Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Circus at Earls Court: Review (Ringside and Sober)
Confession: I had never seen The Greatest Showman. Not once. So when Kelly and I headed to Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular at the Empress Museum in Earls Court on Thursday 7 November 2024, I was going in completely fresh. No songs in my head, no idea what was coming. Reader, it came alive.
Dinner First: Worth the Tummy Ache
We ate beforehand at a fancy, family-run Italian restaurant nearby. We leaned right into the seafood, and I had a pasta dish, which is exactly the kind of thing my intolerances wag a finger at. The result? A little bloated, but not doubled over. That's the whole WIM ethos in one plate: some things are worth the tummy ache.
45 Minutes in the Empress Museum
Doors open an hour before the show, and you should use every minute. We spent about 45 minutes exploring the pre-show world, and it's huge. There are glittering ringmaster costumes in glass cases, a hall with giant elephants and a hot-air balloon floating over the crowd, a striped Night Sky tent, a lantern-lit circus caravan you can peek inside, and performers popping up everywhere. We watched a contortionist fold herself into shapes on a circus drum that made my back hurt just looking at it.
Sober Circus: One of Each, Please
The bars are as theatrical as everything else, including a round bar under a glittering dome that looks like a giant birdcage. There's a choice of alcohol-free cocktails, so we did the sensible thing and tried one of each. Research, obviously. Once we'd worked our way through the menu, we moved on to regular soft drinks.
Food at the venue is simple circus fare: hotdogs, chicken strips and churros. And here's the plot twist. I bumped into an old friend who was running the catering, and walked away with a cheeky portion of churros on the house. Thanks, mate. If you're avoiding cheese, eggs or bread like me, eat before you go, because the menu isn't really built around us.
Ringside, Inches From the Action
We were in ringside seats, and I mean ringside. The Big Top is in the round, and from our seats the performers were close enough to feel the breeze when they flew past. Every act was amazing: acrobats stacked three high, a teeterboard flyer launched into the red lights, aerial hoops, straps and fire. If I had to pick one, the trapeze was without doubt one of the highlights. Watching someone let go of a bar that high above your head is a very good way to forget to breathe.
A Showman Newbie's Verdict on the Songs
Not having seen the film turned out to be a bonus, because every song landed fresh. My favourite was "From Now On". I didn't know it was coming, I didn't know the words, and I still wanted to stamp my feet along with everyone else.
Good to Know
The show is at the Empress Museum, Empress Place, Earls Court, London SW6 1TT. The nearest Tube is West Brompton, about three minutes' walk, or Earl's Court is around twelve. The official plan your visit page says to arrive an hour early for the pre-show, and I'd say the same. Our ringside tickets were about £125 each. That sounds like a lot, but seats further back were only about £10 less, so if you're going, go ringside. It's worth it.
Was It Worth It?
A seafood and pasta dinner that was worth the bloat, 45 minutes lost in a circus museum, one of every alcohol-free cocktail, free churros from an old friend and a trapeze act right above my head. For a Greatest Showman newbie, it was a brilliant way to come alive. The one point I've dropped? That's purely for the price.
Worth It score: 9/10 (it stung the wallet!) | Cost: About £125 each for ringside | Sober-friendly: We tried every alcohol-free cocktail on the menu | Food-intolerance-friendly: Simple circus fare, so eat first | Would we go back? Yes, once the wallet recovers.
Have you been to Come Alive!? Tell us your favourite act and your favourite song in the comments.
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