Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Hugh Jackman inhabits another Showman

When the Broadway Houdini musical starring Hugh Jackman fell apart in 2015, Jackman went off to do a musical biopic of P.T. Barnum instead. Now here's the trailer for that movie. Hard to watch and not think about what could have been.



P.T. Barnum died the year Houdini entered show business (1891), so the two men never met. But the world of Dime Museums and Circus, Houdini's bread and butter in his early years, was very much the world of P.T. Barnum.

There is, however, a more tangible connection between the two showmen. Houdini claimed that his vanishing elephant, Jennie, was a descendant of Barnum's own Jumbo. She wasn't, of course. Jennie was part of Powers Elephants who belonged to the New York Hippodrome. That was just Houdini engaging in a bit of old school Barnum "humbug."

HAPPY 4th OF JULY

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3 comments:

  1. I've watched this trailer a good 20 times, maybe more. It looks spectacular! I agree, I think Hugh Jackman would have been an incredible HOUDINI, and he looks like he'll be a fantastic Barnum!

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  2. I Found it odd. A trailer about a musical, and not a single song.

    He does look like he would have made a great Houdini.

    Dick Brookz
    The Houdini Museum
    The Only Building in the World Dedicated to Houdini

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think this looks (and sounds) dreadful.

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