What I liked
Cooper’s performance gives us a rich sense of Lind’s aspirational and joyous personality, as well as her conflict of conscience as she becomes part of Barnum’s manufactured spectacle. Cooper also interacts warmly and wittily with the audience, making us feel like we’re coming into contact with a living soul rather than merely observers of a story.
What I didn't like
I’m not convinced that the show needs to be so fixated with Barnum. He might better serve as a chapter in Lind’s story rather than the framing element.
My overall impression
As in her prior show about Maria Callas, Shelley Cooper proves to be a talented interpreter of artistic personalities. In this show we’re treated to a whistlestop-tour autobiography of a 19th century mega-celebrity, an idealist who believed she was on a divine mission to help the world with her voice but who struggled in a hyper-commercialized US tour. A talented soprano in her own right, Cooper alternates narrative with operatic and art song excerpts, giving us a taste of what made Lind a smash success.
