Submitted by Andrew Tripp
After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Boundary Central Secondary School’s (BCSS’s) senior drama program returned to the stage last week for four performances of The Greatest Showman.
Styled after the 2017 movie of the same name, the play encapsulates the life and career of Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum, the American entrepreneur who popularized the circus and “freak show” forms of entertainment in the mid-nineteenth century.
The story focuses on the theme of self-acceptance and the acceptance of others, specifically as it relates to Barnum’s troupe of oddities and Victorian society’s reaction to the jugglers, magicians, acrobats, giants and exotic women that made up his circus. It also chronicles Barnum’s relationship with Swedish opera star Jenny Lind, whose wildly successful 1850 American was promoted by Barnum.
Originally slated for January, the BCSS production was abruptly shutdown in December due to pandemic restrictions, leaving its fate in the hands of the provincial government.
Ultimately, the cast members, in large part, voted to continue rehearsals after school in the hope that they would be permitted to return to the stage in front of a full audience. With some original members deciding not to return, director Sarah Tripp had to quickly find players to replace them. With good fortune and a lot of effort, Tripp was able to pull the cast together and get them ready for opening night.
The show was a huge success, with capacity crowds enjoying a rollicking evening of humour, music and dance, in a salute to the tenacity and genius of P.T. Barnum.