Great Moscow Circus
December 14-March 15. Various times and venues. Booking hotline: 2806 0220. Tickets $120-$230
The man in the big glittery red coat is juggling with some stunned Hong Kong children who find themselves jostling for position with journalists, equally fascinated by the circus skills. Alexander Sasha Frish (pictured) is demonstrating tricks he's picked up in a lifetime travelling with the Great Moscow Circus and, despite the fact the company is announcing it is about to make their fifth visit here for a five-month tour, no one can seem to get enough. The lure of sawdust, circus ring, thrills and spills does it again.
What's going to be rather different this time is that the Big Top is coming, one of those massive tents from childhood storybooks. Big Tops are getting a bit thin on the ground these days, with circus' tending to go into bigger, permanent venues, even on tour. Cirque du Soleil has been a notable exception but even there its tent was pitched in Central and stayed put. The Great Moscow Circus will tour to areas throughout Hong Kong, starting in Victoria Park, then moving on to Tai Wai, Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan and Kwun Tong.
'It's taken more than two years of groundwork,' says Michael Coad, chief executive of Worldwide Entertainment, which is bringing the circus here. Statistics? Yes, this is a bit of an epic operation: the 42-metre diameter tent (cost HK$15 million) is propped up by four 'king' poles 14 metres high, and takes three kilometres of wire rope to hold up. It seats 2,000 and is home to 65 circus stars. It'll take 75 crew about 24 hours to put the tent up, and about eight hours to pull it down.
Enough already. On with the show! There's plenty happening. A big thumbs down not so much for the dogs and horses involved, but for the puma, tiger and chimps. What's wrong with sticking with the magic of foot jugglers, trapeze artists, hand balancers, stilt acrobats, and clowns taking part? That, a red and white tent, and a larger than life ringmaster should be more than enough to sell out each night.