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Michael Crawford stars as the the world's greatest showman. Barnum the musical traces Phineas Taylor Barnum's career from 1835 to 1881, from his humble beginnings as a sideshow promoter through the co-founding of "The Greatest Show on Earth". Hailed as "the definitive P. T. Barnum", Michael delivers a performance filled with wonderful songs and show-stopping circus moments.
"Michael Crawford gives it his all--and Crawford's all is a stunning talent and a positive genius for exuberance...(He) could easily have won his own spot in the Greatest Show on Earth." --Douglas Orgil, Daily Express, June 1981
"But in the end the evening belongs to Michael Crawford...Crawford has the star's secret of making it look as if he loves being up there on stage; and he contributes mightily to an evening of raucously, enjoyable, technicoulour popular theatre."--Michael Billington, The Guardian, June 1981
"...That Crawford can move exceedingly fast, and in strange directions, one has known ever since the wonderful and revelatory first night of "No Sex Please--We're British." But he can also stand still, significantly still, and as every actor knows this is a very difficult thing. In "Barnum" at one point Crawford does it to enormous effect...And yet his figure does not look like a statue; it is vibrant with life, with joy, with discovery. This is a moment which is instructive to all aspiring young actors, and spellbinding to an audience."--Harold Hobson, The Times of London, June 19, 1981
"Michael Crawford...is tremendous. He hurls himself at the audience, juggles, walks the high wire, slides down ropes, sings and dances...He is inexhaustible, vital, and unabashedly, old-fashionedly charming: a real star." --Martin Hoyle, Financial Times, March 1981
"Michael Crawford...is tremendous. He hurls himself at the audience, juggles, walks the high wire, slides down ropes, sings and dances...He is inexhaustible, vital, and unabashedly, old-fashionedly charming: a real star." --Martin Hoyle, Financial Times, March 1981
"Mr. Crawford won the standingest ovation I have ever witnessed, a tribute to his energy and intrepidity." --Robert Cushman, Observer, June 1981
"The audience responded with the most spontaneous standing ovation I have seen in a London theatre. Even allowing for First Night hysteria...Michael Crawford deserved nothing less." --Michael Coveney, Financial Times, June 1981
"Every now and then in the commerical theatre, if you are very lucky, you get to see a star invade and inhabit and overtake an entire musical...This is a performance...which ought to be shown to anyone who has ever wondered about the nature of star quality...Mr. Crawford is giving...the greatest star-turn performance in the whole of the West End." --Sheridan Morley, Punch, 1985
