Side Show

Side Show
Original Broadway theatre poster
Music	Henry Krieger
Lyrics	Bill Russell
Book	Bill Russell
Basis	The lives of Daisy and Violet Hilton
Productions	1997 Broadway 2014 Broadway revival 2016 Off West End

Side Show is a musical by Bill Russell (book and lyrics) and Henry Krieger (music) based on the lives of Daisy and Violet Hilton, conjoined twins who became famous stage performers in the 1930s.

The musical opened on Broadway on October 16, 1997. Robert Longbottom directed and choreographed, and the cast starred Emily Skinner as Daisy and Alice Ripley as Violet. Despite receiving some positive reviews, the show closed on January 3, 1998 after 91 performances. The show has been revived in many regional productions. Side Show was revived on Broadway during the 2014–2015 season, closing on January 4, 2015.

The Boss, the ringmaster of a sideshow, introduces the exhibits: the bearded lady, a geek, the Cannibal King, the seraglio of a Hashemite sheik, and, lastly, his star attraction, the Siamese twins ("Come Look at the Freaks"). Buddy Foster, an aspiring musician, brings Terry Connor, a talent scout for the Orpheum Circuit, to see the Siamese twins, persuading him to enter the show all the way. Coerced ominously in by the Boss, Buddy thinks he could help them create an act and convinces Terry to meet them. The two men interrupt a birthday party for the girls ("Happy Birthday To You And To You").

Terry asks their names and they respond, "I'm Daisy" and "I'm Violet". He then asks them their dreams ("Like Everyone Else"); Violet, the gentler of the two, wants a normal life of a husband and home; Daisy, on the other hand, seeks fame and fortune. Terry tells them he wants to help their dreams come true ("You Deserve a Better Life"). After the Boss rudely refuses Terry's offer to be cut in on the twins' potential vaudeville career ("Crazy, Deaf and Blind"), Terry devises a scheme whereby Buddy will teach the girls a song. Jake, an African-American who plays the Cannibal King in the sideshow and is the twins' friend and protector, begs them to consider what they're getting into and the whole sideshow family adds its opinion ("The Devil You Know").