At the helm of The Moscow State Circus is a man from Hartlepool. David Whetstone talked to the region’s foremost big top fan.

AS the world famous Moscow State Circus rolls into the region this week, it will be a homecoming for the man at the top.

For while the circus boasts some of Russia’s most spectacular performers and offers a show inspired by a Russian legend, it’s a one-time hot dog salesman from Hartlepool making the important decisions.

Anthony Anderson – along with partners John Haze from Preston and Paul Archer from Knutsford – bought the rights to produce and promote the circus last October from a company called the European Entertainment Corporation.

Now it is their own European Events Corporation which takes the historic circus on the road, visiting theatres in the winter and putting up its famous big top during the summer months.

Anthony, who is 37, does not profess to be a trapeze artist or high wire specialist. But those in more stable lines of business might suggest he lives dangerously.

Ahead of the circus’s North East visit, he said that while studying at college in Hartlepool as a teenager he had planned to go on and read geography at university.

But then he got sidetracked by his summer jobs which involved putting up flyers for shows and also selling hot dogs and hamburgers.

“I used to go all over the place with the hot dogs and I was putting up posters for different shows,” he said.

“I was supposed to go to university, but I was having such a good time that I thought I’d carry on doing what I was doing for a little bit longer.

“I ended up travelling all over Britain and Europe doing poster distribution and the thing really took off.”

After working for a poster distribution company, Anthony ended up running it. One of the company’s loyal clients was the Moscow State Circus.

“It has been a natural progression really,” said Anthony, speaking from Edinburgh where the circus has been adding to the annual festival fun.

“Sometimes I do look back and think I wish I’d gone to university and done the degree but, to be honest, I was having too much fun and it wasn’t really like work.

“Even now, every single day is different. At the end of a good show you see all these people coming out with smiles on their faces and that’s what I really love.”