Rebecca Ferguson is running off to join the circus, as she has just been cast to star opposite Hugh Jackman in the musical The Greatest Showman about P.T. Barnum. As Variety reports, the project has been gestating since 2009, with Jackman onboard to star as Barnum since the beginning. Ferguson will play opera singer Jenny Lind, who was often referred to as the Swedish Nightingale and toured with Barnum in the mid-19th-century at the height of her popularity. Ferguson joins cast members Zac Efron, who will be a playwright and associate of Barnum’s; Michelle Williams, who will play Charity Barnum; and Zendaya, taking on the role of a trapeze artist who Efron’s character has eyes for. Original songs will be written for the film by theatrical composers Justin Paul and Benj Pasek, who received a Tony nomination for their work on A Christmas Story, and it will be the directorial debut of Michael Gracey.
