The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Be enchanted
APeterborough audience can once more enter the critically acclaimed magical and mystical world of Cirque Enchantment, when the show comes to the city later this month. Described as a “dynamic fairytale for all the family” Cirque Enchantment (New Theatre, February 22) sees a little girl with a big imagination enter a frozen circus wonderland and a mysterious path of good versus evil.
Along the way she meets an array of weird, wonderful and talented characters in a magical production featuring superb choreography, breathtaking live vocals and mesmerising circus performers. Not to mention the eclectic and iconic musical soundtrack including Mad World, Sweet Dreams, The Show Must Go On, Relight My Fire, Chandelier, I’ll Put A Spell On You and many more.
The man behind the show is Stuart Glover, whose CV includes The SpongeBob Musical, Madagascar the Musical, An Audience with Anton du Beke, Firedance and many more.
“Around eight years ago I had been doing a lot of stuff with cruises – creating a lot of magical shows that were ‘other worldly’ to engage people’s imaginations,” recalls Stuart, the creative director and producer.
“Then after spending time in Miami, I thought I really want a show like that to tour with in the UK. Something different, something where people can just forget about everything for a couple of hours and watch something weird and wonderful.”
“So I created an initial concept and shot a promo video and began talking to people in theatres. We first toured in 2017 and did dates in 17/18 before taking a break while I went off and got involved in Strictly tours.”
So how did the show, the Peterborough performance is one of just six this month, come together?
“For me, with this show, it always starts with the music,” says Stuart. “Whereas a circus would start with the acts, Cirque is a fusion of dance, music and circus too. We are telling a very light story with a little narrative though it, a kind of Alice in Wonderland good versus evil thread that ties the whole thing together.
“We have different artists that appear in the show each time we do it, so it does change. It might be the same piece of music and the same story but it might be a different act involved so it is ever evolving. When we have a different line-up, those people have different skills, different talents and abilities and it changes to suit them. It is very much an ensemble piece.”
The eclectic soundtrack is also a huge part of the show’s appeal. “We find a lot of dads come with their kids and hear Radiohead and grungier stuff and are really surprised and love it. It is very eclectic with rock, pop, film music for instance.
“When we fist did it, the songs that people know were presented in a new way to tell our story, and over time those songs might have been switched up or different ones put in might have the same essence or create a new twist.
“It is pure escapism. It is very visual and pretty and attractive. It has a wintery feel, with a frosted, frozen overarching theme. It is enchanting and appeals in different ways. Some people love the music, the dancing or the fire or the juggling and traditional circus elements.”