In its 36th year, Circus Smirkus is bringing its 2023 Big Top Tour: A Midsummer Night’s Circus to Waterbury for three shows next month at Farr’s Field. Circus Smirkus is the only traveling tented youth circus in the United States. The Waterbury show dates are July 4 at 6 p.m., July 5 at 1p.m. and 6 p.m., and July 6 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.
The show will feature a vast array of circus arts — including aerials, acrobatics, juggling, clowning — a dazzling display of brilliant costumes, and many other surprises. The 2023 Big Top Tour takes to the road July 1 and travels through mid-August with a tour caravan that requires some 23-support vehicles and 80 people— including performers, coaches, cooks, tech and tent crew and a live circus band playing an original score written specifically for this show. The award-winning circus company performs across New England to approximately 40,000 patrons each summer.
Enter an enchanted forest and let the imagination run away with the circus. For the show, a cast of 40 youth get entangled in the dream-like woods where sprites contort in the trees and fairies fly through the air. Trouble ensues when they all cross paths with the king and queen of the fairies, their fantastical court, and the chief mischief-maker, Puck! This acrobatic adaptation of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy will leave audience members awe-inspired and enchanted
The Waterbury performances are part of the 62-show tour that will visit five states and 14 towns over 50 days this summer. The 30 budding circus stars in the 2023 troupe are ages 11 to 18, and bring their exuberance and polished circus skills to grace the Big Top from regions across the United States. They hail from 12 states: California (7), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), Massachusetts (4), Maryland (1), New Hampshire (5), New Jersey (2), New York (3), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (1), Rhode Island (3), Wisconsin (1).
Visit smirkus.org for a complete tour schedule and to purchase tickets.
