Posted: 9:51 AM- What does magic have to do with Mozart and Mussorgsky? Enough, it turns out, to entertain a good-sized crowd in Abravanel Hall. From the opening moments of Friday's concert, when guest Lyn Dillies produced Utah Symphony assistant conductor David Cho out of thin air, to her final elaborate switcheroo with assistant Marc LeBlanc, the affable illusionist had the crowd applauding her every move.

Does playing backup to a magician diminish the Utah Symphony in some way? It's a fair question, but frankly, considering the phoned-in performances by a few Pops Series guests in the past, the orchestra could do a lot worse. Dillies smoothly choreographed her illusions and tricks to the light classical selections, making them seem like more than mere background music.

She was ably abetted by LeBlanc, who good-naturedly submitted to a head-spinning routine that Dillies dedicated to "all the female assistants who have been squished, smooshed, sliced and diced" throughout magical history - set to the suspense-ratcheting strains of Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King." Later, during an "origami" trick set to Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain," LeBlanc stepped into an ever-shrinking box that Dillies then pierced with three swords. (LeBlanc turned the tables on his boss when he appeared to poke light bulbs through her during a routine called "The Window.")

A volunteer named Stefan - one of hundreds of children in the audience - nearly stole the show when Dillies asked if he'd ever had ESP. "Well, I've had parent-teacher conference [sometimes known as SEP] twice," the boy replied, before assisting in another sleight-of-hand routine.

Cho also got in on the fun, showing off a trick of his own just before the grand finale. First, though, he led the orchestra in a handful of magic-themed selections that most listeners know by tune, if not by title, including Rossini's Overture to "La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie)," a sample of John Williams' "Harry Potter" music, and Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette," famously appropriated by Alfred Hitchcock.

creese@sltrib.com or 801-257-8616.

Review: Utah Symphony with Magician Lyn Dillies.

WHERE: Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City.

WHEN: reviewed Friday; repeats Saturday, Nov. 17, at 8.

TICKETS: $20 to $50 at 801-355-ARTS, the box office or www.arttix.org; student and group discounts, 801-533-NOTE.

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour, 40 minutes, including intermission.

BOTTOM LINE: The orchestra teams up with illusionist Dillies for a night of musical magic and fun.