Date: Fri 10-Sep-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Barnum-Beau-Bridges-Avril

Full Text:

"Barnum" Premiere Celebrated In Grand Hollywood Style

(with photos)

BY SHANNON HICKS

BRIDGEPORT -- Calling P.T. Barnum "a visionary," "tough" and even a "hustler,"

the actor Beau Bridges reflected on the historic figure he portrays in his

newest film during a press conference this week at The Barnum Museum in

Bridgeport.

Mr Bridges visited the city on September 7 for a Hollywood-style premiere of

his brand-new movie Barnum , a film that was produced by the A&E television

network. The film had a sneak preview Tuesday evening at the just-reopened

Polka Dot Playhouse and will be broadcast nationally on Sunday and Monday,

September 12 and 13.

Mr Bridges stars as the adult character in the title role of the mini-series.

His son Jordan portrays Phineas Taylor Barnum during his earlier years. Barnum

offers a close look at the life of the circus showman, entrepreneur and

one-time Bridgeport mayor who was born in Bethel. The film also delves into a

large number of events that went on behind the scenes during the life of a man

who many called the World's Greatest Showman but who preferred to be thought

of as "the children's friend."

Mr Bridges visited Bridgeport last fall to do his own research into the life

of P.T. Barnum. His visit included extended visits to The Barnum Museum and

meeting with staff members. The film works from a script by Lionel Chetwynd

which, said Mr Bridges, "really captured [Barnum's] essence.

"I think P.T. Barnum was definitely a visionary," Mr Bridges said Tuesday

evening. "He felt that entertainment was as important as breathing. He wanted

to turn everybody on, to enliven the world at that time, to have some fun.

"It was important to him that it reached everybody, not just a certain class

of person.

"As years have gone by, the image that kind of sticks is that of a circus

hustler, but he was much bigger than that, much grander," he said. Barnum may

have amassed a huge fortune during his lifetime, but he also lost that fortune

a few times. The man who took the circus from a one-ring juggling act to the

three-ring spectacular that is associated with him today did not live an easy

life.

Barnum's father, Philo Barnum, died before P.T. reached the age of 16. Peals

Philadelphia Museum burned to the ground shortly after Barnum sold the

business. He suffered heartbreak when he lost his first wife, Charity, after

44 years of marriage. He lost one fortune and had to be bailed out by his

"discovery," Tom Thumb (a/k/a Bridgeport native Charles Stratton); then by

1856 he was again known to be bankrupt after putting up $500,000 for Jerome

Clock Co. of New Haven, a company that went under that year.

One of Barnum's best-known exhibits was that of "The Feejee Mermaid." Housed

at Barnum's American Museum (formerly Scudder's Museum), the display was sold

to audiences as the world's only known preserved mermaid. The "mermaid" was in

fact the top of a monkey sewn onto the body of a fish, stored in a large jar

of formaldehyde.

"Yes, he was a bit of a hustler, as these walls can attest to, in some part,

anyway," Mr Bridges said, waving his arms to indicate the exhibits and

memorabilia of The Barnum Museum, where he was speaking. "He was probably

guilty of exploitation at times, but he also took good care of everyone who

worked for him."

P.T. Barnum also did a lot of good during his lifetime, and Barnum the movie

hopes to remind viewers of this. Barnum was an entertainer, both with his

circuses and museums. He devised the idea of the circus parade. He also wrote

newspaper articles and advertisements.

He was president of the Fairfield County Agricultural Society from 1848 to

1854; one of the founders and the first president of Pequonnock Bank of

Bridgeport; a trustee of Tufts College; a Fairfield representative in the

Connecticut legislature in 1865; and later a two-term representative for

Bridgeport in the Connecticut Assembly.

Of course, Barnum also planned and contracted for the construction of the

Barnum Institute of Science and History in 1891. A home for his adopted city's

historic and scientific societies, the building at 820 Main Street is now

known as The Barnum Museum.

"He was a prolific man," Mr Bridges said. "He did live a long life, but he

just filled it up."

Mr Bridges was drawn to the character of P.T. Barnum, he said, because of the

man's tenacity. Born into a family of performers himself, Mr Bridges said he

could relate to working in his father's shop as a young child -- as Barnum did

in his own father's general store -- before getting into a few projects "that

communicated some really important ideas."

The Barnum Museum in Bridgeport hosted the press conference on Tuesday to kick

off an evening that was one part Hollywood, one part fundraiser. Once the

press conference with Mr Bridges was completed, the actor and his wife, Wendy,

along with staff members of The Barnum Museum, producers from A&E, and

Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim and his wife, made the short trip from the

Main Street museum to McLevy Green on State Street.

The Polka Dot Playhouse, the site of the film's screening, is opposite the

green on the same street. Those in attendance at the catered black-tie

reception and screening were not only in attendance for Mr Bridges' new film,

but their donations that evening were for the museum's annual fundraiser.

"He's really a wonderful man," said Barnum Museum public relations director

Avril Westmoreland. "We have enjoyed working with him so much, and when he was

visiting again a few months ago he offered to help [the museum] any way he

could, so we decided to take him up on his offer this way."

Mr Bridges served as honorary chairman of the gala.

"P.T. Barnum," said Mr Bridges, "really loved his work. He was challenged in

his personal life, but he was a tough guy. He hung in there.

"His life is inspirational," he continued. "He just kept bouncing back. He

would never allow himself to be defeated."

A&E can be seen on Charter Communications Channel 43. Following its initial

run each evening, Part One and Part Two of Barnum will be repeated at 10 pm

the same night.