‘The Secret Circus Musical’ brings big feelings to Denver

Touring show blends clowning, puppetry and circus acts into a joyful, family-friendly romp.

For two brief performances at RISE Comedy, the touring production of The Secret Circus Musical transformed the venue in Denver’s Ballpark District into a colorful underground rebellion.

The premise is simple and knowingly silly: in a world where feelings have been outlawed by a tyrannical king, a group of performers create a secret circus where emotions are not only allowed but celebrated. Under this renegade big top, tightrope walkers, jugglers, ballerinas and puppets turn their feelings into art while dodging the “feelings police.”

Created by Chanel Samson and Holly Anne Mitchell, the roughly 45-minute musical is a high-energy mashup of clown show, puppet theater and cabaret concert. It’s pitched as family entertainment and it certainly works for kids, but there’s enough wit and emotional sincerity here that adults will find plenty to enjoy as well.

A rebellious big top

The experience begins before the audience even enters the theater. Performers greet guests in the lobby, chatting in character and inviting them to write down secrets to place in a hat. These confessions later become the basis for a short improvised musical moment.

Before entering the theater, audience members were encouraged to write down a secret. | Photo: Toni Tresca

At the center of the show is Samson’s clown persona, an exuberant ringmaster who guides audiences through this hidden world of emotional expression. Samson performs with infectious enthusiasm, delivering the show’s original songs while bouncing between playful clowning and earnest storytelling.

Samson brings a modern sensibility to the clown tradition. Their work is self-deprecating, politically aware and emotionally open in ways that feel distinctly contemporary. While 2025 Fringe Festival show All the Boys I Blocked leaned toward adult comedy, The Secret Circus shifts that sensibility into family-friendly territory without losing its wit. Samson’s main counterpart is a mostly silent clown played by Paul Baird, who accompanies the action on accordion and supplies voices for several puppet characters, including the absurdly pompous king who has outlawed feelings in the first place.

The songs themselves are brisk and punchy. All clock in at under three minutes, and some barely pass the one-minute mark, giving the show a fast-moving revue structure. Numbers like “Welcome to the Secret Circus!” and “1 2 3” lean into bright, playful melodies, while “Let Out Your ROAR,” a grunge-style guitar anthem, lets Samson shred on electric guitar for a few delightfully melodramatic moments.

Between songs, the show rotates through a series of circus-style acts. Juggler Cam Resch dazzles with quick, skillful routines, while Raynbow’s hoop work and Lavi’s dance sequences add visual variety. Puppet performances by Natalie Lien Bowdish, Thompson Powers and Katy Williams introduce a parade of oddball creatures, from Muppet-style characters to a large reptilian puppet that made one young audience member gasp and ask aloud, “Is that real?”

Samson didn’t miss a beat. “Yes,” they replied immediately, before moving on.

That kind of playful audience interaction is key to the show’s charm. While spectators aren’t asked to participate heavily, performers frequently acknowledge reactions from the crowd, creating the feeling that the circus is unfolding in real time around them.

Cam Resch juggling. | Photo: Toni Tresca

Local artists under the traveling tent

One of the show’s most interesting features is its hybrid touring model. Although Samson travels with the core concept and musical framework, each city incorporates local performers into the cast. For the Denver stop, that included area circus artists and puppeteers who joined the ensemble for the weekend.

The approach keeps the production feeling fresh and collaborative. It also means the circus acts vary from city to city, allowing the show to adapt to local talent pools while maintaining its core narrative structure.

At RISE Comedy, the venue’s intimate layout worked well for this format. Performers frequently entered from the aisles or circled the audience, turning the modest black-box space into a surprisingly dynamic playground of color and movement. Bright rainbow lighting and simple stage effects helped transform the room without requiring elaborate technical setups.

The cast of The Secret Circus Musical at Denver’s RISE Comedy. | Photo: The Secret Circus Musical

Joyful circus with a slightly messy story

Beneath the goofy circus antics lies the show’s central message: emotions are not something to suppress. As the story unfolds, Samson’s clown reveals a secret past connection to the king who banned feelings in the first place. That revelation leads to the show’s climactic twist. The king ultimately confesses that he outlawed emotions because he was afraid of his own.

It is a gentle lesson about vulnerability and acceptance delivered through songs, puppets and plenty of silliness.

The narrative occasionally feels underdeveloped. One subplot involving the second clown’s romantic confession toward Samson’s character introduces emotional complexity that the show doesn’t fully explore before moving on to the finale. Given the show’s short runtime and family-friendly tone, that looseness is understandable, though it does leave a few threads dangling.

Still, the overall arc lands effectively. Kids in the audience seemed captivated by the visual spectacle, while adults responded to the show’s playful but sincere emotional core. At just 45 minutes, the show moves quickly and rarely drags. The combination of music, circus skills and puppetry ensures there’s always something new happening onstage.

And the underlying message, that feelings are messy, necessary and worth expressing, lands clearly without becoming preachy. For Denver audiences lucky enough to catch its brief stop, The Secret Circus Musical offered a joyful reminder that sometimes the best way to handle big emotions is to juggle them, sing about them and dance them out with the help of some puppets.