A touring circus spectacle built around Lewis Carroll's Wonderland is tumbling into Columbus next year. Cirque Alice will bring its North American tour to Mershon Auditorium on the Ohio State University campus on February 11, 2027, with the show presented locally by ICON Live.
The production reimagines Alice's Adventures in Wonderland through acrobatics, aerial artistry, puppetry, contortion, comedy, dance and live musical moments, according to WSYX. Co-creator Simon Painter said the show aims to create a visually stunning experience capturing the wonder and chaos of Wonderland while showcasing extraordinary performers, and that the world of Alice is filled with imagination, eccentricity, surprise and adventure, making it the perfect foundation for a cirque spectacular, per the same report.
A Tour Spanning More Than 50 Cities
The Columbus stop is just one date on an extensive circuit. The 2027 North American tour of Cirque Alice is set to visit more than 50 cities across the United States and Canada, launching in New Haven, Connecticut on January 8, 2027, before working its way through a winter-spring run that includes Columbus, according to BroadwayWorld. Before crossing into North America, the production staged international engagements in Australia, Singapore and London, including a debut at Brisbane's QPAC Concert Hall in April 2025, as reported by Hennepin Arts.
Behind the production is a creative team with a track record of large-scale touring spectacle. Painter previously co-founded The Works Entertainment and produced The Illusionists, which became the best-selling magic show in Broadway history, according to Cirque Alice's own creative team page. He later sold his former production company to Cirque du Soleil in 2019 and went on to create that company's Las Vegas residency show Mad Apple in 2022, the same source notes. Hoodline previously reported on Painter's touring model in a piece about a possible MGM Grand magic shakeup.
Creative Team and Musical Score
Creative directors Ash Jacks McCready and Kirsty Painter lead the show's artistic vision, working alongside choreographer Dane Bates and costume designer Angela Aaron, per BroadwayWorld's reporting. The production's creative team includes those choreography and costume design roles. Rather than a traditional circus score, the show's music consists of newly arranged contemporary interpretations of classical pieces, with musical arrangements by Martin Raabe-Olsen and Marius Christiansen, according to Hennepin Arts.
The Wonderland setting itself traces back to Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel, which resides in the public domain in the United States. That legal status allows creators to freely adapt Carroll's characters and narrative, according to Public Domain Lab, opening the door for independent circus and theater producers to build original shows around the story's world.
Inside Mershon Auditorium and Ticket Details
Mershon Auditorium, located on Ohio State's campus, opened in April 1957 and is a 2,600-seat theatre, according to the venue's own site. Commercial concert and theatrical bookings there are managed by Columbus Arena Sports & Entertainment, or CASE, the same organization that operates Nationwide Arena and the Schottenstein Center, per CASE. The auditorium is a venue for major touring acts.
Information about Mershon Auditorium special events is available through the auditorium's website. Cirque Alice tickets go on sale Friday, September 18, at 10 a.m., per WSYX's report.
