Underbelly Boulevard Soho is to close, and its final production will be Sophie’s Surprise Christmas Party, a festive circus and comedy party from Three Legged Race Productions running from 13 November 2026 to 10 January 2027.
When Sophie’s Surprise Christmas Party gives its final performance on Sunday 10 January 2027, it will also bring down the curtain on Underbelly Boulevard Soho. Underbelly and Three Legged Race Productions have confirmed that the festive show, which opens on Friday 13 November 2026 with a press performance on Wednesday 18 November 2026, will be the last production ever staged at the venue.
The closure ends Underbelly’s time in Soho, though not its wider work: the company will continue to present live entertainment elsewhere, including its programme at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The building’s most recent opening was Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody, whose reviews were gathered on this blog only this week.
The show is a new one from the same team, returning after last year’s festive hit, and it turns the office Christmas party inside out. Its premise is that Sophie has mislaid her Christmas spirit and that only the most outrageous party imaginable will restore it. At every performance one member of the audience is chosen to become Sophie, the unsuspecting guest of honour, while the rest of the house attends as party guests. The ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future put in an appearance, as do a Mariah Carey newly thawed from her slumber and a Scrooge who strips. Aerial routines, acrobatics and comedy are set to a soundtrack of throwback hits, and the producers promise that no two performances will be the same.
The company is led by the three founders of Three Legged Race, Katharine Arnold, Isis Clegg-Vinell and Nathan Price, who are joined by Nate Armour, Sam Goodburn and Hugo Desmarais. Arnold, an aerialist, choreographer and circus consultant, has toured with Cirque du Soleil and worked on Tim Burton’s Dumbo. Clegg-Vinell is a former Team GB gymnast and British and European Acrobatic Gymnastics Champion whose performing credits include Cirque du Soleil and The 7 Fingers. Price has also performed with both companies, and served as associate circus director on Disney Theatrical Group’s The Greatest Showman – The Musical.
Armour, a juggler and acrobat trained at the École de Cirque de Québec, spent three years in residency with Spiegelworld in Atlantic City and has performed in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Switzerland and the United States. Goodburn, a comedy circus performer, has won three first-place medals at UK circus competitions, appeared with La Clique, at Glastonbury Festival and on Britain’s Got Talent, and holds three Guinness World Records for custard-cream biscuit skills. Quebec-born Desmarais brings more than 30 years in circus, with credits that include Cirque du Soleil, La Clique, Las Vegas casinos and Disney parks, and has created original aerial apparatus.
Ed Bartlam, Director of Underbelly, said: “Underbelly Boulevard Soho has been a hugely special home for bold, ambitious live entertainment, and we couldn’t think of a better last show for the venue than Sophie’s Surprise Christmas Party. It’s everything we love about live performance - extraordinary talent, outrageous fun and audiences coming together for a truly unforgettable night. We’re going out with a bang, and we can’t wait to welcome audiences through the doors one last time.”
Three Legged Race Productions said: “Sophie’s Surprise Christmas Party is all about bringing people together for a night of fun, spectacular circus and wonderfully unexpected festive chaos. We’ve created a show that throws the traditional Christmas party out of the window, with jaw-dropping skills, high-energy comedy, a brilliant throwback soundtrack and plenty of surprises along the way.”
The new production builds on the company’s Sophie’s Surprise 29th, which sold out its Edinburgh Fringe runs, travelled to London, Montreal and Vancouver, won the Offie for Best Production in 2024 and received the Seoul Arts Award in 2025.
For a later night out, Sophie’s Lates offers a faster 70-minute version of the party at selected performances starting at 9.30pm. Tickets are on sale now from £30, including the booking fee.
