Brighton Year-Round 2026
Barnum: The Circus Musical
Bill Kenwright LTD presents the Watermill Theatre Production
Genre: American Theater, Biographical Drama, Circus, Comedy, Dance and Movement Theatre, Historical, Mainstream Theatre, Musical Theatre, Puppetry
Venue: Theatre Royal Brighton
Festival: Brighton Year-Round
Low Down
With Book by Mark Bramble, Michael Stewart’s Lyrics and Cy Coleman’s Music, Barnum The Circus Musical directed by Jonathan O’Boyle arrives for five nights (and two matinees) only at Theatre Royal Brighton, till March 7. Roll up for a show that never stops. Even for show-stoppers, let alone Lee Mead’s P. T. Barnum
Superb show: stellar performances, the definition of showbiz.
Review
Humbug! Roll up! Before The Greatest Showman was a 1980 knockout show that won Tonys and Oliviers; and it’s back. With Book by Mark Bramble, Michael Stewart’s Lyrics and Cy Coleman’s Music, Barnum The Circus Musical directed by Jonathan O’Boyle arrives for five nights (and two matinees) only at Theatre Royal Brighton, till March 7. Roll up for a two-hour show that never stops. Even for show-stoppers, let alone Lee Mead’s P. T. Barnum. It might be even too much of a good thing and certainly the Brighton stage is bursting with Lee Newby’s magnificent bell-tent set (and matchingly florid costumes) containing the 21-strong cast. But this is the most sheerly showy thing of the season. It puts the biz back in show.
O’Boyle is in his element here as he wasn’t in Death Comes to Pemberley last September. Barnum’s freshly choreographed by Oti Mabuse (co-choreographer Matt Nicholson), with musical arrangements orchestration and supervision by George Dyer, with the cast playing out a blast of brass and wind. And the big bass drum. Tom Marshall’s sound design needs to tame its register for those higher up. Jai Morjaria’s lighting runs up in flashing sequin-lights with all the pizzazz of a circus risking fire-hazard. There’s fine puppetry from Mervyn Miller and Tracey Waller directed by Helen Foan.
Inevitably Julius Fucik’s ‘Entry of the Gladiators’ and a blast or three of Sousa bolster a few fine songs though in truth they’re not all sure-fire hits; just better than you’d expect now and less than you’d think from a show of this vintage. ‘Thank God I’m old’ sung by a 160-year-old Joice Heth (given the burnished magnificence of Dominique Planter) is memorable. And a few more. More worrying is the Book, which could be so much stronger, especially round that little interval tussle with Jenny Lind. More on her later. But.. the performances and routines, dances, astonishing circus acts and a flying trapeze with somersaults – these and the individual characters are outstanding. It’s just that till Act Two we never get a chance to draw breath.
Mead is superb as Barnum, singing and dancing despite a slight strain which meant the tightrope act was suspended as it were; but will return after the first performance. . The frantically driven man who wanted to celebrate ‘difference’ is given an easy ride, and may deserve a bit of it. Though the characterisation is performative, an ‘act’ that never digs. It’d certainly no fault of Mead’s who finds some pathos and equivocation in Barnum. Mead’s signing voice is rich but flexible and light where needs be. He’s affecting as Barnum with his obsession with “humbug” which is creative lying and then making good on it.
Sometimes. We follow him and his long-suffering wife Charity as she interrupts the introduction. You hope for more conflict though this doesn’t arise. Sweet Charity is… too charitable, too adoring.
Nevertheless she has a way with calling heads. Charity Barnum (Monique Young, also a mean piccolo player) is a core character and Young, who also sings superbly in ‘The Colours of My Life’ with Mead, etches out a more richly-shadowed character than the mostly ebullient Barnum can be. Their nagging and quarrels could be stronger, but this is the Book’s fault. We’re given space to appreciate ‘There’s a Sucker Born every Minute’ on its sadder reprise, and ‘The Prince of Humbug’. They’re welcome pieces at a low point of Barnum’s life, if not especially memorable.
The phenomenon of the great soprano Jenny Lind (Penny Ashmore) makes both for the most mesmerising moment of the show, and a deeper frustration. Lind’s inevitably characterised as a modern Swedish siren. So much more went on historically and of course it needs simplifying but the absence of real conflict takes theatre out of drama. Ashmore’s creamy but ringing soprano in her ‘Obbligato’ and ‘Love Makes Such Fools Of Us All’ before the close of Act One and just after, is the highlight of a show given to frantic busyness. Yet the stillness as Ashmore also plays the harp whilst singing is mesmerising. The acrobats twining above (vertical expressions of a horizontal desire never got so high as this) are a bit of a distraction, but not much. And they eroticise Lind’s singing admirably. Still, Ashmore’s voice and harp is enough.
Other highlights include Dominique Planter’s Joice Heth (again), who also sings blues. And Fergus Rattigan’s General Tom Thumb who like Planter is also given a couple of solo spots and rings out with dignity and aplomb in ‘Bigger Isn’t Better’, another song made memorable here. Sophie Precious Meringu scores as the ever-patient manager Scudder, drawing sympathy for stifled exasperation. Tom Sowinski scores particularly as Goldschmidt the greater musical dealer (in truth he wrote piano concertos) and rival for Lind. Tom Sterling gleams quietly in roles where sobriety is a foil as Mr Stratton and Templeton. Kevin Oliver Jones twinkles on as James Bailey, who of course partners Barnum later in life, especially in their duet ‘Join the Circus’. And naturally the Ringmaster (Eamonn Cox) lashes everything into panache.
There’s individual spots for Elena Bluck (Mrs Maddison), Jessica Jolleys as Mrs Mortimer, Emma Jane Morton as Mrs Stratton. The circus performers are beyond praise but not beyond mentioning: Gianpaolo Candelari (swallowing fire), James Gill, Lennin, Nelson McClure, Emily Odunsi (particularly outstanding balletically), André Rodrigues, Ben Scott, Laura Sillett, Niki Tsonopoulou.
Energy, fun, fire (in several senses) and panache don’t come more infectious than this. The whole production’s energised with an outstanding cast often doubling on instruments. Though vitiated by few great numbers and a Book that one day might be overhauled (and make Barnum great with more repose and shadows), it’s still hugely enjoyable. Superb show: stellar performances, the definition of showbiz.
Associate Director/Choreographer Jess Ellen Knight, Circus Director Amy Panter, Magic Consultant Richard Pinner, Circus Instructors Iona Lunsandorj, Sabrina Joshua, Puppetry Designers Mervyn Miller, Tracey Waller for Significant Object, Puppetry Director Helen Foan for Significant Object, Circus Consultants Zippos Circus and the National Centre for Circus Arts.
