BARNUM announced for Chichester Festival 2013

Music by Cy Coleman

Lyrics by Michael Stewart

Book by Mark Bramble

In a Revised Version by Cameron Mackintosh and Mark Bramble

Theatre in the Park 15 Jul - 31 Aug 2013

‘Barnum’s the name, P T Barnum, and I want to tell you that tonight, on this stage, you are going to see - bar none - every sight, wonder and miracle that name stands for!’

This exhilarating Broadway musical follows the irrepressible imagination and dreams of Phineas T Barnum, America’s Greatest Showman. The story of his life and his marriage to Chairy reveals a couple who looked at the world from opposite sides of the spectrum, and also reveals that she was the practical one who made his dreams come true. We follow the legendary showman’s life as he lit up the world with the colour, warmth and excitement of his imagination and finally teamed up with J A Bailey to create Barnum and Bailey’s Circus - the Greatest Show on Earth.

Cy Coleman’s wonderfully exuberant score includes the hits Come Follow The Band, The Colours Of My Life and There Is A Sucker Born Ev’ry Minute. Barnum will be produced especially for the Theatre in the Park, Festival 2013’s magnificent temporary auditorium, its vast tented environment creating the perfect home for this brilliant, uplifting musical, shot through with the magic of circus.

Christopher Fitzgerald plays P T Barnum. A rising star on Broadway, he has garnered great acclaim and awards for roles such as Boq in the original cast of Wicked, Igor in Young Frankenstein, Og in Finian’s Rainbow and Launcelot Gobbo in Al Pacino’s production of The Merchant of Venice.

Cameron Mackintosh, who is co-producing Barnum with Chichester, has been described by the New York Times as ‘the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world’. The stellar creative team assembled for Barnum is led by Olivier Award-winning director Timothy Sheader (Artistic Director Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park, Crazy For You, Into the Woods, Hello, Dolly!), Co-Director and  Choreographer Liam Steel (Into the Woods and the new movie of Les Misérables),  Co-Choreographer Andrew Wright (Olivier Award nominated for Chichester’s Singin’ in the Rain) and musical maestro Stephen Brooker (Les Misérables stage and movie, Mary Poppins, Miss Saigon).