Circus show returns 100 years after first visit

It is a full circle moment for Barnum's travelling circus as the show returns to a town it visited just over 100 years ago.

The musical is based on the life of P. T. Barnum, covering the years 1835 to 1880 when he toured his performing companies.

Barnum's travelling circus came to Bournemouth twice in the late 1800's by holding a parade on Christchurch Road and performing in Kings Park.

Much like the travelling circus, this week it is being performed on stage in Dorset before it heads off to a different theatre.

A 2017 film adaptation of PT Barnham's story, The Greatest Showman, was made into a global hit and starred Hugh Jackman.

Chris Stone is an archivist at Bournemouth Pavilion and also a Barnum memorabilia collector.

He owns photos, programmes and a map of where the circus travelled across the country.

"The travelling circus visited Bournemouth twice in the late 1800s." He said.

"You could stand there and it took 20 minutes to pass by and this particular tour made money, hugely.

"They sold shares in it on the stock exchange, very clever and from then on the people who bought those shares made no money at all."

Theatre star, Lee Mead, felt that playing the role was 'meant to be' because his late grandparents saw Michael Crawford perform as P.T. Barnum the year that he was born.

"My grandparents were lucky enough to see Michael Crawford at the London Palladium in 1981, the year I was born.

"I actually think of them every time I step on the tightrope every night and doing the show.

"They would have absolutely loved seeing me as P.T. Barnum, but they're with me every night though."

Barnum is being performed at the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre until Saturday June 20.