As you may have heard, there’s a big new film musical coming out at Christmas about circus showman extraordinaire P.T. Barnum. Hugh Jackman stars. But nearly 40 years ago, the great Broadway composer Cy Coleman beat Hollywood to the punch with Barnum, his stage musical starring Jim Dale and co-written with Michael Stewart.
Coleman and Stewart’s show was ambitious — Barnum’s biography was told in the form of a three-ring circus — so to raise money, the songwriters set out across New York playing their score and telling the story in backers’ auditions held in lots of Upper East Side apartments. Well, TMTP gained access to an extremely rare tape of one of those backers’ auditions — and for fans of musical theater, it’s irresistible stuff. Coleman and Stewart and in top form with a marvelous collection of songs. The potential investors loved the team — and in this exciting CD, you can hear exactly what they heard in one of those lavishly appointed living rooms.
Release Date: September 8, 2018
Available at Amazon.com and iTunes.