Tribe Youth Theatre will perform its inaugural show in two weeks time.
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The Bendigo Theatre Company group was formed in April and their first show – circus musical Barnum – premieres on September 28.
Barnum follows American showman PT Barnum as he develops circus acts and turns to politics during the 19th century.
Lachy Geary, who takes on the title role of Barnum, said there is a mixture of nerves and excitement in the company ahead of their inaugural show.
“At first we were all nervous but this is not a standard musical. It really is two hours of full performance, which was bit daunting but we are now fully into rehearsals and excited to showcase our talents,” he said.
As well as honing their singing, dancing and acting skills, the cast has learnt and mastered a wide range of circus skills for the show.
“The whole premise of Barnum, is that it’s not a regular show, it’s very circus based,” Geary said.
“We have more than 40 cast members and they are full of talents like juggling, stilt walking and crazy stuff like acrobatics.”
Geary said he has done a lot of reading on who Barnum was to help him prepare for the role.
“He started as a conman using humbug to fool people into seeing his attractions but become co-owner of the American Museum and after that went to politics before returning to be a showman,” Geary said.
“He was very childish and his relationship with his wife was more like mother and son. He needed a lot of caring and direction but was very independent and mischievous.”
The character of Barnum is on stage for almost the entire show, making the role challenging for Geary.
“He only leaves the stage twice briefly, so there are a lot of lines and you need to be up and full of energy,” Geary said.
“But it is an awesome opportunity to extend my abilities and be part of Tribe’s first production.”
Tribe’s production of Barnum is on September 28, 29 and 30, and October 5, 6, and 7 at 7pm and October 1 and 8 at 2pm at the Girton Grammar black box theatre. Visit www.trybooking.com/RIMI for tickets.