The musical Barnum does not surface often. Entrepreneur PT Barnum (Greg Sollis) might have been big on hokum but in this show he actually has to be seen to walk the tightrope. The show requires some real physical circus skills.

So Canberra Philharmonic have very sensibly recruited Gavin Hillier from local Warehouse Circus as advisor and the result is a show filled with the right kind of acts from tumbling, juggling and magic to Barnum’s tightrope walking.

It’s a slender and surreal telling of the life of Phineas Taylor Barnum and his enthusiasm for fooling the public into parting with money to see 19th century wonders, starting with Joice Heth.

Barnum cheerfully claims Heth is well over 100 and had been George Washington’s nurse. In real life she was African American, a slave and nothing near this age. Here the role is given a spirited performance from Meaghan Stewart.

The script romanticises Barnum’s use of 'humans with difference' like the tiny Tom Thumb (excellent work from Mark Zatschler) and his obsession with trickery and showmanship. There are whales and fake mermaids and of course an elephant, a grand metal wonder designed by Ian Croker.

Sollis makes an ultimately likeable and touching Barnum, carrying this large role’s acting and musical demands well. He’s only occasionally brought to earth by the sense of his wife Charity (a lovely unsentimental performance from Julia Walker on opening night; Emily Pogson will play the role in week two of the season).

As the European songstress Jenny Lind, brought in perhaps to add some class to Barnum’s shows, Demi Smith is cool, controlled and a mite calculating, especially where Barnum’s affections are concerned.

The whole story is quietly surrounded by circus acts, controlled and presented by the ringmaster (Jano Simko) who is adept at keeping the audience amused. There’s always something interesting going on in the crowd scenes.

Chelsea de Rooy’s costumes have a gorgeously faded look about them and the circus people especially are given a great dash of steampunk.

Ian Croker and Steve Galinec’s circus tent of a set matches the costumes with its air of faded glories but is done scant service at a few moments when the lighting attempts some kind of a strange low level.

This is especially apparent in the stylishly appropriate request to the audience to switch off phones, where the atmosphere set-up by a raft of pre-show acts is threatened by a suddenly dead-looking stage. Bring back the lighting style of the old Sydney Tivoli. And find out how to raise, not lower, the light levels after the principals have finished an intimate number in a tight follow spot.

Sound on opening night likewise had a few problems and needed to be more sensitive to the audience’s ears - and the desire to hear the words of the songs - but had settled by the second half.

Such teething problems aside, this Barnum is very well worth a trip to Erindale Theatre.