By Ernest Kearney — Today most will know of Jenny Lind (October 6, 1820 – November 2, 1887), if at all, from the 2017 musical The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum and Rebecca Ferguson as Lind.
The film—while celebrated for its magnificent musical numbers—was criticized for being sub-par filmmaking and providing an even worse bio of the two main characters, especially of Lind.
In her one-woman show Jenny Lind Presents P.T. Barnum Shelley Cooper takes steps to repair the damage done by the film to the real-life singer. Cooper shows Lind did not have an affair with Barnum but was, in fact, a woman of strong religious and moral sentiments.
Lind rose from poverty in her homeland of Sweden to become the most admired opera singer in Europe, and it was at her London debut in 1847 with Queen Victoria in the audience, that Barnum first saw her.
She was a woman of plain appearance, and often remarked about herself that she had a “potato nose.”
It was not her beauty that attracted Barnum, but her value as a commodity, and he quickly signed her for a tour of America.
Cooper’s play centers on the tense and sometimes contentious relationship between the spiritual singer and the amoral promoter, as well as the singer’s opposition to the institution of slavery she found surrounding her in America.
Cooper has both the acting chops and vocal cords for the role of the “Swedish Nightingale,” which only serves to double the pleasure for audiences lucky enough to see her show.
A GOLD MEDAL to Cooper both for her show and for her dedication to the Hollywood Fringe.
Learn More at shelley-cooper.com
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