Beware: This is a review of a past Halloween event. Therefore, do not use it as a basis upon which to preview the same event this year, and please note that the event may not necessarily be taking place this year. Please use our guide for an overview of this years' Halloween attractions. 

Cirque Du Halloween 2003, Alton Towers

Legend has it that in the Big Top behind Adventureland at Alton Towers, there was once a large circus, a spectacle of magic, acrobatics and entertainment. Whilst this show amazed the young and old, it faded away, although it’s said that the entertainers haunt the big top every year around Halloween.

Halloween Spooktacular: Cirque Du Halloween is the completely new Halloween show on ice, taking place in the big top behind Adventureland that is normally home to the incredibly forgettable Webmaster on Ice. Could Halloween Spooktacular possibly be better than a show that has the advantage of having run for over a year?

As the auditorium fills with people, dry ice clings to the rink, slowly creeping across the small expanse of ice. Through the softly lit mist, dwarfs dressed in macabre clown costumes set up the stage, sliding crates of props across the slippery ice.

As the show is introduced, the lights dim and a projector clattering above shows a newsreel showing the history of this haunted big top. As the film ends, our small but perfectly formed clown gets up upon a crate in the centre of the arena, holds a curtain aloft, covering himself before the curtain raises and is then dropped – with the shimmy of a curtain, this small clown has become our host – an undead ringmaster.

Donned in a tophat, flowing tailcoat, waistcoat and boots, our animated host explodes into a zesty and note-perfect rendition of Robbie Williams’ Let Me Entertain You. A clichéd start to a show with no real surprises, but sticking to a reliable formula of well choreographed family fun.

There are two main singers in the show; our pale-faced ringmaster, as well as a corset-clad maiden with a voice on her as powerful as Whitney Houston. As well as these two, there is the glamorous blonde magician’s assistant, several ice-skating clowns as well as numerous other dancers.

With the opening song out of the way, our illustrious host introduces the show. The actor really warms to his role well, delivering an excellent introduction as the magicians come onto the stage.

Accompanied by a striking soundtrack, don’t expect anything original, but expect what’s on offer to be – once again – well-rounded family fun. There’s a lot going on to take in, but the main attraction is always in the centre of the stage, notably our blonde damsel being locked into a wardrobe and appearing to have body parts as stretchy as Stretch Armstrong.

After another well-scripted introduction from our compare, the lights dim for what is perhaps the highlight of the show. A spectacular light and laser show accompanies a black-lit style display including some excellent juggling using flashing balls and batons. In the dark, it appears that the juggling is being performed in slow motion. Again, this is performed to an excellent sound track, this time a fairly trippy, but never-the-less apt dance version of the famous circus theme by P-Control.

Unfortunately, the antics of the clowns, midgets and skaters in the background go un-noticed, but elsewhere the lighting is mesmerising. During this scene, the unruffled blonde is locked up in a box and sawn in half using a spectacular laser effect. Our mischievous clowns cover their ears from her shrill screams before the box is separated and her top goes wayward from her bottom.

What follows is a gutsy performance of Queen’s We Will Rock You by the female vocalist which really is a drawn out way of introducing two acrobats who climb out from a cage and proceed to perform an excellent set of mid-air acrobatics suspended from silk sashes hung from the ceiling.

Various gravity defying poses are synchronised perfectly with the music, with the scene culminating with the pair cocooning themselves in the ribbons before spinning down the sashes from the ceiling to ground level.

As the finale is introduced by our skeletal ring master, the scenery is transformed into an spectacular backdrop of mirrors and ruby-red curtains as the entire cast perform to a medley of Halloween and circus related re-mixes. As the cast take their final bows, confetti rains down on the auditorium before the cast disappear into the darkness.

Cirque Du Halloween hardly rewrites the rules, nor does it set any new benchmarks, but considering that this is a special Halloween show, Cirque Du Halloween really is a fantastic spectacle that absolutely all the family can enjoy.

What you can expect to see is a tried and tested program of magic tricks and stunts, performed to a popular and familiar sound track. Excellent lighting effects really add a certain aura of energy to the show, and whilst there’s often the feeling that skating plays second fiddle to music and magic, the skating seems to be of a fairly good standard.

The premise that this is a Halloween Circus seems to work really well – it also means that the show really doesn’t have to rely too heavily on a coherent (and unnecessarily complex) plot throughout. The show is also seamless and fast moving with no gaps between scenes.

Those expecting a Halloween flavoured Hot Ice will be severely let down, but so long as you go in expecting Cirque Du Halloween to be harmless family fun that everyone can enjoy, then Halloween Spooktacular is a complete success in every possible way.

MS 31 October 2003

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