Page 24 - The Outdoor Showman OCT-DEC 2024

CIRCUS NEWS
Who would have thought the hot-
spot for Australian tented shows in
October would be Rockhampton,
on the Tropic of Capricorn?
Okay in mid-winter, for the
North run. But October?
There they were: Hudson’s Circus
at Biloela after the north run, then
the cabaret-circus ‘Scandalous’, also
after a late north run, and another
cabaret-show, ‘Paramour Cafe.’
All did good business,
some of it excellent.
Shane and Nancy Lennon’s Hudson’s
played to Cairns, big season in
Townsville, then a west loop
through Moranbah, Longreach,
Blackall, Tambo, Bilo, back to
Brisbane before Christmas layoff.
Amalgamate
Shane will be amalgamating the
two Hudson’s Circuses over the
break. It’ll be a very strong show.
Their Gold Unit went well in
regional NSW, but new government
taxes make it super-hard to
keep any profit afterwards.
There’ll be changes to ‘Scandalous’,
too. After a shaky six-week start, it’s
done well on the north run. It ends
the year at North Lakes, Brisbane.
‘More and bigger’, Shane says. A new
tent has arrived from Italy, and one
seating section is being up-graded.
New player
“Paramour Cafe’ started in Cairns, after
its casino started a massive make-over.
Wesley, who operated the cabaret
there for years, bought a two-
poler, tables and all the gear to
seat 150 for a dinner-show.
They hit the road mid-year, playing
North and Central Queensland
cities down to Rockhampton
Showground, October 18-19-20.
Well-supported. Watch what
happens next winter!
Harringtons
Big moves here, too. Kane
and Camelia have just bought
a $100,000 Italian Big Top
for The Harrington Circus
Show (only slightly bigger
than their current one).
From late January, they’ll have
four more sections of seating,
and the program will change
from 50 minutes to two
45-minutes with an interval.
They ended their south-west
Queensland run with sell-outs at
St George, then crossed into NSW:
Lightning Ridge, Walgett, Moree
(sell-out!) then Narrabri (very soft,
following Brophy’s and Hudson’s.)
Then followed Gulgong,
Dunedoo, Wingen, Branxton, for
a Christmas Santa Spectacular
at Blacktown, Sydney, and New
Year on the Central Coast.
Strut & Fret
Scott Maidment has opened a
second circus-cabaret venue,
West End Electric, in Brisbane.
The theatre seats 400-plus, with
a bar, and opened August 29.
Featured act in a production
called “Limbo,” is Anna Fable, a
singing dancing fire-breather.
Next production is scheduled to be
“Blanc de Blanc Encore,” including
some former Cirque du Soleil
performers and live music, expected
to be there before Christmas.
It’s a sister venue to Strut &
Fret’s Sydney cabaret-circus,
The Grand Electric.
Stardust Circus
This big show played E.G.
Whitlam Park, Earlwood,
Sydney, November 15-24.
It goes to Warriewood, in the Northern
Beaches, November 29 to December
22 - three days before Christmas.
Cast and crew, all seven of her
performer children, most of the 22
grand-children, and circus people
Australia-wide, threw a party in the Big
Top to celebrate co-owner Jan Lennon’s
80th birthday ( a few weeks early!)
Chimps: Shakespeare?
They’ve now tested the old story
that sooner or later, a monkey
sitting at a typewriter could produce
the works of Shakespeare.
University of Technology Sydney
actually tested the theory.
Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and
154 sonnets, 885,000 words.
The uni based its research on
using just one monkey.
They calculated that the chance of
hitting the right keys in order, would
take just one monkey longer than
the entire life-span of the universe.
It would take 300 million
random key-strokes just to
write the word “bananas.”
Don’t you learn a lot from universities?
Cirque du Soleil
“Luzia” the Cirque du Soleil
production, became its first
production to show on its exclusive
ten-year-lease site in Brisbane.
The company outlaid big dollars (of
the order of $1-million) to provide
earthworks, water, sealed parking
and amenities, on a site near
Brisbane International Airport.
Royal Queensland Golf Club owns
the freehold, on a heavily-trafficked
site near the Gateway Bridge.
“Luzia” has gone on to Sydney,
with Melbourne to follow.
Hudson’s Circus
Big celebration in the Hudson’s
Circus Big Top at Brisbane’s North
Lakes, Tuesday November 19.
Inside ‘Infamous’ Spiegeltent
22 THE OUTDOOR SHOWMAN