Venardos Circus to bring ‘Alice in Wonderland’ to life

NOVI — Audiences will soon have an opportunity to take a step through the looking glass and go down a rabbit hole of enchantment and wonder as Venardos Circus returns to Novi with its own spin on Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

Venardos Circus is a combination of Broadway theater and traditional circus acts. The show features acrobats, aerialists, hand balancers, jugglers and comedians.

The “Alice” show is designed with each circus act being told as if it were a new chapter of the classic novel, with a few additions to the cast of characters.

Carina Torres, a professional dancer, and her fiancé, Ramone the clown, had already created an act before being told of the theme. She said they had to think of what character would suit her act, and as there wasn’t one from the novel, they created one. 

“This year’s unique; I get to play a carrot in the show,” she said. “That is very different, because my fiancé’s the white rabbit. He’s usually a clown, so as the clown, we had an act together. I was a prima ballerina and he’s a clown, but now with the ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ we were like, ‘Well, what can I be? What can a white rabbit be with a girl? Well, why can’t he fall in love with a carrot,’” Torres said. 

She said the act is done in a slapstick comedy format, where the white rabbit is dreaming of eating a carrot. The revised act allows her to dance on point again, which she said she hasn’t had the opportunity to do for a few years. 

“Now that I’m in the circus, I get to combine both passions — the circus world and my dance world — together,” Torres said. 

Torres does all forms of dance. She discovered the circus while performing aerial silk routines during college. 

“I was going to school and getting a normal degree in dance, and then I ran away with the circus,” she said. 

Show guests should make sure to look amazed at the high cane stylings of Angel Ramos, the Prince of Hearts, or “it’s off with their head.”  

A high cane routine involves doing handstands, balancing on metal canes on wooden platforms stacked on top of each other. He said he goes up about 30 feet in the air.

Ramos, 21, a seventh-generation circus performer, was given the title Prince of Hearts, as his actual mother plays the Queen of Hearts.

“My character, well, I’m a little bit crazy because I’m the Red Queen’s son, but I’m not as evil as her,” he said. “I try to help Alice out a little bit so she doesn’t get her head taken off by the Red Queen.”

Ramos said he has done some trapeze, which the rest of his family does, but fell in love with high cane performing after seeing Rokardy, his mentor, perform the stunt in Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas when he was just 13.

“I mean, it’s pretty impressive, I think,” he said. “It definitely gets the crowd going. It can be a little scary. There are definitely a lot of people who gasp. Sometimes people can’t watch, but that’s the point.”

“Not so much that they can’t watch, but what I want people to feel is that they’re holding their breath. They’re on the edge of their seats, and eventually, when I finish, the roar of the crowd is just something very special,” he said.

Ramos said it was challenging to fit the acts into the storyline, but it worked out well in the end.

“The circus is called the ‘Little Circus that Could’ for a reason,” Ramos said. 

“Our goal is for 90 minutes to make you forget the outside world, forget about any problems you might be having, and just sit down and have a few laughs, have a few gasps, and honestly have a few sentimental moments,” Ramos said. “That is my goal, and that is every other performer here’s goal, is to make you, for 90 minutes, forget if you’re sad, or if you’re having trouble with your life.”

Ramos said that a lot of guests tell them that they feel inspired after the show, because the message is to go out into the world and live your very own circus dream. He said each act strives to convey a message of perseverance and that nothing is impossible. He said that to live your circus dream is not necessarily to join the circus, but rather to go after whatever you aspire to be or do.

“We invite guests to leave the ordinary behind and join us on a journey that’s surprising, joyful and unforgettable,” said Kevin Venardos, founder and producer of Venardos Circus. 

The Venardos Circus Andi train will roll into town June 11 and run through June 21. Show times vary. For more information and to purchase advance tickets, visit venardoscirucs.com. Ticket levels vary, but a general admission ticket costs $28.95 and a child’s ticket (12 and younger) costs $19.95.