Jackman, songs lift ‘Showman’

Hugh Jackman’s star wattage made the spectacular original big-screen musical “The Greatest Showman” possible. Inspired by the career of 19th-century huckster P.T. Barnum, “Showman” is a modern musical, which means little regard for period details, much less historical accuracy.

Jackman’s Barnum is hardly complex. An outsider who comes from nothing, as a boy he falls for the beautiful blond girl in the magnificent mansion. Her class-conscious father, naturally, forbids them to be child sweethearts, but the grown-up Charity (Michelle Williams) defies dad and marries Barnum.

He vows one day to put her in a house as big as the one she grew up in — which pretty much defines this Barnum. He’s a genial nice guy with serious disregard for the truth.

As Barnum recasts society’s outcasts as exotic “Oddities” like the little person “General Tom Thumb” (Sam Humphrey) or the voluptuous Bearded Lady (Broadway “Waitress” veteran Keala Settle, simply terrific), he also includes circus animals, spectacularly life-like elephants, a lion and even horses, all created through digital wizardry.

The songs and music numbers are what make this “Showman” soar, ensemble pieces with Jackman leading a rousing cast in song and dance.

Two power ballads stand out in the upbeat score: the Golden Globe nominated “This is Me” and a concert solo number “Never Enough” that stops the show.

With its diverse cast, upbeat moralizing and selfaffirming pop anthems, “Showman” works as familyfriendly fare.