John Barrowman to Star in 'Barnum' West End Revival?

The Daily Mail reports that renowned UK singer and performer John Barrowman aims to star as P.T. Barnum in a late-2009 West End revival of the musical Barnum.

Barrowman is a common face in English house-holds, having been a judge on UK reality TV shows "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" and the up-coming BBC program "I'd Do Anything" (to cast stars of Oliver!). He is also the star of the hit TV series "Torchwood."

Barnum, with a book by Mark Bramble, lyrics by Michael Stewart and music by Cy Coleman, debuted at Broadway's St. James Theatre on April 30, 1980. Jim Dale took home the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical as the iconic and larger-than-life American showman. Michael Crawford later staged the role at the London Palladium in 1981.

The production is still eligibly "in-talks," though reportedly: "Impresario Cameron Mackintosh has asked Bramble, who also wrote 42nd Street, to beef up the Barnum storyline," and has shoulder-tapped choreographer Rob Ashford to direct.

Barrowman appeared on the West End in 2005 in A Few Good Men. His many other West End credits include Anything Goes (both in 1989 and in its 2003 revival), Grease!, The Phantom of the Opera, The Fix, Hair, Aspects of Love, Miss Saigon, Beauty and the Beast and Chicago, and he has appeared in the States in two Sondheim shows--Broadway's Putting It Together and as Bobby in Company at the Kennedy Center, as well as in Sunset Boulevard. Barrowman has appeared on TV on "Central Park West," and "Titans," and currently plays Captain Jack Harkness on the BBC series "Doctor Who." Film credits include De-Lovely and The Producers.

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