The Greatest Showman

Front Row at the Movies by Shirrel Rhoades

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Hugh Jackman — aside from being a terrific Wolverine — is a great showman. In fact, he stars in the new movie titled “The Greatest Showman.”

Phineas Taylor Barnum, of course, was founder of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, which later merged with Ringling Brothers to become the self-proclaimed “Greatest Show on Earth.”

“The Greatest Showman” is now entertaining folks at Tropic Cinema.

Taking a few liberties with historical facts, this musical follows P.T. Barnum (Jackman) and his wife Charity (Michelle Williams) as the young entrepreneur borrows money using sunken ships as collateral to launch Barnum’s American Museum in downtown Manhattan. The combination museum, zoo, and lecture hall starts to catch on when he follows his kids’ advice and begins featuring real-life freaks instead of waxed figures.

Among Barnum’s entourage you’ll find a bearded lady (Keala Settle), a tattooed man (Shannon Holtzapffel), and General Tom Thumb (Sam Humphrey). Also you’ll meet trapeze artists (Zendaya Coleman and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), Queen Victoria (Gayle Rankin), and Swedish Nightingale Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson, with her singing voice dubbed).

Jenny Lind provides conflict between Barnum and his wife. And Barnum’s partner Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron) provides a love interest for the daring young girl on the flying trapeze.

The Carlyle character is a flimsy substitution for the real James Anthony Bailey, who lent his name to the tent-show version of Barnum’s circus. The movie portrays Carlyle as a playwright who invests in the show; in truth, Bailey was a circus ringmaster who had worked with several big tops before uniting with Barnum.

Hugh Jackman is an accomplished song-and-dance man. He belts out such tunes as “The Greatest Show,” “A Million Dreams,” “Come Alive,” and “From Now On.”

As for the real-life circus, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus gave its last performance in May 2017 … so needless to say there had to be a movie to memorialize the showman behind this three-ringed entertainment phenomenon.

Email Shirrel: srhoades@aol.com