THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

[jo]

Just looked up Alex Wong and his biodata is impressive. He is a top ballet dancer and dances in other mediums.

He is part of the dance ensemble for THE GREATEST SHOWMAN.



I was trying to spot him in this number...but the pace was so fast that everything was practically a blur...or maybe I focus too much on Phineas

Mishay is easy to spot because she is the albino dancer at the forefront.


Jo

[jo]

The star find in The Greatest Showman, Keala Settle, sings IT'S A SMALL WORLD in a completely different way, as the composers originally intended it to be!

Beautifully and poignantly rendered!

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

Good for Keala!


Jo

[jo]

I faintly remember that story.

[jo]

The Greatest Showman: 6 fun facts about the musical
Hugh Jackman's spooky circus as a great one to rewatch. Here are all the secrets of the musical film that rocked 2018.

BY FLORIANE REYNAUD

15 SEPTEMBRE 2020
The Greatest showman
COLLECTION CHRISTOPHEL © TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
Michael Gracey's first feature film, The Greatest Showman, stars Phineas Taylor Barnum, an American visionary who wants to give his family a dream life. To do this, he created the most incredible show of the 19th century: a circus of curiosities where a bearded woman, a trapeze artist and a giant elephant create a sensation in front of the delirious crowd. Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams and Zendaya star in this wacky musical, with a soundtrack that dethroned the greatest pop artists of the day.

Inspired by a True Story
The title of the film, The Greatest Showman, refers directly to the traveling show that changed the American circus: The Greatest Show by Phineas Taylor Barnum. Mystifier, charlatan, publicist ... Barnum is a professional con man who did not hesitate to swindle his clients to sell them an unusual but untrue spectacle. An official in the 19th century, he revolutionized the world of entertainment and advertising, which he handled wonderfully, drawing ever more crowds under his marquee. In fact, the Barnum Circus set off a wave of hysteria every time it came to town. Slaves, deals with wild animals, exhibits of bearded women and Lilliputians… Michael Gracey's film distances itself from reality and ignores the questionable details of the career of the character from which it is based. To put stars in the eyes of the spectators, the director keeps only the best: the circus, American-style gigantism and the creation of a warm and colorful community of marginalized people.


A gold Soundtrack
With 6 million copies sold in one year, The Greatest Showman's soundtrack became the best-selling album of 2018, ahead of the two versions of Love Yourself by South Korean group BTS. This success is hardly surprising when you know who is behind the catchy melodies performed by Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the authors of La La Land. For the opening and closing song, The Greatest Show, they worked on no less than six versions before satisfying the director. The two composers, already Oscar winners for City of Stars performed by Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, received the Golden Globe in 2018 for the Best Original Song for the track, This is Me. The title song performed by Keala Settle (the bearded woman) was used as a promotional single from The Greatest Showman album.


Hugh Jackman, The Greatest Showman
Hugh Jackman's audition for the role of Phineas Taylor Barnum took place on stage at the Oscars he presented in 2009. Film producer Laurence Mark in the room discovers the Australian actor on stage and has a revelation. Hugh Jackman was excited by the idea of playing the legendary businessman and mixing comedy, dance and singing, being himself passionate about all these disciplines. The actor is not at his first attempt as he already played Jean Valjean in the musical adaptation of Les Misérables by Tom Hooper. Seven years later, The Greatest Showman project finally saw the light of day.

An historic but timeless film
Although the real Phineas Taylor Barnum existed in the 19th century, Michael Gracey wanted to free himself from time and space. Unlike classic historical films, the images are colorful and the music is pop, like the Moulin Rouge By Baz Luhrmann. Seamus McGarvey, cinematographer on The Greatest Showman explains how they worked with the lens by consciously choosing camera movements and colors that you would never see in a historical film. They had shot with digital cameras and a very modern palette of saturated colors. There is also a certain form of humor in the aesthetic that gives the film a special twist - it constantly defies all the conventions, the habits of staid historical films. On the set side, Nathan Crowley, usually Christopher Nolan's right-hand man, was called on.

Disney's two stars
To play fictional characters Phillip Carlyle and trapeze artist Anne Wheeler, the production hired two Disney alumni: Zac Efron and Zendaya. Zac Efron made his mark in the famous High School Musical quadrilogy and Zendaya in Shake It Up. Despite these musical and dancing experiences, the shoot turned out to be far more complicated than they thought. Both actors had to go through ruthless training in part because of the acrobatic tricks they had to perform. The result was all the more spectacular since we learned that Zendaya performed her high-flying stunts herself, and without a harness!

Fantastic Costumes
As with the pictures and sets, the costumes that can be seen in The Greatest Showman are not based on any historical reality. Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick wanted to immerse the spectators in a phantasmagoric atmosphere, in connection with the script of Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon. Almost all clothing was handcrafted and designed to create a world apart, detached from convention. For the flagship outfit of Monsieur Loyal de Barnum, master tailor D. Barak Stribling made a tailor-made silk and woolen suit for Hugh Jackman.


Translated by Constance Caiola

[jo]

FOX also released 2 private clips from the final workshop a day or so before the film release date. One featured Keala singing This Is Me...and the other one was Hugh famously singing despite doctor's restrictions the finale song (excluding The Greatest Show which was used to frame the movie) From Now On.

That had immensely contributed to the interest in the film, which initially was not hailed by the movie press itself.

Jo

[jo]

Jun 13, 2021 5:31:53 GMT -5 jo said:

Did you ever see this??

It was such a frenzied week catching up on all the publicity that I must have missed quite a few --

[jo]

Jun 13, 2021 5:20:32 GMT -5 jo said:

Some female fans resurrecting the Jordan vs HJ/Zac issue again on Twitter.

I had to repeat earlier arguments about signing up Zac 1 year before the final workshop.

But I was able to find this --

[jo]

Catching up on other interviews --



Host is a good interviewer, esp on the Hugh Jackman session ( at around 3'22" ) as well as the Gracey/Keala session after that!


Jo

[njr]

Jun 13, 2021 5:33:52 GMT -5 jo said:

Jun 13, 2021 5:20:32 GMT -5 jo said:

Some female fans resurrecting the Jordan vs HJ/Zac issue again on Twitter.

I had to repeat earlier arguments about signing up Zac 1 year before the final workshop.

But I was able to find this --

Who is Jordan and what is the issue?

Nancy

[jo]

Per THReporter --

In the Heights — director Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award-winning Broadway musical of the same name — had hoped to make up ground this weekend with a strong hold, but that isn’t proving to be the case.

The critically acclaimed film earned $1.4 million from 3,505 theaters Friday for an estimated weekend in the $4.6 million to $5 million range, a 57 percent to 60 percent drop, respectively.

In the Heights tumbled to No. 6 on Friday behind Hitman’s Bodyguard 2, Quiet Place II, Sony’s Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and fellow Warners release The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.

Per Forbes --

"Alas, In the Heights is an old-fashioned box office bomb, at least in North America. The critically-acclaimed musical melodrama earned $1.375 million on Friday, plunging 73% from its lousy $5 million opening day. It should earn around $4.35 million (-62%) in weekend two for a $19.8 million ten-day cume. As was often the case pre-Covid, the biggest drops were often from low openers, since what little demand existed had already been extinguished. There will be no Greatest Showman (or even Mama Mia)-style legs for this one. It’ll be lucky to top $35 million, which is where some more optimistic folks hoped it would open last weekend. Warner knew that the Film Twitter hype wasn’t translating into the real world, even if the film’s controversies relating to light-skinned casting seemingly has. What a mess."

www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2021/06/19/friday-box-office-in-the-heights-godzilla-vs-kong-quiet-place-conjuring-cruella-peter-rabbit/

*Someone on BWW said that Hollywood will not support more musicals...and only look at live-action Disney musicals.

*Hype does not make a movie succeed. Look at the kind of audiences that enjoy movie musicals. Did ITH try to suit itself to the taste of this audience profile? Did they look at the case of TGS to find out what succeeded in that movie musical? The NYTimes summary of responses from some 1200 readers would have given them a clue.
*Do theatre fans have a superiority complex when it comes to musicals...and think any stage musical hit will automatically be a hit movie musical? Are the fans of theatre musicals the same in profile and tastes as movie musical followers?
*Did the emphasis on too much "wokeism" impact negatively on the potential audience? Especially for musicals, most people simply want to be entertained, not lectured upon. If one has to put in a social justice issue (inclusivity) -- why did people accept the issue in TGS ( people whose looks do not conform to most ) compared to ITH (pure  racism)? Both harken for inclusivity and had racism overtones.
*Do you need impressive SONGS -- songs that will resonate? songs that are emotionally strong? TGS scored 100% on that basis... to this day!

*Do you need NAMES when casting movie musicals? Especially names who are popular to general movie audiences?
*TGS had a newbie director -- but he used the script to guide song development and he had Hollywood names as producers and leads. Even then, they needed the assistance of James Mangold to give it a beautiful finish ( not referring to the ending)! Jon Chu - who guided him in doing his first movie musical? LinMM is another newbie when it comes to film musicals -- maybe they thought it would be as easy as pie - and even got critics to believe in their movies -- yet they failed to gauge what would please mass audiences to be tempted to see a movie musical.


The "critic" portrayal in TGS was reality-based. He didn't think the circus was good enough. Film critics did not think TGS was also good enough. Guess who the audiences sided with?

The film critics thought ITH was practically perfect -- it seemed they wanted a documentary and ITH was ripe for such a methodology of filmmaking? Maybe movie audiences relate to other things in a musical...not necessarily a duplicate of theatrical audiences for musicals.

How will future musical releases fare?

Evan Hansen might do much better -- it is focused on teenagers/young adults and maybe that market will respond well, just as they did with the stage musical? Depends on the releases also for that time - if together with a tentpole, there might be competition as to where the fanboys go.

WSS by Spielberg -- hmmm. Why did he want to tinker with a classic??


Jo

[jo]

Btw, Rotten Tomatoes critics gave In The Heights a rating of 96%

Rotten Tomatoes critics gave The Greatest Showman a rating of 57%


I wonder what the critics are thinking of now ??


Jo

[njr]

Jo, I would appreciate it if you would answer my questions. Scroll up to June 13.

P.S. I thought this was ridiculous that he (Lin-Manuel Miranda) felt he had to apologize!

www.npr.org/2021/06/15/1006606967/lin-manuel-miranda-apologizes-for-lack-of-afro-latinx-actors-in-in-the-heights

Nancy

[jo]

Sorry, I missed that. Is there any particular reason why you're very interested in it? I think our threads on TGS were quite a few -- including one re the WORKSHOPS.

Jordan was claiming ( said during his concert) that he "saved" Greatest Showman and facilitated its greenlight when he had to substitute for Zac and Hugh during the final workshop on Feb 2016. He is claiming that he was promised the role of Barnum or Philip for the movie version. Not sure if it was just concert patter ( maybe to liven up his talk?) ... but his fans are strongly dissing Hugh and Zac for it. There is a video somewhere but I did not bother to keep it - I was utterly annoyed, to tell the truth! Having been privy to most of what was going in during that period and well into filming ( I was lucky to have been befriended by someone on BWW who happened to be working for a consultant producing team of TGS then and we kept up the exchange for about 2 years - in fact I was given the details on what happened at the workshop -- including how the room exploded when Hugh decided to step up for From Now On). Zac was already in talk since a year before that and he was only absent because of prior commitments. In fact, someone tweeted seeing Hugh and Zac a few days before at Pearl Studios testing a few routines before the workshop.

Reality check -- why would FOX cast a relative unknown in the film business when they had a triple threat talent ( Zac) who already has proven credentials from his High School Musical series...and very popular with the younger set (he had more social media followers compared to Hugh)! Plus he had been working with the team early on ( see the video with Michael Gracey saying so)! And LOL - why would FOX replace Hugh Jackman who first announced the TGS project under his defunct SEED production in 2009... when Oscars producer Larry Mark pitched the idea to him after seeing him in rehearsal for his 2009 Oscars hosting? Plus Hugh Jackman was the front man and wildly popular lead for FOX's most successful franchise ( (XMEN) - Fox would dump him in favor of Jordan?? Ludicrous to even think about it!

Btw, the first one who sang the role of Philip in the first workshop sometime in late 2014/early 2015 was Aaron Tveit! Sutton Foster was also there to sing the role of Charity ( quite a few actresses actually tested for the role of Charity & were doing screen tests with Hugh while he was filming LOGAN in New Orleans - that was shared with me, including why these actresses did not make it -- also knew some debacle with Michelle W before her final casting as Charity). It was well-known that Broadway actors were asked to pitch in (likely compensated for it) for the series of workshops ( total of about 4... and you can see that it was spread out for more than a year ) that led to the final one to help in song development - and Hugh was there all the time! See the BluRay feature on "The Songs". I presume that it was Pasek & Paul who contacted them as they were Broadway songwriters and may have worked in some projects ( stage or filmed performances) with some of them. It was convenient because they were based in NYC - including Hugh. Btw, the star breakout in the workshop was Keala! Fox decided to release the 2 videos from the private workshop right before the film release ( which was not getting positive vibes then due to poor critic ratings and bad movie press) - one of them was Keala singing This Is Me. It seemed that after her exceptional rendition, Jim Gianopulos ( Fox co-CEO then) rushed to her side to tell her that she had just gotten her first major motion picture contract!



Jo

[jo]

A long article, with a lot of focus on the comparison of ITH and TGS -- but failed to mention 2 key reasons!

www.indiewire.com/2021/06/in-the-heights-box-office-disappointment-1234644578/

Why Any Box Office Rebound for ‘In the Heights’ Is Unlikely
Forget comparisons to "The Greatest Showman." This is not remotely similar. A decent multiple is possible but a turnaround less so.

Tom Brueggemann

Jun 16, 2021 2:30 pm



The enthusiasm for “In the Heights” was understandable.

Both as a symbol for creativity and for opportunities in film, but also as a broader societal statement about inclusion, there were always going to be high hopes for the fate of a film that celebrates a segment of the Latino community. Whether this ultimately helped the film, or even might have caused something of a backlash — especially considering that, after Warner Bros. marketed the film based on its inclusivity, Lin-Manuel Miranda had to apologize for its lack of Afro-Latino representation — is unclear.

And several factors separate whatever positive feeling one has about the film from how it has actually performed.

The reality is that the film’s $11.5 million opening weekend came in under expectations, even if they had been exaggerated by Film Twitter hype and very positive reviews. A non-franchise, non-sequel summer film whose intended audience includes older viewers (in movie terms, over 35), “In the Heights” is an anomaly, the results for which now somewhat unfairly represent similar releases.



Some fans now predict that a rebound, or at least a smaller than normal drop, could happen as word of mouth spreads to the wider public. One key point has been comparing it to a recent musical smash which opened to even less, and then finished with a $170 million domestic gross. That was “The Greatest Showman,” the Hugh Jackman-starring sleeper that opened in December 2017.

Its trajectory has little to do with “Heights.” But before explaining why, some pertinent facts about how “Heights” as done so far.

Box office analysts react to grosses similar to the way Steve Kornacki and John King and others respond to election returns. Look for trends, specific details, and project ultimate outcomes cautiously while keeping in mind mostly invariable patterns.

Apart from the weekend total, here is what we also know at this point, including reports learned from sources:

— Saturday’s gross was down 26 percent from the combined Thursday preview/Friday number. Particularly for an older audience appeal film, that is unusually high.

— For Sunday, the film fell slightly behind “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” though it topped it for the weekend.


— It fell an estimated 61 percent on Monday from Sunday. By comparison, “A Quiet Place 2” fell only 51 percent, with a gross of $1.7 million. At $1.1 million, “Heights” was more behind “Place” for the day than it lagged for the whole weekend.

— Tuesday rose 5 percent, the average among all films; “Place” fell 5 percent.

— Though there are no verified numbers for parallel HBO Max subscriber viewings, one source (Samba TV, which tracks streaming results) says that an estimated 693,000 U.S. households viewed at least some of the film this weekend. The impact on the gross is unclear. But of note is that this was half as many views as “Conjuring” got the previous weekend. That’s the same proportion as their gross. The demographics for the streamer suggest it should have had a better relative showing.


In most cases, even if the differences are small, positive movement for a film in its early days is usually seen right away. Though the film is still much discussed, the discourse about it is now focusing more on its box office and controversy over colorism in its casting. There are no signs this is hurting the grosses. But it’s no help either.



Citing “The Greatest Showman” as a precedent is misusing statistics without context. Yes, its opening weekend was $8.8 million, with a staggering 19 times multiple when all was said and done — virtually unheard of for an initial wide release film.

But there are some huge caveats here. First, “Showman” opened on a Wednesday, with a five day gross of $13.4 million. Most of the additional $4.9 million likely would have ended up condensed into a normal three day weekend.

But this wasn’t remotely a normal weekend. It was the one before Christmas, dead time for all but the most pre-sold event films. Both “Star Wars” and “Jumanji” sequels opened that Friday.



“Showman” went early for one main reason. It had little advance hype. But the studio figured they had a tough-sell film that would benefit from getting some early viewing to spread word of mouth.

And those initial days led into Christmas and New Year’s, the most intense movie going weeks of the year, more so for families and older viewers, who were its target audiences.

Its explosion into a massive hit was helped by having a big star like Jackman. This was a reach for him, but the moment word went out about how much people loved it, he was a big asset. “Heights” should elevate Anthony Ramos, Melissa Barrera, and others, but they are not there yet, and the film lacks Jackman’s draw.

What about that A Cinemascore for “Heights”? That’s more than ever an unreliable rating. Always an easy scale, A+ through A- indicates audience satisfaction. But among 13 recent studio releases, eight have received either A or A-. Others to get A include “Cruella” and “Spirit Untamed,” the latter a non-starter at theaters (and it dropped 58 percent its second weekend).

Wide release moviegoing these days is based on immediate impact and strong starts. The reality is that a drop of 40 percent next weekend would be a positive sign. Generally, and during the recent reopening little has changed, any fall below 50 percent is normally not bad.

But following usual patterns, a strong result like 40 percent would likely leave the film with an ultimate domestic total under $40 million. It could still hit a 3X multiple, normally positive. But for a film with a reported $55 million budget, reports of normal wide release marketing costs (usually $30 million or more), and lower film rental deals with theaters because of HBO Max, that might leave the studio with $18 million or less in film rental.


International is mostly still to come (it took in $200,000 over the weekend in eight territories), Warners has had success with PVOD later post-Max, and we have no idea how many new subscribers signed up for the platform. But the economics for “Heights” right now are not positive.

That so many have had a positive reaction to it and its participants are a net plus. Awareness of the need for elevated diversity for Latinos will reap dividends. The film lacked some essential elements other similar films had. A musical with awareness below other Broadway shows, a lack of star names, an emphasis on ethnic centering that might not have translated broadly toward inclusion of other Latinos, and even a less enthusiastic reaction to the film than initially was anticipated all could factor in.

This weekend will tell us more. But midweek, signs don’t suggest any turnaround.

*ITH lacked a memorable SONGLIST! No songs that people will continue to sing outside...and maybe making them return to the cinemas? Also, the sing-along screenings of TGS are proof of how people loved singing the songs from the movie!

Also, the songs from TGS were not developed separately...and did not come from Pasek&Paul ready to sing. Michael Gracey, taking his cue from the script ( written by Jenny Bicks of Sex&theCity, Hollywood bigtimers Bill Condon and Michael Arndt) and led Pasek&Paul into incorporating the thematic elements in their song compositions. They were tested in various workshops ( including Hugh) to see how they would work out. The greenlight was given by FOX after a finale workshop where the songs were presented ( so the FOX execs would have an appreciation of how the musical project would work).

Many life messages were contained in the songs. This Is Me is a celebration of the cry for inclusivity! The Greatest Show worked as the bookends for giving us a glimpse of the prolog and the epilog of this story of how mass entertainment came about! That they had injected a pop music element ( the "Whoa...whoa...whoa..." and that beat came from pop music's Ryan Lewis. Even the whispered tones by HJ & the clip-clops of the prancing horses were acclaimed... The sleeper hit was A Million Dreams -- it became the unofficial anthem of the young with their hopes and dreams! Rewrite The Stars was another anthem for inclusivity ( re racism) and was buoyed by its aerial choreography. From Now On was Barnum's song of redemption - so well portrayed in the eleven o'clock number in the movie. Never Enough became a great favorite with all musical divas! How high and how long can one sustain the notes?? But the unexpected hit - was less of a pure musical number than a musicalized negotiation scene between Barnum and Carlyle, a song that truly advanced the story -- but it impressed many because it highlighted the duo's triple threat talent -- the singing, the dancing & the acting! Even the barkeeper's choreographed moves were musicalized! LOL!

So, was it just because Pasek and Paul wrote those songs so well? Yes, but not necessarily all by themselves, because they were given the leads on how the songs will all fit in on the movie's overall themes!

Btw, the album became the world's best-seller in 2018, defeating even the pop music albums in the charts. Also, it wasn't just the album ( 3 platinum certifications in the USA alone) but single releases like The Greatest Show, This Is Me, Never Enough, A Million Dreams, Rewrite the Stars and The Other Side were also certified platinum as single releases ... while From Now On was gold-certified.



*Re casting-- It wasn't just Hugh Jackman ( although his other massive hit, LOGAN, was released in the same year and must have helped his box office appeal, not forgetting that Hugh is also Broadway royalty)! But his imposing figure in that brilliant red jacket and top hat -- created such a massive impression that even little girls now wear a version for girls in birthday parties, Halloween trick-or-treating or simply watching the movie in the house during the pandemic! The boys probably are equally divided on whom to emulate - Wolverine or The Greatest Showman

it also had Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya & Keala Settle - so the star power ( who helped in promoting the show) was very strong insofar as the genre is concerned. It was marketed to everyone, not just to a sector! Even if the lesson of inclusivity (This Is Me & Rewrite The Stars) was paramount -- there was also romance, the story of youthful dreams & ambition, the circus spectacle, family themes & how showbiz came into being -- that were highlighted which, with the script and the songlist, gave out various life messages! This was one other main reason why the audiences loved the movie.



One master stroke marketing move was the last-minute FOX release of the Keala/ThisIsMe & the Hugh/FromNowOn workshop videos! They gave audiences an insight on what to expect!

And to see all those stars performing all very well on an individual basis and as a group was truly heady!


Jo

[njr]

Jun 20, 2021 15:52:06 GMT -5 jo said:

Sorry, I missed that. Is there any particular reason why you're very interested in it? I think our threads on TGS were quite a few -- including one re the WORKSHOPS.

Jordan was claiming ( said during his concert) that he "saved" Greatest Showman and facilitated its greenlight when he had to substitute for Zac and Hugh during the final workshop on Feb 2016. He is claiming that he was promised the role of Barnum or Philip for the movie version. Not sure if it was just concert patter ( maybe to liven up his talk?) ... but his fans are strongly dissing Hugh and Zac for it. There is a video somewhere but I did not bother to keep it - I was utterly annoyed, to tell the truth! Having been privy to most of what was going in during that period and well into filming ( I was lucky to have been befriended by someone on BWW who happened to be working for a consultant producing team of TGS then and we kept up the exchange for about 2 years - in fact I was given the details on what happened at the workshop -- including how the room exploded when Hugh decided to step up for From Now On). Zac was already in talk since a year before that and he was only absent because of prior commitments. In fact, someone tweeted seeing Hugh and Zac a few days before at Pearl Studios testing a few routines before the workshop.

Reality check -- why would FOX cast a relative unknown in the film business when they had a triple threat talent ( Zac) who already has proven credentials from his High School Musical series...and very popular with the younger set (he had more social media followers compared to Hugh)! Plus he had been working with the team early on ( see the video with Michael Gracey saying so)! And LOL - why would FOX replace Hugh Jackman who first announced the TGS project under his defunct SEED production in 2009... when Oscars producer Larry Mark pitched the idea to him after seeing him in rehearsal for his 2009 Oscars hosting? Plus Hugh Jackman was the front man and wildly popular lead for FOX's most successful franchise ( (XMEN) - Fox would dump him in favor of Jordan?? Ludicrous to even think about it!

Btw, the first one who sang the role of Philip in the first workshop sometime in late 2014/early 2015 was Aaron Tveit! Sutton Foster was also there to sing the role of Charity ( quite a few actresses actually tested for the role of Charity & were doing screen tests with Hugh while he was filming LOGAN in New Orleans - that was shared with me, including why these actresses did not make it -- also knew some debacle with Michelle W before her final casting as Charity). It was well-known that Broadway actors were asked to pitch in (likely compensated for it) for the series of workshops ( total of about 4... and you can see that it was spread out for more than a year ) that led to the final one to help in song development - and Hugh was there all the time! See the BluRay feature on "The Songs". I presume that it was Pasek & Paul who contacted them as they were Broadway songwriters and may have worked in some projects ( stage or filmed performances) with some of them. It was convenient because they were based in NYC - including Hugh. Btw, the star breakout in the workshop was Keala! Fox decided to release the 2 videos from the private workshop right before the film release ( which was not getting positive vibes then due to poor critic ratings and bad movie press) - one of them was Keala singing This Is Me. It seemed that after her exceptional rendition, Jim Gianopulos ( Fox co-CEO then) rushed to her side to tell her that she had just gotten her first major motion picture contract!



Jo

Thanks Jo, but way TMI! 😂 I still don’t know who the hell Jordan is, but I see the “issue.”
Never mind, I found this:
youtu.be/08AGzOmCk-s

Nancy

[jo]

A summer classic --

[jo]

It's been 4 1/2 years since its release --

and they still plan open-air screenings of the movie!


Actually, open air screenings are better bets (than indoor screenings in cinemas) during the pandemic! And since this is a musical, there is a festive air to it!

[jo]

Becoming a well-loved classic!

[jo]

Already much loved by the very young

[jo]

[jo]

People.com found a great human interest story in Hugh's latest tweet sharing how a grandson arranged a special treat for his ailing Grandpa!

people.com/movies/hugh-jackman-touched-grandpa-with-dementia-sing-along-the-greatest-showman/?utm_campaign=peoplemagazine&utm_content=new&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_term=612e3f423f44320001ed936f

PEOPLE.COM
MOVIES
Hugh Jackman Touched by Viral TikTok of Grandpa with Dementia Watching
The Greatest Showman

“One of the best films I've ever seen,” a senior fan of Hugh Jackman's said

By Naledi UsheAugust 31, 2021 10:31 AM


CREDIT: MOVIESTORE/SHUTTERSTOCK
Hugh Jackman is glad that The Greatest Showman brought a smile to a fan's face.

The actor, 52, shared a viral TikTok video Monday that followed a fan who took their grandfather to see The Greatest Showman.

"I am in tears at the sweetness and purity of this post. Thank you for sharing such a sweet moment 💕😭💕," Jackman wrote, reposting the quick clip to Instagram.

"2 minutes of happiness," the fan, who goes by CharlieMoose on TikTok, prefaced the video.

"My Grandad is at the second stage of vascular dementia and one way to cheer him up is The Greatest Showman!" the user said of the outing. "So I decided to take him to a sing along [on] the weekend so he can sing the songs."

"We hope you enjoy," he added.



In the quick clip, CharlieMoose teased his grandpa during the car ride and let him know they would be seeing a favorite film. When the grandson asked his grandfather on a scale of one to 10 how excited he was for the movie, he exclaimed "345!"

Once they arrived at the outdoor screening, the grandson unpacked a basket filled with his grandpa's "favorite sweets."

RELATED: Watch Hugh Jackman Tap Dance as He Fulfills Mandatory Quarantine in Sydney Hotel

"You happy we're here?" CharlieMoose asked once it was clear they were watching The Greatest Showman, and the senior nodded enthusiastically.

"One of the best films I've ever seen," the grandfather declared in the middle of the movie.

"He just couldn't stop smiling," the TikTok user captioned part of the clip, and revealed his family member's favorite song is "From Now On."

Fortunately for his fans, Jackman has more musical numbers ahead as he gears up for his upcoming role in The Music Man this winter on Broadway alongside Sutton Foster.


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"The first musical I was ever part of was the phenomenal The Music Man," Jackman said in a March 2019 statement. "The year was 1983, and I was at Knox Grammar School in Sydney, Australia. I was one of the traveling salesmen, and I think I can actually (almost) remember that unforgettable opening number! That was probably the moment when the magic of theater was born in me."

"The idea of bringing The Music Man back to Broadway has been lurking in the back of my brain for a long time, maybe even for 35 years," he continued. "When Scott Rudin called me with that very idea, I was floored. To finally be doing this is a huge thrill."

The Music Man will begin performances on Dec. 20 and officially open on Feb. 10, 2022, according to Broadway.com.

[jo]

The quote about "the sweetness and purity of your post" is incorrectly attributed to Hugh - that came as a reply on HJ's Instagram post.

However, the clip sent to Hugh must have touched him deeply...because he himself has an ailing relative ( his Dad) with a similar and maybe even more serious disease! His way of showing his affection was to travel to Australia despite the 14-day quarantine requirement he had to comply with in order to see how his Dad is doing.


Jo