Chicago’s about to pull a serious rabbit out of its hat. The city’s newest magic venue, The Hand & The Eye , will open next spring inside the storied McCormick Mansion, a Gilded Age landmark that’s hosted everything from a puppet theater to Lawry’s The Prime Rib. Now, the 36,000-square-foot estate on Ontario and Rush Streets is being transformed into what’s billed as the world’s most dazzling home for modern magic .

Designed by Rockwell Group—the firm behind some of Broadway’s most imaginative sets—the reimagined mansion will house seven performance spaces, secret passages and more than a few architectural tricks up its velvet sleeves. Founder David Rockwell, a Chicago native and lifelong magic fan, says the project was personal. “We wanted this to feel like a love letter to the c

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