Enchanted evenings: Chase and Kaileigh Hasty cast a spell with their new show, ‘That’s Magic,’ at the GSR

I consider myself a sensible, pragmatic person. I’ve even been called cynical—certainly not someone you’d ever call “full of childlike wonder.” But I confess that when it comes to magic, I turn into a little kid, with wide eyes and a gaping mouth, absolutely convinced magic must be real.

Even though I was seated in the front row at That’s Magic, the brand-new production entering its yearlong run at Grand Sierra Resort’s new The White Rabbit Theater & Lounge, magician Chase Hasty and his wife, dancer and assistant Kaileigh, had me completely under their spell. Even from my vantage point literally below them, I caught no slip-ups, no wires or mirrors. Perhaps, as the show’s title (and frequent refrain) proclaims, that’s … magic?

Chase shares during the show, and reinforced in an interview with me, that he took up magic at the tender age of 5, when he received a magic kit for Christmas. After he absorbed all the lessons he could from the kit, his parents found him a mentor two hours from home, making the commute for the sake of their son’s magical tutelage.

“I grew up in a small town of about 4,000 in Nebraska, and by the time I was 9 or 10, people started asking me to do shows at, like, the chamber of commerce Christmas party,” he said, adding that it also helped to join a local magic club and devour books and YouTube videos on the subject. Eventually, he went on to study at the famous Chavez Studio of Magic, College of Manual Dexterity and Prestidigitation, the California school for sleight of hand, established in 1941 by Marion Chavez and a training ground for such famous magicians as Doug Henning, Lance Burton and David Copperfield.

Ready to wow audiences, Chase sought out performing opportunities and found one in Guam, at a long-running magic theater where beloved Reno performers Mark Kalin and Jinger Leigh met and got their start. Here Chase met Kaileigh, a dancer from Kennewick, Wash., who had received a bachelor’s in dance performance and choreography from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her first professional contract had been with a magic show in Branson, Mo. “I did more of a ballet number and handed the magician things on and off stage, but I figured I’d probably never be involved in magic again,” she recalled. “Then I had an opportunity to move to Guam for a big production, which just happened to be a magic show.”

She met Chase during a levitation rehearsal, on the day of their grand opening in 2019, she said. They got engaged in 2020, but the pandemic brought an untimely end to the production. The couple packed up and moved to Las Vegas.

“We knew if entertainment was going to come back, it would happen in Vegas first,” Chase said.

Indeed, it did come back, and the couple found opportunities there and, later, at The Loft Restaurant/Lounge in Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe. When The Loft’s owners made the investment in the old movie theater space at Reno’s Grand Sierra Resort, to create space for bigger-scale performances, the Hastys became its headliners, launching the theater in early May with That’s Magic.

The all-ages show primarily features illusions and sleights of hand—impressive card tricks, the sword box trick, and even a nifty bit of levitation with a volunteer from the audience—interspersed with comedy and storytelling by the pair and some visually stunning dance numbers from Kaileigh and two other dancers, as well as a remarkable aerial number by Kaileigh. As the chief magician, Chase has such a wholesome, boy-next-door, kid-like approachability and earnest desire to delight audiences that it’s somehow even more impressive when he does so—handily. Meanwhile, Kaileigh’s lithe frame and gorgeous smile make her physical work beguiling to watch, yet she also pulls off a comedic performance (in her very own “magic trick”) that’s every bit as enjoyable. For those of you just champing at the bit to grab the spotlight, the show offers plenty of opportunities for eager volunteers, including little ones, to partake in illusions.

New to the repertoire is the duo’s 18-and-up show, Nocturnal, running Friday and Saturday nights at 9 p.m., after That’s Magic.

“The humor is different. As you may have noticed, we don’t go off-color [in That’s Magic], I don’t cuss,” Chase explained. “I don’t get political. I just want everyone to see something entertaining.”

With Nocturnal, it’s just more unfiltered,” Kaileigh added. “The style of costuming is a little more burlesque-y. But no nudity; it’s tastefully adult.”

They say the shows are still evolving and, hopefully, will expand with time. They are on contract with the theater for a year, leaving plenty of room for new elements to enter during that time. “So far it’s been good … and stressful,” Kaileigh said about mounting a show of this scale. “But hopefully word of mouth will catch on. We’re very excited!”

Meanwhile, I’ll be over here still trying to figure out how that levitation trick works.

Kaileigh and Chase Hasty are performing That’s Magic!, an all ages-show, nightly at 7 p.m. and Nocturnal, for audience members 18 and over, on Fridays and Saturdays at 9 p.m. in the The White Rabbit Theater & Lounge at the Grand Sierra Resort, 2500 E. Second St., in Reno. Tickets are $25. For tickets and information, visit www.thewhiterabbittheater.com.