Description
This is a beautiful souvenir program from the return engagement of the CY COLEMAN, MICHAEL STEWART and MARK BRAMBLE musical comedy "BARNUM" at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London, England. (The Original Broadway production opened April 30th, 1980 at the St. James Theater in New York City and ran for 854 performances. The Original West End production opened June 11th, 1981 at the London Palladium and ran for 655 performances. Following an extensive national tour, the production returned March 14th, 1985 to the Victoria Palace for an additional 383 performances.) ..... The musical starred MICHAEL CRAWFORD as Circus Impressario P. T. Barnum and featured EILEEN BATTYE, STEPHEN BEAGLEY, CHRISTINA COLLIER, MICHAEL HEATH and SALLY LAVELLE ..... Side Note: MICHAEL CRAWFORD trained at the Big Apple Circus School in New York City to prepare for the ambitious stunts. He learned to walk the tight-rope, juggle and slide down a rope from the rafters of the theatre. After further training for a later revival of Barnum, he was awarded a British Amateur Gymnastics Association badge and certificate as a qualified coach. "Barnum" was well-received in London, becoming a favorite of Margaret Thatcher as well as the Queen Mother, and earning Crawford his first Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical on the London stage. (Wikipedia) ..... CREDITS: Book by MARK BRAMBLE; Music by CY COLEMAN ("Wildcat", "Sweet Charity", "Seesaw", "Little Me", "I Love My Wife", "On the Twentieth Century", "Barnum", "City of Angels", "The Will Rogers Follies", "Welcome to the Club"); Lyrics by MICHAEL STEWART ("Bye Bye Birdie", "Carnival", "Hello, Dolly!", "George M!", "Mack & Mabel", "Barnum", "42nd Street", "Bring Back Birdie", "Harrigan & Hart"); Sets designed by DAVID MITCHELL; Costumes designed by THEONI V. ALDREDGE; Original Broadway Production Directed and Choreographed by JOE LAYTON; Choreography re-created by BUDDY SCHWAB; Directed in London by PETER COE; Original Produced on Broadway by JUDY GORDON, CY COLEMAN and MAURICE & LOIS F. ROSENFIELD in association with IRVING FELD and KENNETH FELD; Produced in London by HAROLD FIELDING ..... DETAILS: The oversized 24 page program measures 9" X 12" inches and includes individual photos of each of the leading actors and members of the ensemble, extensive editorial on the show, three pages of historical text on P. T. BARNUM, JENNY LIND and the BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS, two oversized postcards (shown in the last scanned image) and several pages of full color photos of scenes from the musical ..... PLEASE NOTE: The scanned pages have been cropped due to the limitations of my scanner. The margins are slightly wider than shown ..... CONDITION: With the exception of light edge wear, this program is in excellent condition and will make a wonderful addition to the collection of any musical theatre aficionado or historian. This item will be carefully packaged in a protective sleeve and backed by stiff cardboard.
