most-respected illusionists in the world.

She’ll be making things appear and disappear at the Rosen PAC in the YMCA on Thursday, July 12 at 7:00 PM. Ticket holders will be entitled to a free ice cream float celebration in the Y’s atrium beginning at 5:45 pm. Tickets are $16, but if one buys tickets to the entire Y Summer Concert Series, the cost is $100 for all eight shows, a savings of $28. Subsequent shows, all on Thursday nights at 7, include tributes to such greats as Cole Porter, Judy Garland, Fred and Ginger, the Bee Gees, the Stones, and Peter, Paul and Mary, plus the comedy of Ross Bennett.

The series ends on August 30 with another woman who broke the mold. Singer, Deni Bonet, can also rock a violin. Her style of sheer, genre-defying brilliance, earned her a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall, a performance at the White House for President Obama, tours with Cyndi Lauper, and recordings with R.E.M. and Sarah McLachlan. She’s a “whirling dervish with the exciting looks and edgy musicality of a rock star.”

Celebrate the Year of the Woman and the Rosen PAC’s 2018 Summer Concert Series at One Pike Drive, Wayne, New Jersey. For more information, call 973-595-0100 or log on to www.MetroYMCAS.org/ROSENPAC.