Cirque - The Greatest Show - Where circus meets musical theatre

What a great concept! Mixing musical theatre and circus, Cirque - The Greatest Show is touring Britain's theatres next year from 15 January to 9 December. And tickets are going fast. The first Aberdeen date at the P&J arena sold out within two hours of going on sale. A second show at the same venue sold out in a week and a third show has been added!

The producers are Canvey Island-based Entertainers, Britain's biggest producer of tribute shows including The Magic of Motown and 80s Live.

 

BIG APPLE CIRCUS REVIEW 'DREAM BIG'

Big Apple star Gena Cristiani

And so we head across the Atlantic - on YouTube Airlines - to the city so good they named it twice for a visit to the Big Apple Circus.

America's most fearlessly honest big top watcher, Showbiz David, was unimpressed with this 45th year production. Read his review, here. But he also hoped to see some other write-ups that might offer a different perspective, so I thought I'd give it a spin.

For a show titled Dream Big that stars one of the biggest names in circus, Grand Canyon-crossing wire-walker Nik Wallenda, this edition of New York's favourite circus has a decidedly 'small' feel - and not in the cosy, intimate sense. A procession of solo acts presented with little window dressing gives the proceedings a low budget look. 

Apart from a nice cylindrical curtain that encloses the ring before the show, there's no production to speak of. No special effects, dancers, glitz, spectacle or razzmatazz. 

Strangely, the show does open with a pleasing vignette that features all the performers in a kind of storybook or childhood dream setting. I say strangely, because the scene suggests we might be in for a story or a show with a theme. The strange thing, however, is that after that single scene, the director seems to have stopped directing the show. The artists simply come on, do their bit and go off, with nothing to connect them.

The short video messages with which the performers introduce themselves is a pleasant touch, but even that looks a little homely and amateur talent show-like. And given that this show runs over the Christmas period, where is the falling snow, balloons, Xmas decorations or even Christmas songs? Surely Christmas in New York is supposed to be a big deal, isn't it?

The acts themselves are fine. I enjoyed the juggling routine of Gena Cristiani (pictured above), a local girl from Queens, and especially her diabolo tricks with a couple of hats. I was also thoroughly entertained by a razor-blade-swallowing performer from Japan (whose name is sadly absent from the Big Apple's website). He also swallows and regurgitates a very long inflated balloon. Pulling out the razor blades on a long string is an old trick, but one with such a wince-inducing quality that it's always hard not to be engrossed.

There is also a cute act with small dogs, although in the current climate it may not be to everyone's taste. Speaking as someone who has often championed tigers and elephants in the big top, I'm surprised to find myself typing this, but I didn't find the sight of the little mutts walking on their back legs very endearing and in fact ever so slightly... distasteful? Blimey. Next, I'll be joining Peta. Just kidding, but maybe my tastes in circus are changing. Either that, or something about this particular act in this particular show didn't do the trick for me.

Perhaps I'd like to see a show that's full on with sawdust, horses, snarling beasts and polar bears sliding down chutes, or one that's all glossy and all-human. All or nothing, in other words. One thing or the other. This one seemed to fall between two stools with the little dog act - a relic from a glorious animal-heavy past - just making the programme look small, tawdry and old fashioned. 

Circus is all about tradition, but also eternal renewal. It shouldn't look like a tired shadow of its past, but a bold, bright, startling thing of today and tomorrow.

Headline clown Johnny Rockett (pictured left) gets a lot of ring time throughout the show, playing off of a diminutive ringmaster. Not everything he does made me laugh, but the kids in the tent absolutely lapped him up, and that's probably the main thing.

My favourite part of the show found Rockett swaying about on top of a rubber lamppost right in the middle of the audience. That's the sort of funny-scary up-close antics that circus excels in.

It's a rare circus that doesn't deliver at least one knockout blow and Rockett on the lamppost was the golden moment for me.

Nik Wallenda's high-wire troupe provide a solid finale, if not a particularly exciting one. To be fair, it's not the sort of act that translates well to watching on a screen. You have to be there, to see the height and feel the peril. The same is true of a lofty hand-balancing act elsewhere on the bill. But, that said, I have seen more entertaining work on the wire this year, namely by Henry the Clown at Circus Extreme. Read my review of that show here.

Over all, I have to agree with Showbiz David that this is a mediocre show. There's nothing wrong with the individual acts. But it looks nothing like a must-see attraction for visitors to New York this Christmas. And as one of America's most famous circuses, it really should do, shouldn't it?

Nik Wallenda and cast

For a behind-the-scenes journey through the contemporary circus scene, with reviews of circuses of all types, both traditional and modern, plus interviews with big top owners and performers from clowns and sword-swallowers to trapeze artists and tiger trainers, read Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book for Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus!

Click here to read the 5-star reviews on Amazon.

 

35 Years of Circus Starr - The Circus with a Purpose

Happy 35th birthday to Circus Starr, the circus that gives away all its seats to deserving children and their families, thanks to the generosity of the businesses that support it.

Above is a picture of the office team that make it possible.

And here, in an article that originally appeared in The Stage, is the story of how Britain's most charitable circus came into being.

There’s nothing like the atmosphere of a circus tent filled to capacity with excited kids. In the ring is a high calibre cast of international acrobats and clowns. But the 500-seat Circus Starr big top wasn’t sold-out by the traditional methods of a poster campaign or parade. In each of the towns on its annual 75-date tour, the tickets were bought by local businesses then donated to disadvantaged children and their families.

According to director Neville Wilson, “There are a lot of fundraising events where the event is a long way removed from the kids they help. The idea behind Circus Starr was to let the kids have something tangible; to say, ‘Here’s a couple of tickets, come out and enjoy yourself.’”
It’s not just children but whole families that benefit, Wilson continues.

The Valencius Troupe
- part of an international cast

“Our audience is made up kids facing all sorts of challenges from autism to life-threatening illnesses. We’ve even had children come to the show in beds. There are very few places their parents can take them as a family, because they might be worried that the child will make a lot of noise and be disruptive. But when they come to Circus Starr that doesn’t matter, because everybody’s in the same boat.”

As to the timeless ability of a traditional circus to help children forget their troubles, Wilson says, “A lot of kids these days grow up sitting in their bedrooms with computer games and there’s not much interaction with other people. Suddenly they come to this strange place where there’s loads of people around them; something funny happening; something serious; music, colour, life. You can see the effect in their faces: it’s like a light switch going on.”

The philanthropic circus was born 26 years ago, when Gandey’s Circus was approached to put on a fundraising event for a school.

“We did a gala evening and it was so successful that word got around to other charities that wanted to do the same thing,” says Wilson. “So we set up Circus Starr to help low profile local charities like hospices that didn’t have the resources to raise funds for themselves. The original deal was that we would handle the publicity, sell the tickets and split the profits with the charity.”

Initially, Starr used a telesales team to sell tickets to local businesses for their own use. “But over time people started saying, ‘Would you donate these tickets? We’d like them to go to this school...’

"It made me realise how many kids there are out there facing really big challenges,” says Wilson.
Today, all tickets are distributed through a variety of hospices, community groups and women’s refuges, researched by Starr from its base in Congelton, Cheshire. 100% of the show’s profits is then donated to a particular charity, such as the air ambulance service, that the circus partners with in each town it visits.

The Circus Starr big top

“We donate over £1 million worth of tickets each year, and every single ticket is used. Then there are a lot of hospices and baby care units that get a nice cheque at the end of the show, too, so everybody wins,” says Wilson.

Circus Starr is a not-for-profit CIC (Community Interest Company) but it benefits financially and artistically from being part of the Gandey Organisation, which produces commercial shows such as the Chinese State Circus and The Ladyboys of Bangkok.

“Philip Gandey produces a new show for us each year and spends a lot of time looking for the acts,” says Wilson. “It’s a proper touring circus, moved on six articulated units, that could be sold commercially, no problem.”

Wilson fell in love with big tops and sawdust at an early age.

“My mum and dad took me to Boswell Wilkie’s Circus in South Africa when I was 5-years-old, and I can remember some of that performance to this day,” the director grins.

The Great Yarmouth Hippodrome
Britain's oldest circus building, where
Neville Wilson ran away with a
Russian Swing act.
(A picture from Circus Mania)

Many years later, when he was travelling through Europe as a young man, Wilson found himself with a summer job at Britain’s oldest circus building, the Great Yarmouth Hippodrome.

“There was an acrobatic troupe called the Casteinos. One of the catchers in their Russian swing act decided to leave and they asked me if I’d like to try it. I was pretty agile in those days - so I ran away with the circus!”

Retiring from performance when the Casteinos broke up, Wilson joined the publicity team of Boswell Wilkie in South Africa and rose to assistant manager. He moved to England in 1986 and worked with several circuses, including the Moscow State Circus, before meeting third generation showman Phillip Gandey, with whom he has worked ever since.

“I’m so proud of what we’ve done with Circus Starr, over the past ten years especially,” says Wilson. “I live and breathe it and love every second that I’m at work.”

Every night's a full house at
Circus Starr

Wilson admits the economic downturn has affected Circus Starr - but not because people have become more reluctant to give.

“A lot of the businesses we were dealing with ceased trading. That’s made it harder for our telesales team and harder for us to expand. If the recession hadn’t happened we’d probably be visiting another 15 towns by now.

“But the businesses that have remained and the new businesses that have opened have been as generous as ever. Some of the bigger corporations have been phenomenal.”

In fact, even after so many years with Circus Starr, Wilson says, “The generosity of the British business community never ceases to amaze me. The people who buy tickets don’t get anything out of this except a thank you letter from the kids they sent to the circus. But the letters are phenomenal - and the next year when we phone up, they’ll buy two more tickets!”

So far, none of the kids who have visited Circus Starr have gone on to become circus stars themselves. But one did grow up to join the telesales team. Wilson, meanwhile, recalls a meeting he describes as one of the best things that ever happened to him.

“A guy came up to me at a show and said, ‘Many years ago, when I was a kid, my family had a real bust up. My mum and I, and my brother and sister were living in a New Start place. I was so low. We were given tickets to the circus and I’ve never forgotten that. I now have a business in Carlisle and I always make sure we support you.’

“To me,” says Wilson, “That sums up what Circus Starr is about.”

For more on the fundraising team behind Circus Starr, click here.

FIVE FACTS ABOUT CIRCUS STARR

1 - Artistic director Philip Gandey’s commercial enterprises include international big top hire and productions ranging from the Chinese State Circus to the Dubai-based Krystal Dinner Show.

2 - Gandey is a third generation showman and became Britain’s youngest circus proprietor at the age of 17.

3 - The circus has 150 performances a year to an annual audience of 75,000.

4 - The circus has an app to enhance the experience of autistic children at arts events. 

5 - Circus Starr’s patron is actress Sarah Gordy, who made her name as Lady Pamela Holland in the 2010 series Upstairs Downstairs.

For Circus Starr tour dates, go to www.circus-starr.org.uk

Have you ever dreamed of running away with the circus? Find out what it's like in Circus Mania, my backstage journey through the circus world, talking to showmen, sword-swallowers, tiger trainers, trapeze flyers and clowns about their unique lives, history, traditions, secrets and superstitions. Click here to read half a dozen customer reviews on Amazon.  

 

Circus 1903 returns to London this Christmas

After wowing crowds at the Southbank Centre in 2018 and 2019, retro circus Circus 1903 returns to London at the Eventim Apollo in London this Christmas, from 15 December to 1 January.

And animal rights protesters need not worry, because the show's elephants are puppets from the makers of War Horse.

The above is a trailer from 2019, and here's a TV clip featuring some of the performers.

 

Arthur Pedlar - Death of a Clown

It was sad to hear this week of the passing of one of Britain's oldest clowns, Arthur Pedlar, at the age of 90.

In 2016, I had the privilege of watching Pedlar put on his make up for a show at the Seagull Theatre in Lowestoft as part of the week-long Clown Gathering UK.

What stories he told - as clearly as if they were yesterday - from the day he was inspired to clown at the age of six when he saw the legendary American hobo clown Emmett Kelly at Bertram Mills Circus in 1938, to working with Buster Keaton and appearing at Russia's 1886 circus building in St Petersburg.

What else did he do? He was the first living non-American clown to be voted into the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Centre, Milwaukee; he was President of the World Clown Association 2003/2004; and is Honorary President of the Circus School of Israel which, as its raison d'tere teaches Palestinian and Jewish youngsters together. Oh yes, and he used to ride 8ft-tall unicycles!

Usually, Arthur performed as the auguste clown Vercoe, but for that special appearance among and before the cream of British clowns, he became the rarely seen these days musical whiteface clown Arturo.

Big Kid Circus brings 'Mayhem' to Hawick

 

If you're scared of clowns, look away!

A scary bunch at Giffords Circus!

But if you like your clowns on the scary side, click here for the history of scary clowns.

And click here for the story of Giffords Circus.

 

Circus Extreme coming to Glasgow - Review of Britain's biggest and best circus

It has been said that circuses thrive in a recession. They offer a comparatively inexpensive night out and, since they come to your town, they bring little of the travel and parking problems/expenses associated with many other forms of entertainment. When times are hard, though, they have to provide value for money and plenty of bang for your buck.

Circus Extreme, from the producers of the Circus of Horrors and Continental Circus Berlin, does both in spades. Although ringside seats are advertised at £32, concessions mean you can get into Britain's biggest big top for as little as £9 - and for that you will will see what I reckon must be Britain's most spectacular circus in terms of the number of thrilling acts.

The finale is actually the most stunning act I have seen in a big top. The Globe of Death, in which motorcyclists race around inside a spherical cage, is in itself a far from unique act and in fact has become somewhat passe - you can see one in many big tops this year. Even the fact that the Circus Extreme globe splits into two hemispheres, with bikes circling both the top and bottom halves is not a unique innovation. Zippos and Santus have globes that do the same trick this year.

What makes Circus Extreme stand out is the way the stunt riders jump Evel Kneivel-style over the globe at the routine's climax. The bikes come roaring in through the front of the tent, hit a ramp and leap into the very top of the roof space, crossing the whole ring and the towering globe at its centre, before landing on an inflatable ramp and careering out through the back doors.

As the bikes fly through the air, the riders leave their mounts - bodies and legs flying high above their machines - hanging on to just the handlebars or saddles. The last two riders, following each other in quick succession, perform death-defying somersaults above the globe, before landing safely.

Prior to this act, the most high-flying daredevilry that I have seen in a circus is performers taking flight from a Russian swing - an act that can make the flying trapeze look tame. The stunt riders go every bit as high, if not higher, than a Russian swing troupe, however, and the fact that they are on motorbikes (and in an indoor venue) adds its own high-octane thrill. 

The motorcycle leaps at Circus Extreme are worth the ticket price alone, but there are plenty of other dramatic stunts to witness.

Given its thrilling finale, the show I saw actually got off to a dull start with a singer (never an act that looks especially at home in a circus) performing a ballad that might be titled Better Days Are Coming. It appears to be about moving on from the Covid years, and as a group of performers file in behind the singer, dressed as policemen and NHS workers, holding signs that proclaim 'Hope' and 'Freedom', the message seems a bit heavy handed. Do we even  want to be reminded, during what is supposed to be a night of escapism?

Despite the ballad's apparently upbeat message, I found the music rather gloomy - although I've since been told that the singer had lost her voice on that occasion and had to sing in a lower register than normal. I'm assured the song is usually performed in a joyous way.

The show quickly moves on, however, into a succession of skilled acts, beginning with a male and female rollerskating duo.

Soon after, the male and female Ariel Duo Polischuk literally get the bit between their teeth. She hangs upside down with her jaws clamped around a short chain from which her revolving partner is also hanging from his teeth.

This is the sort of spectacle that circus should be about: things that you can't quite believe you're seeing. And while all circus skills are impressively beyond the capability of those of us watching at ringside, shows also need to find new and unique spectacles that we can't see at every circus that comes to town.

Sometimes the newness can be in the way an act is dressed. The trench-coat-clad Tony Garcia, for example, gets a gasp from the audience when he fires up an impressively large flame-thrower. He then performs an inverted juggling routine, bouncing countless balls on the roof of a car that he has set fire to. The skill is in the juggling, but it's the car and the flames licking around his boots that make the act into something special.

Another act improved immeasurably by the way it is staged involves Laura Miller on an aerial hoop who is periodically lowered into a glass tank of water, where she turns underwater somersaults like a mermaid. The climax to her routine sees her drop with heart-stopping speed into what has become a vat of fire.

Henry the Clown performs a number of silent routines throughout the programme, including a comedy waiter skit, but it's as part of a high-wire troupe, fresh from the Monte Carlo Circus Festival, that he really shines: riding a unicycle on the wire, 12 metres up, with another performer standing on his shoulders, juggling.

Henry has set a world record for skipping on the wire, with 211 skips in 60 seconds, but since that's three skips a second, the rope was moving too fast for me to count how many he managed on this occasion! Being a clown, Henry also did a cartoonish pretend fall - revolving under the wire and ending up back on top again! Sometimes the simple tricks have the most impact. A bit like the motorcycle leaps of the finale, really. Bikes leaping across the ring is a simple concept - but you won't see anything like it in most other circus tents - and it's those one-off experiences that have brought the punters to the circus for 250 years.

Although the Circus Extreme big top can hold a reported 3000 people, the circus is selling only 1000 seats, so Covid-nervous patrons won't have to fear being crammed together. Director John Haze reports strong ticket sales in each of the cities where Circus Extreme is playing for up to three weeks at a time - the longer than usual stays allowing the show to benefit from word-of-mouth sales. And deservedly so, because it's unlikely that any other British show is fielding such a strong bill this year.

For Circus Extreme tour dates, click here.

For a behind-the-scenes journey through the contemporary circus scene, with reviews of circuses of all types, both traditional and modern, plus interviews with big top owners and performers from clowns and sword-swallowers to trapeze artists and tiger trainers, read Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book for Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus!

Click here to read the 5-star reviews on Amazon.

 

Circus Starr - the circus that helps kids

I love this picture of Circus Starr at the end of its spring tour.

Started by Phillip Gandey - whose company Gandey World Class Productions is the UK's largest producer of international circus work, with shows including Gandey's Circus, Spirit of the Horse and the Chinese State Circus - Circus Starr has a unique business model. All its tickets are sold by telesales to businesses in the towns where the show appears. The tickets are then given away to ill and disadvantaged children and their families, giving them a top quality big top night out completely free of charge.  

Circus Starr star Chico Rico

For the story of Circus Starr click here.

 

For a behind-the-scenes journey through the contemporary circus scene, with reviews of circuses of all types, both traditional and modern, plus interviews with big top owners and performers from clowns and sword-swallowers to trapeze artists and tiger trainers, read Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book for Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus!

Circus reopening in Ukraine with tigers, parrots and horses

 

The latest news from Ukraine is that the National Circus building in Kyiv will be reopening from 2 July with a production called Save the Animals of the Circus.

The show is expected to feature mainly animal acts including tigers, parrots, dogs and horses that have been sheltering in the circus since the war began. The performances will help keep the animals in condition and raise funds to maintain their upkeep.

The trainers will also be talking about their work and answering questions from the audience.

Even in war, it seems, the circus always goes on.

The National Circus of Ukraine, Kyiv

For the story of the Ukrainian circus stars currently touring the UK, click here.

Face of the Ukrainian Circus

This iconic portrait is of Tetiana Lotiuk, who undertook a harrowing escape from war-torn Ukraine to appear with a cast of 15 other Ukrainian performers in Circus Cortex, a big top show that has just begun it's UK tour in Sheffield. For tour dates, click here. 

For the latest news on the circus in Ukraine, click here.

You can read my interview with Corcus Cortex director Irina Archer, and the story of how the circus industry has rallied around its Ukrainian colleagues during the war, in this article in today's edition of The Stage. Click here.

 

Circus Cortex tours with cast of Ukrainian refugees

Talk about a human pyramid! Fresh from a Christmas season in Cairo, Egypt, Circus Cortex has just begun its British big top tour in Sheffield - a month later than planned because its cast of almost entirely Ukrainian artistes went home to visit their families and renew their visas... and found themselves in a war zone when Russia invaded.

Some are still there, conscripted into the military, others have undertook harrowing journeys out of Ukraine and the company has recruited Ukrainian replacements who were in other countries when war broke out.

Putting on a show, while worrying about loved ones hiding in bunkers miles away, the circus stars will be touring until their final show at Clacton on 30 August. Proof that the show always does go on.

For the full list of dates, click here.

You can read my interview with Corcus Cortex director Irina Archer, and the story of how the circus industry has rallied around its Ukrainian colleagues during the war, in this article in today's edition of The Stage. Click here.

For the latest news on the circus reopening its doors in Ukraine, click here.

For a behind-the-scenes journey through the contemporary circus scene, with reviews of circuses of all types, both traditional and modern, plus interviews with big top owners and performers from clowns and sword-swallowers to trapeze artists and tiger trainers, read Circus Mania - The Ultimate Book for Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus!

 

The Wonder Circus Comes To Town

 

World Circus Day, 16 April, 2022

 

70th anniversary of The Greatest Show on Earth

 

Circus lions loose in Grimsby! And hero clown takes chase!

Thirty years ago, Chipperfield Brothers Circus fans - and some local residents of Grimsby - saw a livelier show than usual.

Immediately after the opening big cat act, the audience stampeded when someone shouted, "The lions are loose!"

In the streets outside, a policeman, Sergeant Bellamy, was stunned to see a lion run past his police car... followed by a clown in full costume and make-up, complete with enormous shoes.

The funnyman was Tommy Cook - Clown Brum, who performed with Shaun Cook as Brum and Rum.

Armed with a chair, the clown cornered the lion in a blind alley, then broke the bad news: another three lions were still at large.

Local man Michael Strandt needed 24 stitches after a lion pounced on him and sank its teeth into his neck. He was only saved when another policeman rammed the beast with his car.

Another lion became trapped in the local bus station where a member of staff said, "It kept roaring and roaring."

Within an hour, the circus staff had successfully recaptured their animals.

It is thought the lions, which belonged to Mary Chipperfield, were let loose by animal rights protesters and the circus staff were praised for their bravery and efficiency in recovering them.

In true circus tradition, the following night's show went on as usual.

How do you train a tiger? Read my interview with Helyne Edmonds of the Great British Circus in Circus Mania - the Ultimate Book for Anyone Who Dreamed of Running Away with the Circus.

And click here to read an interview with big cat trainer Martin Lacey Senior.

 

Circus Mondao in Kings Lynn

 

Gandeys Circus ROAR into 2022

 

A great image from Gandeys Circus for its new show, Roar!, which opens at Half Term at Trentham, Staffordshire on 18 February.

Oh, and don't be misled by the name. Roar features no animals. It's the crowd that will be roaring!

Find full tour dates and booking info HERE.

Circus Spectacular packed houses!

What a picture! 

Bippo the clown celebrates a full house on the opening night of Circus Spectacular, a theatre show touring the UK until the end of February.

  View the dates here.

And that packed crowd was no fluke. Here are some more

from subsequent venues on the tour:

Read the story of how Bippo ran away with the circus as a child in Circus Mania, my backstage journey through the world of the big top, talking to circus owners, jugglers, trapeze artists, sword-swallowers and tiger tamers.

Click here to read the reviews on Amazon.