Follow the band to Aylesbury for Barnum!

Naomi MacKay was tempted to ‘Join The Circus’ as she watched Barnum: The Circus Musical, at Waterside Theatre Aylesbury, where it runs until Saturday 28 March.

Barnum: The Circus Musical arrives with all the promise of spectacle, and in many ways it delivers exactly that: a vibrant, high-energy celebration of circus and showmanship.

The show follows the life of P.T. Barnum, whose story is well known to many thanks to the movie The Greatest Showman. But don’t make the mistake of confusing the two – this is a pure musical theatre that originated in the 1980s.

Directed by Jonathan O’Boyle and featuring choreography by former Strictly professional Oti Mabuse, this production leans fully into the ‘circus musical’ concept, blending traditional theatre with acrobatics, live music, and visual extravagance.

From the outset, the scale is striking. With more than 20 actor-musicians playing a vast array of instruments (150 apparently, including pianos, flutes, trombones and even kazoos at some point!) alongside acrobats and circus performers, the stage rarely feels still. P. T. Barnum’s world is rendered as a constant whirl of colour and motion, creating a feast for the eyes. Highlights include aerial sequences and ensemble-driven spectacles that capture the chaotic thrill of the big top.

At the centre of it all is Mead. Vocally, he is commanding – rich, warm, and emotionally expressive – and he brings an undeniable charm to Barnum’s larger-than-life persona. His portrayal balances showman flair with moments of vulnerability, ensuring that even when Barnum’s moral compass wavers, the audience remains invested. His much-publicised tightrope walk adds a genuine sense of jeopardy and theatrical tradition, recalling the musical’s historic staging.

In a recent interview, Mead said of the tightrope walk: ‘It’s the kind of thing you learn at 24, not 44, so I’ve had to get myself fit and put in the work. The rope is about 7ft off the ground and, although I trained with a harness on, there’s no harness during the show itself. You have to use your whole body, your whole core and every ounce of your focus and energy to get across that wire, but I like a challenge.’

Unlike many of the cast, Lee doesn’t play an instrument on stage – ‘I already have enough to do with the acting, singing, dancing and tightrope walking!’

But he doesn’t need to worry, the hugely talented cast around him keep plenty busy, doubling up as the band and character actors, with a core group of circus performers who dazzle with everything from aerial silk performances to fire eating and contortion. Plus there are two standout vocal performances – from Penny Ashmore as opera singer Jenny Lind, the Swedish Nightingale, and Dominique Planter, whose smoky blues voice in the song Black and White is truly memorable.

There’s so much happening, sometimes it’s hard to keep up and focus on the narrative, so it succeeds more as a fantastic spectacle than as a fully developed story.

Now, I’m going to show my age and tell you that I saw the original London production at the Palladium in 1981, which starred Michael Crawford. Well-known for performing all his own stunts on the BBC comedy Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Crawford went to the Big Apple Circus School in New York to train for the show. And he was the show – he of course performed the famous tightrope walk, but he did so much more, flying down a rope onto the stage, bouncing up to the ‘windows’ etc.

And so, while I was hugely excited to see this, one of my favourite musicals of all time, I was worried that it just couldn’t live up to that performance. And if you take Lee’s performance on its own, I suppose it doesn’t. But by creating the spectacle around P.T. Barnum it does succeed, just in a different way.

Ultimately, Barnum is a brilliant piece of theatrical entertainment – colourful, energetic, and packed with crowd-pleasing moments – and deserving of the standing ovation it received on opening night. As the song says – Come Join the Circus – if only for one night.

Tickets available at atgtickets.com/Aylesbury (fees apply).

Image: The Cast of Barnum UK and Ireland Tour – Photo credit Pamela Raith