Returning to the lead role in Barnum - The Circus Musical for its UK and Ireland tour, Matt Rawle says: "It's such a dream part for an actor because there's the showman aspect to Barnum, of course, but he's also a flawed human being. He was an entertainer who wanted to bring joy to people's lives. He had great imagination and he was a philanthropist, but the flip side of that is that he could be exploitative. All of that makes for great drama amidst all of the songs and spectacle."
Connecticut-born P. T. Barnum revolutionised entertainment in the 1800s through the Barnum & Bailey Circus and his sensational The Greatest Show on Earth. With music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Michael Stewart and a book by Mark Bramble, the musical about the colorful life of the marketing genius and master of spectacle premiered as a musical on Broadway in 1980 and was a huge hit the following year when Michael Crawford took the lead at the London Palladium ahead of a UK tour.
It has been revived numerous times since, both here and around the world, with Matt originally playing Barnum at the Watermill Theatre in 2004 under the direction of Jonathan O'Boyle and with choreography by Oti Mabuse. The Guardian hailed the show starring actor-musicians as "an immensely beguiling production with immaculate performances that work magic".
He was drawn to the production in the intimate venue in Bangor, near Newbury, because: "I was interested in how they were going to do such a circus-spectacular in such a small space, the answer to which ended up being that they did it brilliantly."
For the 2026 UK and Ireland tour, which starred Lee Mead before Matt's return in August, the show has been supersized for bigger theatres around the country - featuring more than 20 actor-musicians playing 150 instruments alongside acrobats and international circus acts. Presented by Bill Kenwright Ltd, it is in
essence the same production. "But it now has more bells and whistles," Matt marvels. "It's on an even more spectacular scale, with more circus elements, more aerial work and fleshed-out orchestrations."
For the actor it presents a huge challenge because: "You're never off stage, there's lots of dialogue, there are all the songs, of course, and it goes by very quickly." He also plays the piano and demonstrates some circus and magic skills. Then there's Barnum's famous tightrope walk that ends act one to thunderous applause. Surely, it's just like riding a bike, or indeed walking a tightrope, by now? Matt laughs. "Actually, it's much harder this time round because it's longer and higher than it was at the Watermill and we're in different venues for the tour, so it's a moveable feast. The first round I had six weeks of rehearsals, this time it was more like six days. You need a lot of stamina for a show like this but returning to it now the muscle memory soon kicks in.
"When I originally started out I thought 'If I can just get from one side to the other without breaking anything, that is going to be my goal'. Slowly you build up the skill and the stamina, then when you make it across from one side to the other it's magical. It never gets any easier, I'll admit, especially on tour when sometimes the stage is raked and in other theatres it's flat. It keeps me on my toes for sure, but it's such a thrill to hear the reaction from the audience."
The piano-playing comes much easier for the Birmingham-born performer who actually grew up wanting to be a musician. He tinkled the ivories and composed songs, but he also sidelined as a child actor in local productions for the likes of Birmingham Hippodrome and Birmingham Rep and had a few TV roles.
At sixth-form college he did music and theatre studies, admitting: "I couldn't really do anything else because I didn't have an aptitude for anything academic, although I did eventually retake English and Maths."His singing teacher encouraged him to go to drama school. "I was DJ-ing and writing lots of dance music, which I could have quite happily done for the rest of my life, but I managed to get into drama school on a government grant. “Matt lasted two years, smiling now: "I was quite full of myself, like 'I think I know what I'm doing'." Turns out that he did, since he went along to an open audition for Miss Saigon and aced it, landing the plum role of American G.I. Chris Scott in the West End in 1994.
Two years later he was the lead in the original London production of Martin Guerre and has subsequently appeared in more than a dozen musicals including Into The Woods, Assassins, Evita (on stage and in concert), Pippin, Cabaret (both on tour and in the West End) and Anything Goes. "I feel incredibly fortunate to have been given the opportunities I've been given and very lucky," Matt says of his impressive musical theatre CV. "There's been a huge amount of diversity in the roles I've played."
Barnum had been on his radar for a long time before he stepped onto the Watermill stage in 2024. Back in the 1980s his uncle was a successful organist with a Yamaha keyboard at home ("which back then was a bit like having in a PlayStation") who'd play the score along with ragtime songs that had influenced some of Cy Coleman's compositions for the musical. Matt also saw the televised version of the London Palladium production that went out on the BBC. "And I was astonished by Michael Crawford's performance. I think it was one of the first times that a West End show was filmed for TV and I'd never seen anything like it before."
The score features such classics as Come Follow the Band, There is a Sucker Born Ev'ry Minute and Join the Circus. Matt's favorite? "I love The Colors of My Life, especially the reprise in act two. It's a duet between Barnum and his wife Charity, who have been bickering and quarrelling and trading zingers for most of the show. Now we see them sharing memories of their lives together and it's beautiful and moving. Barnum spends a lot of his time humbugging and it's nice to step back from that for a moment."
P.T. Barnum was played by Hugh Jackman in the big screen blockbuster The Greatest Showman and, as in the film, the musical looks at the real man behind the on-stage persona. He was married to Charity but also became infatuated with Swedish singer Jenny Lind. "He was a complex man and a fascinating one," Matt muses. "He was the embodiment of the American dream and the idea that you can be whatever you want to be. He championed the likes of the Bearded Lady and Tom Thumb and, while the conditions in which they worked might not have been the best, I think he genuinely wanted to transform people's lives and show audiences a good time."
Present-day audiences, Rawle promises, will have an equally good time when they come to see Barnum in theatres across the UK and Ireland. "It's spectacular. It's full of death-defying stunts. You've got this amazing score. You've got a cast that play over 150 instruments live on stage every night. You've got all these wonderful characters, even Jumbo the Elephant! And tied into all of that is this emotional story of a relationship which has ups and downs and itself is a bit of a rollercoaster, but you really champion these two people trying to get through life. I think we can all relate to that, especially in this day and age."
Matt smiles. "And it's a classic musical that we're finding during this tour really brings in the crowds. At a time when people are understandably being very careful about how they spend their money, it's really heartening to see them filling theatres and having such a great time."
Tickets: here.