Venardos Circus mesmerizes Novi audiences during first Michigan appearance

NOVI — The Venardos Circus showed how ordinary people can go far beyond extraordinary as the performers lived their circus dreams.

The show at Twelve Mile Crossing at Fountain Walk Sept. 4-14 mesmerized many audience members with its intimate, boutique feel and vaudeville-style acts.

Julia Swann, a singing ringmaster who performs Broadway-style songs throughout the show, takes the audience on a journey that goes “far beyond” their wildest dreams and instructs them to “live their circus dreams.”

It features high-flying stunts by performers such as LadyBeast — who performed Harry Houdini’s straitjacket escape — aerial acts, plain-faced clowns, jugglers, knife throwing, contortionists, and more.

Mary Ledermann, 96, of Bloomfield Township, said that she has been to many circuses over the years, and although the Venardos circus is on a much smaller scale compared to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus or the Shrine Circus, she found it to be very enjoyable.

“Just being entertained like that by people who are so talented, it just was beyond words,” Ledermann said. 

Lisa Rice, of Garden City, said that she hadn’t been to a circus in a long time and noted that there were no animals at the Venardos Circus. 

“This didn’t have animals, but it was good. The grandkids all liked it,” Rice said. “It was just very friendly and small. It was small and, you know, quaint. I liked that we sat close and stuff.”

“It was more intimate than the other ones that we’ve been to,” said  Holly Rice, of South Lyon.

“For a traveling circus, it was very fun and it was upbeat,” said Michelle Ledermann, 22, of Farmington Hills.

Lisa Rice said the singing ringmaster was a nice touch that kept the kids’ attention. 

“I really liked her,” Michelle Ledermann said of Swann. “I think she was really engaging, and her voice was really nice.”

Michelle Ledermann said she was surprised that the ringmaster was a woman,  as she had never seen a woman take on that role before. 

She said the show gave off “The Greatest Showman” kind of vibes. She said she felt Kevin Venardos’ personal story, although different from the plot of “The Greatest Showman,” had many similarities to it, and the closeness of the performers, many of whom were related, also was similar to the movie. 

Both Lisa Rice and Michelle Ledermann said their favorite act was the knife-throwing act by Priscilla and Jonathan.

“It was actually really scary to watch, but I think it was really fun, I guess because it was scary,” Michelle Ledermann said. “At one point, she was spinning while the knives were being thrown, so it was really frightening because I didn’t want him to hit her. But I think it was really fun to watch.”

She said she really enjoyed the different music that was used throughout the show, as it was not common music that is played frequently in the U.S., and that it incorporated some French songs. 

Gary Ledermann said that although he liked the acts, his favorite thing was the food.

“I liked the acts, they were great, but you know, I like the popcorn and the cotton candy myself,” he said. “Like the old circus, you know, they had the cotton candy and the snow cones and the kids like that stuff, and I didn’t mind it either, myself. It just reminded me of circuses of old.”

Gary Ledermann said he liked that the circus was on the grass and not set up on the blacktop of a parking lot. He said it made it much more nostalgic.  The straw floor, which would get between the toes of sandal-wearing circusgoers like himself, really took him back to days gone by. 

He said that he really liked the message of the show, to “live your circus dream.” He said he appreciated Kevin Venardos’ video story of how he had gone from being homeless one day to owning his own circus and the importance of working hard to achieve and live your circus dreams, and liked how the theme was incorporated throughout the entire show. 

“I was talking to my daughter the other day at the table, and she said, ‘Dad, I just want to go to work to get money,’ and I said, ‘No, you want to go to work and realize your dreams,’ just like we learned at the circus.”

He said he thought the theme was “pretty cool,” as you don’t normally see a theme like that when you go to that type of show.

“They kind of tied it together with that theme, and I guess where else do you reach for your dreams and achieve your goals than, I guess, to be a circus performer,” Gary Ledermann said. “I can’t believe they’re making a fortune; it’s just I think they love what they are doing.”

After each performance, Swann would ask the audience if they were to come back with a new show, if they would come to see it, and the answer was always a resounding “yes.”

“It looks like it’s a winner,” Venardos told the Novi Note via text message when asked if they would be coming back next year.