Barnum, Menier Chocolate Factory

Managed to get a "Premium Seat" for one of the previews (not many others left). Overall impression, a much better production than it could have been.

Barnum has a special place in my heart, as it is was one of the first shows I ever saw, around 25 years ago, with Andrew O'Connor as the lead (my main memories for that one were Andrew O'Connor being impressive and doing lots of stunts and this being a very visual production, but I remember very little about the plot, and only song that stuck in my mind was Black and White, being long and boring).

I also saw the Brian Conley tour twice, enjoyed in, but it wasn't as I remembered it. I now realise that this had been substantially revised.

The Menier production goes back to the original script, which is very different. The songs are moved around, some lyrics are different, the book is very different. Frankly, the newer version makes more sense.

But, if you didn't already like Barnum, you're unlikely to like this one.

The Menier production room has been opened up and this is performed in the round. It all looks much bigger than I remember in that format. There isn't much of a set, but there is a central round platform which is used.

The staging in the round fits the circus theme, but also makes some of the viewing difficult. For instance (even from a premium seat), I know there was fire used at one point, but only because I could see the edge of it. Otherwise my view was blocked by cast members.

The fire brings me onto the main problem. The room was bitterly cold, with no heating. From what I could hear, there was also meant to be music playing when the audience arrived, but this was broken.

Fair warning. There is audience interaction, particularly with the front row. The ensemble came out about 5 minutes before the advertised start time (8pm). A few conjuring tricks (some went wrong, so still being worked on), juggling etc. They weren't particularly good at engaging the audience that night, but did, for instance, show each other their tricks. The show started properly about 8:05pm. The restaurant was really full, which I think explains the show starting slightly late.

Staging was good, with some great acrobatics from the ensemble.

The biggest problem in the space was the sound. The ensemble performing on the hard floor of the Menier was really noisy and it was hard to make out the words during the songs. If you don't know the story, you may struggle to follow this.

I thought Marcus Brigstocke was excellent at involving the audience and very different to the other people I've seen play Barnum. He did a few conjuring tricks during the show and ad-libbed as needed. Not the best singing voice, but it isn't a role that needs a great singer.

Laura Pitt-Pulford, I thought struggled with keeping the accent going, so it drifted in and out. Some good chemistry between the two leads.

If I can single out members of the cast, Danny Collins and Dominic Owen came out during the interval to ad-lib for a few minutes. Both very funny, talking about empty seats (few), people leaving in the intermission (possibly read here - I didn't notice any on the night) and Danny doing some of his funny dancing. If that's a regular think, I suggest only taking a short interval break.

The stunts didn't always go right. There were some acrobatic fails, falling off giant balls, balls being dropped when thrown around (which confused the cast with a then "invisible ball" in the sequence etc). Hopefully, that polish will appear during the run.

The tightrope scene, unfortunately, failed as well. It is a very wide tightrope, just below waist height. A really tough ask, to both sing and walk the tightrope. The cast do wait crouched by the tightrope in case any help is needed.

First go, Marcus got around one quarter of the way across before falling - and commented that this sometimes takes a few goes. To me, it looked as though this was meant to be an "almost fall".

Second go, about half way. Marcus commented that it might be a while until the interval.
Third go, only a quarter again. He jumped back further down and completed the rest of the walk holding onto a member of the cast (with a great round of applause for the showmanship).

Finishing time was 10:15pm, so I imagine this will be over by 10:10pm when it's tightened up. So relatively short.

And now, some spoilers.







I did enjoy it, in a way that has a slight fun amateur edge to it. There really are some great songs, including One Brick At A Time, Come Follow The Band and Join The Circus.

I'd be keen to go back towards the end of the run to see how it all looks when the kinks are ironed out.

I saw the Andrew O'Connor version several times. Loved it.

It largely cut the overture entirely, which also probably explains shaving the run time.

The Menier don't have premium seats. What are you laughing at?

They are Standard and Premier.

Like at cinemas.

Saw this at the Saturday matinee. I adore this show, especially Cy Coleman's music, but Marcus Brigstocke is a black hole of miscasting that is soul crushingly depressing to watch!

Some spoilers follow. . .

Everything about Marcus Brigstocke told me he was wrong for the part, but I booked anyway, thinking anyone can reinvent themselves: take off the Clark Kent glasses, let Cy Coleman's exuberance lift you, and anyone can become a Superman of filmflam! But there's a sucker born every minute, and I'm one of them. This Clark Kent takes off his glasses, and. . . . . remains Clark Kent.

Ironically, this is exactly what Brigstocke's standup comedy character would have predicted, as Brigstocke's stage persona was an earth-bound, lumpen, sarcastic skeptic of humbug, a critic of all flimflam and flights of fancy. Indeed, back in the noughties, when a real modern day Barnum, David Blaine, jumped in a perspex box on the Thames Embankment, and apparently starved himself for 40 days, for the wonderment of passersby (I myself frequently stopped there to spend lingering minutes of sympathetic unbroken eye contact with Blaine's lonely figure), Brigstocke mocked him on the radio, as a "git wizard" performing a "freakdangle." Brigstocke's whole schtick was that showmanship was worthless.

I figured Brigstocke's comedy persona was an act, that he was merely pretending to be a lumpen and lifeless critic of humbug. But this show painfully demonstrates the opposite, that there is no humbug in in the man. Yes, there is no humbug, nor the semblance or any trace of humbug in the very man cast as "The Prince of Humbug," Barnum.

In my view, humbug, as defined by Barnum, has two qualities, both present on the Menier stage: flimflam and flamboyance. Flimflam is present in Danny Owen's excellently twisted performance as "the Ringmaster," his blagging canny insincerity exuding flimflam to the max. Flamboyance is present in Harry Francis' uplifting and thrilling performance of Tom Thumb, his ecstatic exuberance lifting me every time I caught sight of his swaying happy gait. Of the two qualities that make up humbug, flamboyance is the more important, as flamboyance is loveable, and a rogue like Barnum must be loveable for the show to really spark. Therefore, if I had to cast someone in this troupe as Barnum, it would be Francis.

The person I would not cast is Brigstocke. He looks the part, his Clark Kent glasses a distant memory. But he has no spark, no charisma, no fire, no flight, no flamboyance, no flimflam. And his inability to embody ANY quality of Barnum whatsoever destroys the effectiveness of the performers who interact with him.

Take Laura Pitt-Pulford, one of my favourite musical theatre actors. As Barnum's wife, Chair-y (yes, the clue to her groundedness is in her name), she is supposed to be the grey one, the lion tamer to Barnum's lion, who the flighty dreamy Barnum must lift, even as she grounds him. But Pitt-Pulford has so much more feeling and zest and nuance in her every expression and gesture, than Brigstocke does in his entire body, that their duet "the Colors of My Life" sinks! Pitt-Pulford is flummoxed, as the more she plays her character's greyness, the more the scene dies as Brigstocke offers no counterbalance, yet the more she attempts to liven up the scene, the less she plays her character. The most telling moment comes when Brigstocke leaves Pulford alone onstage to finish the song by herself, and Pulford suddenly becomes incandescent, Brigstocke's dead weight removed, and we feel the soul of Michael Stewart's lyrics and Cy Coleman's music, and the desperate passion and feeling that can lie behind apparent greyness. Yes, the only time this show works is when Brigstocke is absent.

As the show progressed, I realised that the only way to get pleasure from this show was to redirect my focus to the periphery. The great song "Come follow the band" pointed the way, as following the band with my eyes, and directing them anywhere but at Brigstocke was the only way I could get any pleasure at all. The most pleasure comes from watching the sheer joie de vivre of Harry francis, and the tender grace of Laura Pit-Pullford when she is alone.

All in all, this show is a travesty. You have a lead character who has certain qualities, and you cast in that role a person who not only does not share those qualities, not only completely lacks those qualities, but who has always hated those qualities, and has made a career of saying so. Very poor show! Barnum himself would have been livid!

2 stars, out of gratitude for Cy Coleman's uplifting music, for Laura Pit-Pullford's soulfulness and for Harry Francis' love of life!

David Blaine *is* a git wizard!! There’s “showmanship” and then there’s “pointless idiot sitting in a box”. I’m glad the British public just threw rubbish at him while he was up there.

I’m torn... all of these lukewarm reviews are making me seriously doubt how much this is worth my visit. On one hand, I’d love to see a production, but on the other I worry this one is too lacklustre.

Worth seeing rarely performed musical and cast works their butts off. Went Saturday night 2:15 running time.

Just had a major UK tour and was at Chichester!

I'd be interested to hear how the understudy is in this lead role?

Gosh that would make me a terrible person!...