After a year with no hometown circus, this weekend’s event at The Big Top is a return to form for a St. Louis classic.
The St. Lou Revue provides a brief return for Circus Flora—just enough to whet audience goers’ appetites for the full season this fall. The 75-minute show includes five performances Friday through Sunday, with limited pod seating and additional safety measures.
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“It’s a little bit different from what we normally do,” managing director Karen Shoulders explains of the show’s format. “It’s a variety show.” Aerialists, acrobats, and jugglers will appear, as well as dancers, a singer, and plenty of homegrown talent.
“We have an all-St. Louis cast,” says Shoulders. “It’s a fun thing to do to get our community back to work, our performers and our community that got us through this pandemic.”
In planning a return to performing, Shoulders says, it was critical to consider safety precautions for the performers and the audience, and Circus Flora’s Grand Center home offered just the right venue. “We’re extremely fortunate to be in Kranzberg Arts Foundation’s Big Top,” says Shoulders. “It’s not brick and mortar; we can move walls.”
The St. Lou Revue offers evening performances Friday and Saturday, as well as afternoon shows Saturday and Sunday. “That gives us a great launching point for our full season, which returns in October,” Shoulders says. “We’ll have the full ring, the animals, performers, that had been planned originally for 2020.”
The Trial of the Century runs October 7–31 and will include a peanut-free night and sensory-friendly night.
The St. Lou Revue at The Big Top takes place at 7 p.m. Friday, 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, noon and 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets range from $20–$90.
