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Theatre of Magic is a pinball machine designed by John Popadiuk, produced by Midway (under the Bally brand name). The player assumes the role of a novice magician who must develop their skills by exploring the titular theatre and performing an assortment of stage illusions.

Description

The game presents four primary objectives, each of which must be completed in order to qualify for the "Grand Finale" wizard mode.

• Theatre: Spell THEATRE by shooting the left outer loop (one letter per shot). Doing so begins a short countdown, in which a shot to the Magic Trunk scores a bonus. The value can be increased by hitting the jet bumpers.
• Multiball: Shoot the ramps to spell MAGIC (one letter per shot), then lock two balls by shooting the inner loop and hit the Magic Trunk to begin Theatre Multiball. This is a three-ball mode in which jackpots are lit by hitting the Magic Trunk a set number of times, then collected by hitting it once more. The jackpot can be increased by making lit shots; in addition, a shot to the Magic Trunk within the first five seconds scores 100 million.
• Midnight Madness: Repeated shots to the right outer loop advance the clock one hour at a time, starting from noon. Once it reaches midnight, the Midnight Madness round begins, with the clock running backwards and shots to the Magic Trunk awarding points based on the hour it shows. The clock can also be advanced with a skill shot or as a random award for sending the ball into the basement when the Trapdoor is open.
• Illusions: Hit the Magic Trunk three times to rotate it, then shoot a ball into its hole to start one of the following eight modes.
  • Tiger Saw — Hit the captive ball for various animations of a tiger cutting apart items with a circular saw.
  • Levitating Woman — Shoot the center ramp for increasing millions.
  • Trunk Escape — Shoot the Magic Trunk four times to break the chains of a locked trunk.
  • Spirit Cards — Shoot the inner loops/spinner to award increasing points per spin.
  • Safe Escape — Shoot the inner loops three times to unlock the safe.
  • Metamorphosis — Shoot the right ramp to transform the assistant to various animals and score increasing millions.
  • Strait Jacket — Hit the jet bumpers repeatedly to undo a buckle and escape a straitjacket as spiked walls close in.
  • Hat Magic — Shoot the Magic Trunk to see different items being produced from a hat.

Once all four objectives have been completed, the player can start Grand Finale by shooting either inner loop. The goal is to make 12 ramp, loop, or trunk shots within 60 seconds in order to spell MAGIC THEATRE; each shot awards 50 million, with a bonus of 500 million for completing the mode.

If the ball falls into the lock hole behind the Magic Trunk due to a weak inner loop shot before MAGIC has been completed, the player is credited with a "Secret Ball Lock" toward Theatre Multiball and any remaining letters are automatically lit to enable the next lock.

Repeated hits to a captive ball on the left side of the playfield enable a "Vanish Lock" on the left outer loop. Once the player has locked a ball here, the right outer loop can be shot to begin Tiger Saw Multiball, a two-ball mode in which hits to the captive ball award increasing points. If the player shoots the Vanish Lock and then begins Theatre Multiball, a total of four balls are put into play.

Two "Hocus Pocus" standup targets are located on the left edge of the playfield. Hitting either target activates a pair of magnetic ball savers, one at the top of each outlane. They remain active for 15 seconds or until a ball starts to drain, whichever occurs first, and will shift the ball back into the inlane when triggered.

The game uses the DCS Sound System.

Digital versions

Theatre of Magic is available as a licensed table of Pinball FX 3. It was formerly available as a licensed table of The Pinball Arcade until June 30, 2018 due to WMS license expiration. Unlicensed reproductions of this table are available for Visual Pinball for Windows.

References

1. Internet Pinball Database: Theatre of Magic

External links

• Theatre of Magic at the Internet Pinball Database
• Pinball Archive rule sheet

• 1995 pinball machines
• Bally pinball machines