‘Crammed with carnival atmosphere, colourful costumes and larger-than-life characters’
Lee Mead as P.T. Barnum(Image: Pamela Raith)
Roll up, roll up, for what must be one of the most colourful spectacles ever to grace the stage of Hull New Theatre. Barnum is in town.
“The Circus Musical” is a dazzling, in-your-face show, with West End favourite and TV star Lee Mead leading the cast as the legendary American showman Phineas Taylor – P.T. – Barnum. He is joined by more than 20 performers, showcasing stunning acrobatic and circus skills, wonderful singing voices and, the biggest surprise for me, amazing musicianship.
What I was expecting was a score of circus-style music to accompany the “big top” feel of the show. What I had not bargained for was that the sounds, rather than coming from the orchestra pit, came courtesy of the actor-musicians themselves, deftly and sweetly providing the musical accompaniments on more than 150 instruments while making it all part of the story.
A multi-talented cast indeed. The world of P.T. Barnum is one where imagination and ambition know no bounds and, hand in hand with wife Charity, Barnum’s life and career twist and turn as he schemes and dreams his way to headier heights.
I am (more than) old enough to recall the time when Barnum first took the UK by storm, in the 1980s, playing the London Palladium, with Michael Crawford making theatrical history with a death-defying nightly tightrope walk across the stage. I did not see it, but my parents did, and were in awe and spoke of it for a long time afterwards.
The thought did occur to me, as I was waiting for the house lights to go down, whether I would get to witness a similar feat last night. I, like the rest of the audience, was holding my breath as Mead did indeed climb up and step into Barnum’s tightrope-walking shoes – an incredible moment in the spotlight.
This is a show where your eyes need to be all over the place at once. Train them on the main subject of a scene and you might miss the captivating display going on in an aerial hoop high above the stage.
For the most part, the scenes are busy, crammed with carnival atmosphere, colourful costumes and larger-than-life characters (with the exception of General Tom Thumb, perhaps), but do not under-estimate the big impact all the cast have in portraying life in a travelling circus. Other scenes are quieter and tender and a flipside to the fast-paced, full-on nature of the rest.
Mead, who shot to stardom with his breakout win on Any Dream Will Do and acclaimed performances in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Wicked, and Legally Blonde, portrays Barnum beautifully. Monique Young, as Charity Barnum, is a strong and believable character with great vocals.
Penny Ashmore, as “Swedish nightingale” Jenny Lind, is a songbird for whom some of the loudest applause was reserved during the evening. The spectacular production is directed by Jonathan O’Boyle and choreographed by Oti Mabuse, of Strictly Come Dancing fame.
It features an extraordinary ensemble of performers who pack the show, based on Mark Bramble’s book, with the glorious music of multi-award-winner Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart’s lyrics. You are bound to come out humming at least one of the classic show tunes, with Join the Circus, Colours of My Life, Come Follow the Band and Love Makes Such Fools of Us All, in the heady mix.
Hull New Theatre wishes audiences to know that the production includes smoke, haze, gunshots, fire, loud noises, flashing lights, moments of darkness, balloons and clowns, and contains depictions of racism, slavery and the exploitation of human and animal performers in the 19th century entertainment industry. Barnum – The Circus Musical is running until Saturday, June 6.