Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular heading to Perth with Des Flanagan at the showman helm

In Des Flanagan’s previous and more traditional musical theatre experiences, including the role of Christian in Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Rum Tum Tugger in the most recent Australian tour of Cats, he has immediately known exactly what to expect from the show.

This is partly because of his prior knowledge of the production and also because he has been involved in putting it together from the ground up in the rehearsal room.

But that was far from the case when it came to not only landing his role as The Showman in Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular, but even in the first stages of the rehearsal process.

“Mate, we had no idea,” says 31-year-old Flanagan about his knowledge of Come Alive! during the audition.

“We’d seen little videos on YouTube of the show, but out of context it makes no sense. You’d be like, ‘What is this?’ but what artist doesn’t need a job? Cats was coming to a close, so I was lucky enough to get in the room.

“The circus performers were creating their acts and there was a loose throughline of the story but collectively understanding it didn’t come until much later. So we learned our portion of the show, but that is one third of it.

“Then as we got into the tent, it was just like slowly sewing this thing together. It honestly took us six weeks before we really knew what the show was and that is the craziest.”

Performed in a purpose-built hippodrome, the all-ages spectacle reimagines Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s soundtrack from 2017 film The Greatest Showman, starring Hugh Jackman, with an all-Australian cast of actors, singers, dancers and acrobats, led by Flanagan as The Showman and Ruby Clark as Max, alongside local and international circus acts.

While the UK version continues to sell out shows during the production’s ongoing London season, the Australian show — which premiered in Sydney in May — has allowed Aussie audiences to experience anthems including This Is Me, Rewrite the Stars and A Million Dreams like never before.

“The Showman is exhausted, where he’s done the Faustian bargain of selling his soul to the ringmaster for the power and fame,” says Flanagan, who describes Come Alive! as intoxicating, breathtaking, and electric.

“The ultimate goal for a showman is to don this jacket that they get to wear on the night of their greatest show. I’ve been at this circus for time immemorial . . . where I’ve never been successful in wearing this jacket, so I’m getting sick of that. Max is presented to me by the ringmaster, unbeknownst to her, at the start of the show as a possible replacement.”

While it might be difficult to imagine the film’s soundtrack recontextualised, Flanagan says the creative team led by creative director Simon Hammerstein has done a phenomenal job of using them as an inspirational vessel for the show’s journey.

“When we were sewing it together, there were so many moments where Ruby and I would just look at each other and go, ‘Well, this is not about us’ which is also extremely liberating as a performer,” the Victorian College of the Arts graduate laughs.

“There are the four elements — the circus, the dancers, us as the singers, and then the audience who are the fourth actor in it, because they really set the tempo.”

Perth audiences who have previously seen Flanagan fall in love with courtesan Satine or strut his stuff as a rockstar feline may notice a few similarities in his latest role, despite how diverse they initially appear.

“The Christian (from Moulin Rouge!) element is in the songs. I get to sing From Now On, and for the traditional music theatre boy in me, it is a belter of a tune and lyrically just a phenomenally well-constructed song,” he shares.

“Olivia Carniato, who’s one of the singers in the show, was also in Cats with me and we have a laugh every now and then because there’s very much elements of Rum Tum Tugger in The Showman. Rum Tum Tugger was a showman, he was a rock god, and that’s a little the same as The Showman who is flirtatious, tricky and loves the spotlight.

“I’m having a lot of fun with this. I’ll lean into the cliche. I joined the circus and I really love it.”

Come Alive! The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular is at Crown Perth, Riverside Entry, P4 carpark, August 27 to October 10. Tickets at premier.ticketek.com.au.