Film may send circus to B’way

Buzz on Jackman’s ‘Greatest Showman’ spurs ‘Barnum’ talk

THE Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus packed up for good this year — but P.T. Barnum is still the toast of the town, thanks largely to Hugh Jackman.

You can’t turn on the TV without seeing him and co-stars Zac Efron and

Michelle Williams swinging from trapezes in ads for “The Greatest Showman,” starring Jackman as the Prince of Humbugs.

The film opens Dec. 20 and I have no idea how it will do. But it’s certainly sparked interest in Broadway’s “Barnum,” with its charming score by Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart.

As it happens, a revival of that 1980 hit just opened at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory. Reviews were mixed, weighed down by the performance of leading man Marcus Brigstocke, a popular comic in England, a “who he?” over here.

Brigstocke “gamely dives in at the deep end and belly-flops,” said the Telegraph. Not the kind of review you want coming in over your iPhone at the opening-night party.

But the critics mostly enjoyed director Gordon

Greenberg’s intimate cir- cus (the Chocolate Factory is a tiny factory), which one called “a charming, toe-tapping affair.”

“Barnum” isn’t the greatest show on Earth, but I saw the original as a kid and remember the wonderful

Jim Dale in the title role. He rode a unicycle, bounced off a trampoline, walked a tightrope and led a marching band singing “Come Follow the Band,” a brassy song second only to “Seventy-Six Trombones” from “The Music Man.”

The leading lady was pretty good, too. Somebody called Glenn Close.

And you can’t beat Coleman and Stewart’s score: the lovely “The Colors of My Life,” the snappy “Join the Circus” and the tongue-twisting “Museum Song.”

The Chocolate Factory sent a terrific revival of “La Cage aux Folles” to Broadway in 2010. Given the mixed reviews for “Barnum,” I doubt we’ll be seeing this one here. But several producers, including Cameron Mackintosh, have long hoped to bring “Barnum” back to Broadway. It all hinges on finding the right leading man.

Dale was a hard act to follow, and I have no doubt Jackman’s raised the bar in “The Greatest Showman.”

But sooner or later a breakout star is going to appear who can walk a tightrope, ride a unicycle, lead a band and charm an audience. I wonder what Ethan

Slater’s doing after “Spongebob Squarepants.”