Jared Zirilli Will Lead Industry Showcase Of THE UNWITTING MAGICIAN
Playwright Jeremy Dobrish's script-free concept has the actor open a sealed envelope live on stage.
What happens when an accomplished Broadway actor walks onto a stage, opens a sealed envelope and discovers-along with the audience-the show he is about to perform?
On Friday, September 25, 2026 at 2:00 PM, Broadway, television and film actor Jared Zirilli will take the stage at The Laurie Beechman Theatre for a special industry showcase of The Unwitting Magician, an innovative theatrical experience created by playwright and director Jeremy Dobrish.
Part play, part magic show and part theatrical experiment, The Unwitting Magician turns one of theatre's most fundamental conventions upside down: the actor has never seen the script before the performance begins.
A lone performer enters a bare stage armed with little more than a music stand and a sealed manila envelope. Inside is a script whose contents are a complete mystery to the actor.
As the performer reads it for the first-and only-time, the script begins taking them, and the audience, through a series of unexpected theatrical turns, impossible feats and playful surprises.
Who is actually in control: the actor, the script...or something else entirely?
And because each actor performs the piece only once, no two performances can ever truly be the same.
For the New York industry presentation, that challenge belongs to Jared Zirilli, whose career spans Broadway, television, film, national tours and major regional theatres across the country.
Zirilli most recently appeared in a recurring role on Hulu's Wu-Tang: An American Saga and played George Washington in Jay Craven's war drama Lost Nation. On Broadway, he originated the role of Bruce Sudano in SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical and appeared in Lysistrata Jones. His national touring credits include Wicked and We Will Rock You.
His extensive New York and regional credits include the world premieres of Michael John LaChiusa's RAIN at The Old Globe and Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, as well as Glory Ride, A Few Good Men, The Full Monty, AIDA, RENT, The Light in the Piazza, Beaches, Pretty Filthy and The Jerusalem Syndrome.
Zirilli has also participated in developmental readings of numerous high-profile projects, including New York, New Yorkdirected by Susan Stroman, The Cher Show, Clueless, 50 First Dates directed by Casey Nicholaw, Vanity Fair, Pride & Prejudice and Twilight: The Musical. His television credits include Law & Order: SVU, Blue Bloods, Blindspot and Pan Am.
Created by Jeremy Dobrish, The Unwitting Magician deliberately blurs the lines between scripted theatre, magic, mentalism and spontaneous performance.
Dobrish is a director, playwright and artistic leader whose work has been seen at Second Stage, MCC, Joe's Pub, The Old Globe, Barrington Stage, North Shore Music Theatre, The O'Neill, New York Stage and Film, Goodspeed and Village Theatre, among others. His productions have received multiple Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominations. He is a nine-time published playwright and the founder of Adobe Theatre Company and co-founder of Midtown Direct Rep.
At its center, The Unwitting Magician explores something elemental about live theatre: the relationship between performer, audience and the unknown.
The result is an experience that cannot simply be recreated night after night. Each performance becomes a singular event shared by one actor and one audience-and then it is gone.
The September 25 presentation offers members of the New York theatrical community an opportunity to experience the piece firsthand and explore its potential for future productions, presenters and venues.
RSVP at Unwittingmagicianshow@gmail.com.
