Barnum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today most people will have seen and enjoyed the Greatest Showman film which of course was based on this musical, Barnum.  P.T. Barnum, the inventor of humbug, a man obsessed with wild ideas of bringing the most weird and wonderful to the public eye to sell his ideal of the American Dream to audiences far and wide. His amazingly patient and supportive wife Charity, whilst backing the man wasn’t always so sure of his madcap ideas, but support she did. 

The Lyceum Theatre certainly transformed into a magical circus setting with an excellent set . backcloths and side legs along with towers front stage left and right provided additional positions for the cast to perform from. 

Barnum the musical requires the performers to perfect many new skills, juggling, plate spinning, unicycle, stilt walking, summersaulting, tight rope walking, all to achieve the circus atmosphere and all these were performed extremely well.

The production team headed up by Jill Beckett assisted by Mark Harris should be thrilled with the outcome. The cast clearly had taken all your ideas and direction which was then delivered to great effect. Along with Claire Harriott as choreographer assisted by Katie Granger as dance captain,they devised some excellent ensemble scenes all performed with poise and precision. Anna Wright as MD assisted by Chris Flint should also be delighted with the standard achieved in the delivery of the many songs be them solos duets or full ensemble. The lighting and sound was mostly excellent providing atmosphere to the whole production. On odd occasions I felt the orchestra were a little too loud and we therefore lost small sections of words, but this will no doubt be addressed as the week goes along. Barnum the musical is very different to many productions requiring lots of additional skills as already mentioned, it also requires a performer who can deliver all the above, spend nearly the whole production on stage, deliver a multitude of lines with ever differing emotions along with many songs as solos, duets and involved in full ensemble pieces also. Matthew Walker as P.T. Barnum did all that and more. My particular favorites were The Colours of my life along with Charity, There is a Sucker born every minute, The Museum song, how anyone sings that at such a speed with so many words , but you did and did it with total clarity. The Prince of Humbug towards the end surrounded by truly powerful and deep-felt speeches were quite brilliant. Gina Holmes as Charity Barnum often referred to as Chairy gave an outstanding performance, putting up with the never ending humbug from Taylor, but supporting throughout and finally getting one over with the clever heads or tails .The singing was beautiful the acting excellent all delivered with depth and total conviction throughout her seamless performance. The Ring Master by Steve Mather performed and delivered with power and clarity assisting to the ongoing story telling. Some wonderful asides along with the comical one man band at the end of Come follow the Band number when playing a mouth organ with great comic effect. Jenny Lind by Joanne Shearsby , wow what a beautiful voice , perfect for the part along with the comedic scene with Barnum when attempting to speak English , The Swedish Nightingale ,the part you made your own showing such skill in performance and delivery., Zach Rees as Tom Thumb, such a young talent to not only sing Bigger Isn’t Better , but to do it whilst completing so many summersaults along with dancing to a high standard. You should be proud to own the Lyceum stage alone whilst captivating your audience. Well done. As part of the many schemes Barnum dreamt up he purchased the rights to the oldest women in the world, Joice Heath by Carol Wibberley, a great song , some wonderful lines and such fun with the dancing , a beautiful cameo part played and performed well along with excellent humour. Kate Parkin as The Blues Singer gave a powerful performance in Black and White along with ensemble dance and movement. You gave a dynamic performance to such an iconic number along with the emotional last few lines from the raised balcony to the front of the stage. Andres Stansall as James A Bailey beautiful character part as you encourage Taylor to join you and form one of the most famous Circus outfits of all time Barnum and Bailey. Smaller differing cameos throughout along with song and dance and fronting Come Follow the Band with Louise Walker. As Mr Scutter and informing about the fire and mentioning humbug , sadly you never taught me how. There were so many small cameos performances and whilst not mentioning them by name they were all played so convincingly. I must compliment the two actors as statues during Jenny Lind’s song, the stilt walkers, the precision shown by the whole ensemble in so many numbers, the cleverness of seamless set changes . Build and Brick number along with the clock scene, Join the Circus and Come Follow the Band and many more, I really enjoyed the dance scenario by the ladies through the ages from the youngest Amelia to Katie to Louise, all dressed the same and danced as the same, beautiful. The colours played by Louise Loftus as Buttercup Yellow, Lauren Turner as Sapphire Blue, Ricky Allen as Fire Engine Red and Vivien Siberry Scott as Kelly Green were involved in so many iconic memorable scenes. Their clown outfits and faces told a thousand stories and from full dance and song numbers, to creating what felt like shadows being Taylor and Chairy, to dancing with Taylor and supporting  Chairy as she sadly left the stage following the final scene with Barnum. Quite beautifully performed. I must compliment the whole back stage team along with costume and hair, everything looked perfectly in place for the period. A thoroughly professional performance throughout and not to be missed. Uplifting songs, lots of clever ensemble work , the highs and lows of the never ending ideas from Barnum along with joy and sadness. A great evening of theatre topped off with an on stage performance from Anna Wright MD  and four orchestra members giving total life to Come follow the Band

 

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