If you go
› What: “Side Show”› Where: Barking Legs Theater, 1307 Dodds Ave.› When: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8-9, 14-16; 2:30 p.m. Feb. 10› Admission: $20, $17 senior adults and students› For more information: 423-987-5141
Laurie Shaw, seated left, and Caitlin Overton play Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton in “Side Show.” Behind them is Jonathan Harris, who plays press agent and promoter Terry Connor. / Jonathan Harris photo
Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga kicks off its 2019 season this weekend with the musical “Side Show” by Bill Russell and Henry Krieger.
“Side Show” was a cult favorite, though short-lived, musical from Broadway’s 1996 season, according to ETC director Garry Lee Posey. It follows the lives and loves of famous Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton.
The Hilton twins, conjoined by a link of flesh near the hips, were staples of the side-show circuit in Europe, Australia and America from their childhood. Their talents propelled them from the side show into vaudeville and eventually into motion pictures. This musical takes a biographical perspective on the sisters’ rise to fame.
“On the surface, this is a simple show about the complex lives of these two women. But there’s a deeper message that is explored within the show that specifically appealed to me,” says Posey.