POMP, SNOW & CIRQUEumstance-- A Fantastical Book Becomes A Phenomenal Show

The highlight of the season for my family was the new book-to-stage-show premiere of POMP, SNOW & CIRQUEumstace at the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood.

I hadn’t been to the Diplomat in a decade and thought it an unusual location for what was billed as a holiday cirque show. Fortunately, there are creative minds like Neil Goldberg, who wrote the book, created the show, and invents new ways and places for the world to be entertained. Together with LA-based Capture Studio Group, the Diplomat was transformed with an abundance of imagination into a wondrous land of enchantment.

Once inside the resort, the POMP, SNOW & CIRQUEumstace experience was like following the Yellow Brick Road into a Wonka Factory at Hogwarts. Imagine the Munchkins as charismatic Sprites, Oompa Loompas as the unexpected Santa’s drones and the Wizards as spellbinding magicians of disbelief. Truly out of this world!

The original production was cleverly based on the award-winning book’s story of three best friends, who study music, magic and circus at a secret university, where holiday preparations include lessons like - using your talents for good in this season of smiles, and by doing so makes life worthwhile.

Worthwhile you ask? Categorically, yes, and undeniably gave us a lot to smile and cheer about.

My kids read the book before seeing the show and even though the holidays are over, can’t put it down or stop singing the songs. They were in awe, my wife and I thoroughly entertained, and my parents were surprisingly mesmerized.

These people know how to put on a show! The talent was top-notch, original music joyfully contagious and the costumes like nothing we’d ever seen before.

Add to the non-stop action a colossal setting surrounding a packed audience with imagery and special effects, and you’ve been transported into the POMP, SNOW & CIRQUEumstance Universe, a place I can’t wait to take the family again.