28th May Oh what a circus!!

 

Tonight TOM and I had a jolly into Nottingham to see Barnum:the circus musical at the Playhouse. Normally we would go in by tram but as its half term the council have used the reduced no of commuters to do some essential maintenance closing the line we would have travelled on for the last three stops into the city. So it was a trip made by car, which due to being able to park for free as a result of TOM's blue badge turned out to be less expensive than two return tram tickets.

Based on the story of PT Barnum, probably made famous to many by the original show featuring Michael Crawford or more recently The Greatest Showman with Hugh Jackman, this version featured Lee Mead, winner of one of those innumerable talent shows on the TV, and to be honest a better singer than either of the other leading men.

As for the show its self it was a real visual treat with absolutely everything you might expect to find in a circus, there on stage, sometimes so much so that you really didn't know where to look. From the main performers to a live 10 piece band, gymnasts, aerial artists, magic tricks, a bit of slap stick, dancers and a marvellous animatronic elephant is was a sight for the eyes. 

What perhaps marked it down was that its musical songs and numbers paled into comparison beside the blockbuster sing a longs from The Greatest Showman, many of which I kind of expected to hear at various points in the performance even thought I already knew I wasn't going too. But a really good uplifting night out, full of audience engagement.

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