The idea of Siegfried & Roy performing again is more than just an illusion.
The former Las Vegas fixtures, whose decade-long residency at the Mirage abruptly ceased four and a half years ago when Roy Horn was mauled by one of their famed white tigers, will return to the stage next year for a one-night engagement benefiting the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute's Keep Memory Alive foundation.
The organization, which funds research and education efforts focusing on brain-centered illnesses, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's disease, aka ALS.
Horn and Siegfried Fischbacher announced their comeback Saturday at the institute's 12th annual Alzheimer's benefit at the MGM Grand Garden.
Siegfried & Roy's publicist, Dave Kirvin, said the German-born pair are currently working out the details and he would be "very surprised if animals were not part of the performance."
It will be the duo's first performance since the night of Oct. 3, 2003, when, according to the illusionists' telling of the story, Horn fell down onstage and a young tiger named Montecore, thinking its master was in trouble, bit into his neck and tried to drag him offstage in an attempt to save him.
A stagehand jumped into the fray and sprayed the two with a fire extinguisher to separate them.
Horn lost a lot of blood and eventually underwent surgery to relieve pressure in his brain. It was touch and go for some time before he embarked on the long road to recovery—physical therapy is still on the daily agenda—and, as it turned out, retirement.
Cirque du Soleil's Beatles-themed extravaganza Love occupies the completely refashioned theater where Siegfried & Roy worked their magic for 13 years.
"The stage is my life. It took some adjustment. I was really not ready for it," Fischbacher told the Las Vegas Review Journal in December.
But Horn's recovery "cheers me up," he said. "All the doctors say what he's doing now is impossible. I've always said, 'I am the magician and Roy is the magic.' And Roy shows me every day the magic—the magic of life."
Horn, who said that he still hangs out with Montecore, his "lifesaver," would only offer a teaser when asked about the possibility of a return to live performing.
"A good magician never lets the cat out of the bag," he said. "Act surprised when you hear about it."