Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages… the circus is coming to town!
From 24-28 February, Yorkies will be treated to a feast for the eyes and ears, with a spectacular staging of the acclaimed show Barnum – The Circus Musical at York Grand Opera House. Star of stage and screen Lee Mead (as seen in Any Dream Will Do, Wicked, and Casualty) will be treading the boards as P.T. Barnum, co-founder of the world-famous Barnum & Bailey Circus, and subject of the award-winning 2017 film, The Greatest Showman. Ahead of this musical circus extravaganza, we caught up with Lee to find out what to expect from ‘the greatest show on earth’…
This month, you’ll be performing in York as P.T. Barnum, the greatest circus showman of them all. What can spectators expect from the show?
It’s essentially a musical, but we’ve got actual circus acts as part of the company, so for the audience, there’s an amazing score of music and songs, a fantastic story, as well as the circus element. It’s amazing to watch!
I’ve been fortunate enough to have been doing shows for the last 23 years, and I honestly feel like all the musicals and theatre I’ve done have led me to this moment. It’s the biggest role of my career, and I don’t think I’ll ever play a role as big as this in a musical – Barnum was the greatest showman of his time. It’s such a wonderful story, and the songs and music are why it has stood the test of time. It takes the audience on this journey of a guy who really existed, and tried to change the world by creating a circus. It’s just absolutely incredible!
‘Barnum’ features spectacular circus performers. If you were to run away with the circus, which jaw-dropping act would you choose to perform, and why?
Interestingly enough, when I was a young boy, I used to go to the circus every year in my hometown of Southend, and it was a real treat – I always used to love looking at the high wire!
I actually walk the tightrope at the end of Act One in the show; it takes two and a half years to train to get to the height that I go to, which is 2 metres, and 6 metres in length – I’ve done that training in six months, which is an incredible achievement for me. It’s a 1-centimetre metal wire. I fell off four times during the first show in Windsor and didn’t quite make the crossing, but in the last two shows, I made it on my second attempt. Psychologically and physically, it’s been the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life. It takes me a good 10-15 minutes to come down from the adrenaline before going into Act 2, and I’m physically shaking at the end of it, every night! But, the payoff is incredible, and it’s such a great buzz.
We’ve also got circus performers that’ve been doing this their whole lives, we’ve got silks and trapeze artists, they’re spinning and flying through the air, and it’s amazing to have that extra circus element to the show.
The musical is packed with showstopping songs, including ‘The Colours of My Life’ and ‘There is a Sucker Born Ev’ry Minute’. Do you have a favourite number to sing?
My favourite song is actually ‘The Colours of My Life’, which is a really sweet, beautiful melody, and it’s ultimately Barnum talking to his wife, Charity, about who he is and who he needs to be. ‘Sucker Born Ev’ry Minute’ is great fun. You’ve got ‘I Like Your Style’, which he sings to Charity as well. At the opening of Act 2, there’s a song called ‘Come Follow the Band’, which is a big brass number with trombones, tuba, trumpets, and sax – it’s really quite rousing! For me, the simplest songs in life are the most special, and ‘The Colours of My Life’ is a very simple melody, but really heartfelt.
Our readers will remember you as the winner of ‘Any Dream Will Do’, and you’ve played the title role in ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’. Did you find the process of tackling a complex character like P.T. Barnum different to playing an innocent character like Joseph?
I really did, yeah. That TV show changed my life – 13 million people a week watched the show, for three months, and I won it, and became Joseph! On a personal level, it was amazing because it was the first musical I saw as a kid growing up. I always wanted to play the role and ended up doing it, and it opened up my whole career!
For Barnum, there’s a proper book and story, and I’ve got over 60 pages of dialogue with loads of big speeches, which is quite rare for a musical. The character went on be a politician, perform at the White House for the President, and had this amazing career, which is all true to life. He and Bailey ramped up the whole concept of what the circus was, really.
You’ve performed in stage productions of ‘Aladdin’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’, and ‘Wicked’, as well as TV shows including ‘Casualty’ and ‘Holby City’. Does treading the boards differ from acting in front of a camera?
Yeah, I love both, but they’re completely different mediums. Obviously, with TV, you’re going out to 6 million people a week with one episode, whereas with live theatre, you could do 8 shows a week to 2,000 people, playing to half a million people over a whole year. The reach isn’t as much, but most actors will tell you that their best love is theatre – you can’t beat the live interaction and energy you get from that live audience.
If you do a take for TV, you get no applause, and just move on to the next scene! It’s also technically very different, like the performance is more minimal, because the camera picks up everything. I’d say theatre is slightly heightened in terms of performance, but you’ve still got to be truthful as well, which is important. I love both to be honest, but theatre is my first love, and I feel very lucky that I’ve got to play many different characters and roles, and hopefully many more to come!
Are there any dream roles that you’d love to play, for theatre or TV?
I’d love to play a villain again. I went to the London Coliseum in the West End two summers ago, to do a show called We Will Rock You, the big Queen musical. I played Khashoggi, the villain in the show, and I played him like an absolute psychopath! Ben Elton, who wrote the show, gave me the biggest compliment I’ve ever had – he said I’d redefined the role and brought an element of danger and craziness to the character. So, I’d love to play a villain again at some point, a darker role. We’ll have to wait and see…
Thanks, Lee. Finally, do you have any advice for local performers, musicians, or actors in the making?
Just know that a massive part of the industry, no matter how talented you are, is luck and timing. That aside, always be one step ahead and do your homework, do your prep. Know that script back to front, inside out. A really important one is to be as authentic as possible. It’s a very hard thing to do, but being as authentic as possible and being yourself goes a long way…
Barnum – The Circus Musical runs from 24-28 February at York Grand Opera House. Visit www.atgtickets.com/shows/barnum/grand-opera-house-york/ to book. The show will also be touring the UK until the end of October – visit www.kenwright.com/productions/barnum-2026-uk-tour/ to browse dates and book tickets for the rest of the tour.
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