Handel's Last Chance (1996)

Plot

George Frideric Handel finds himself at a low point in his career as he prepares to debut his new choral masterpiece, The Messiah, in Dublin. Struggling to assemble a capable choir, he encounters a boy who ends up stealing a chicken. The boy's mother, a washerwoman rather than a choir member, offers Handel non-starched shirts as a bribe to keep her son out of jail. Unexpectedly, Handel discovers the boy's hidden talent, transforming the mediocre choir into a promising ensemble just in time for the performance.