THE TRANSFORMATION OF BARTHOLOMEW FORTUNO

Bartholomew Fortuno, the thinnest man in the world, believes himself to be a true prodigy. Alongside his colleagues—a fat lady, a giant, a bearded woman, and others—he works in P.T. Barnum’s New York museum. Jeff Woodman puts on a show with his narration of Bartholomew’s transformation as he provides a wide variety of accents and pitches that help paint a fuller picture of the “human curiosities” in Barnum’s employ. The story, told from Bartholomew’s point of view, is kept moving by Woodman’s excitement and full range of expression in revealing Bartholomew’s discoveries about himself and about the “real world.” Woodman’s voice goes up and down the scale with the dialogue of the hodgepodge of characters in Bartholomew’s world, with the voice of the boisterous, slightly lecherous, and consummate showman Barnum being especially memorable. E.N. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2010]