★★½☆☆ Musical itself is weak but fabulous (conjoined) co-stars are well worth seeing.

Broadway musical Side Show is loosely based on the true story of conjoined English twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, best known for their appearance in the cult 1932 film Freaks. Born in Brighton in 1908, their horrified mother would have nothing to do with them so the midwife Mary Hilton took them in and started exhibiting them in the back room of her pub.

^{Laura Bunting as Daisy and Kerrie Anne Greenland as Violet. Photo by Kurt Sneddon}

From there, Hilton toured the twins around the UK. They even came to Australia in 1913, appearing at Melbourne’s Luna Park. After Hilton’s death Myer Myers (or Sir) took over their management, touring them around America where they became stars of the vaudeville circuit in the 1930s. Daisy (who had a child in 1936, which she promptly put up for adoption) died in 1968 of Hong Kong flu but Violet made no attempt to call for help, choosing to die as well, which she did a few days later.

It’s potentially fascinating material to explore, but Side Show, which focusses...