The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular Opens in September
Tickets on sale now for Come Alive! at Empress Museum, north of Lillie Road
The Greatest Showman
July 22, 2024
The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular is set to open at The Empress Museum, north of Fulham's Lillie Road on 23 September.
As we first revealed in May, a company called Great Show Productions had plans to take over the empty temporary building on the Earls Court Development site which formerly housed the BBC Earth Experience and produce an interactive stage show based on the film, The Greatest Showman.
The building, renamed The Empress Museum, is now being transformed to a Big Top with seating for 700 people, with the show, named Come Alive! promising “a blend of circus and musical theatre in an epic spectacular”.
The Greatest Showman, first released in 2017, was an all-singing, all-dancing retelling of the life of the legendary 19th-century American showman, PT Barnum, played in the film by Hugh Jackman, whose circus was seen as the birth of showbusiness as we know it today.
Though many critics dismissed the film at the time, it has gone on to become a cult favourite, with singalong screenings proving popular in cinemas around the world.
The new show will not follow the same plot, but instead will be a brand new story inspired by the film. However it will feature all the hit songs by Pasek and Paul including This Is Me, Rewrite the Stars, A Million Dreams’ and more.
The cast will include international circus stars from shows such as Cirque du Soleil and actors who have performed in musicals in the West End.
As well as the show itself, visitors who come one hour early - 6.30pm for evening performances - will be offered an interactive experience, with close-up performances, curious characters and pre-show food and drinks.
Unveiling plans for the show earlier this year with a planning application submitted to Hammersmith & Fulham Council, consultants DP9 described the Greatest Showman Experience as “ a world’s first”.
A letter accompanying the application said: “ It is proposed that the existing buildings and associated spaces are used to present an interactive theatrical set to facilitate a live production of now worldwide hit, The Greatest Showman.
“ It will comprise a ticketed guest experience that will follow the key themes of the film and navigate guests through the theatrical set comprised of different areas within the space culminating in the seated ‘circus-style’ experience which ends the guest’s visit.”
The company also described the proposed show as a “beneficial” use of the site, which was empty following the early closure of the BBC Earth Experience at the beginning of this year, adding: “ Importantly, this is also an important sustainability approach in utilising and retrofitting an existing building and structures rather than seeing them dismantled with the associated embodied carbon impacts.”
The Empress Museum is north of Empress Place, off Lillie Road. close to West Brompton Station. While Come Alive! will officially open on October 16, previews will begin on Monday September 23. Ticket prices start at £35 and are now on sale here.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |