Lyceum Sheffield – until 2nd May 2026
Reviewed by Alison Beaumont
4****
Barnum tells the story of the famous American showman Phineas Taylor (PT) Barnum. It is set between 1835 when Barnum’s museum opened and 1880 when the Barnum and Bailey Circus was formed. It shows the highs and lows of Barnum’s life along the way.
There were a couple of alterations to the cast on the opening night performance and PT Barnum usually played by Lee Mead was on this occasion played by Tom Sterling and the ringmaster usually played by Eamonn Cox was played by Laura Skillet.
I felt that at first I was struggling to tell what Tom Sterling was singing but he settled into the role of Barnum especially when he sang Out There. There were a couple of mistakes along the way, there was a little slip up on one of the magic tricks and unfortunately, he didn’t make it along the tight rope, but these things happen.
The most amazing part of the show for me was the Circus performers, they were out of this word, and so amazing. The only thing was that there was so much going on you didn’t know where to look as I didn’t want to miss anything. We had everything from backflips, sea saw boards, silks, ropes, juggling, flame eating to hoops (the hoop had to be my favourite). Everyone was so talented and really made this show.
The ensemble danced, sang and played a variety of instruments which was incredible. I loved the big white trombone. There was some great choreography which you would expect as the show was choreographed by the one and only Oti Mabuse.
The best song for me was Come Follow the Band as this had a real feel-good factor about it and was a great start to Act Two.
If you love opera singing you will without a doubt love Jenny Lind, the Swedish Opera Singer (played by Penny Ashmore).
The puppetry of the elephant Jumbo was fantastic (created by Mervyn Millar and Tracy Waller from Significant Objects), it would have been great to have seen more of Jumbo during the show, its ears were so big, floppy and lifelike. Jumbo even gets its own credit in the program.
The stage setting and costumes made you feel like you were actually at a circus rather than the theatre.