THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

[jo]

What 2018 CinemaCon highlighted --


www.tampabay.com/cinemacon-shows-more-diversity-musicals-coming-to-theaters-ap_entertainment22d9993a2b694cf4bb84794b4740b713

WHEN IN DOUBT, SHOW A MUSICAL

Have you heard? "The Greatest Showman" was a hit, and the story of its unconventional success was a refrain heard over and over at the convention. The Hugh Jackman-led musical defied all industry models and came back from a deadly opening weekend to become a veritable global blockbuster. And this year, some of the biggest crowd-pleasers had an overt musical element, whether it was Cher performing Abba's "Fernando" with a dozen backup dancers to promote "Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!," some tear-jerking footage from Bradley Cooper's "A Star is Born" remake, with Lady Gaga, or a "We Are The Champions"-scored trailer for the Freddie Mercury biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody."

In fairness to CinemaCon 2017, The Greatest Showman presentation led by Hugh Jackman was already very enthusiastically received and showed the promise that the full movie eventually unfolded! It was even written up as the presentation that made the Fox show the most applauded in the convention!

The movie itself is such a confluence of the best that there could be in a musical!

Jo

[jo]

If you want to dance like they did

[jo]

From sometime ago --

Which male co-star worked best with Hugh ?


*Zac Efron

*Himself ( X-24)

*Patrick Stewart
*Taron Egerton
*Jake Gyllenhaal
*Eddie Redmayne
*Russell Crowe
*Liev Schreiber
*Christian Bale
*Ewan McGregor
*Daniel Craig

*Did I miss anyone?


Jo

[jo]

[jo]

A Daily Mail ( UK) writer recaps the story of the making of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN --

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5692811/How-musical-derided-snobbish-critics-blockbuster-feelgood-film-year.html

[jo]

This report from the UK's THE SUN re the possibility of a transfer to Broadway -- not sure how accurate this news is because THE SUN (the most widely-circulated tabloid newspaper in the UK) is known for sensationalized journalism

Hope this is really accurate!

www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/6267731/hugh-jackmans-greatest-showman-broadway/


Excerpts --

The Cannes Film Festival has been alight with discussions about an upcoming Broadway production of the show, which is already being secretly worked on by the brains behind the movie.

Plans were put on ice before the movie’s release – as analysts wrongly predicted a box office failure.

So now there’s hasty movement behind-the-scenes to bring now iconic songs like This Is Me, Never Enough and Rewrite the Stars, to the stage, just as the film’s incredible soundtrack returns to the top of the UK chart yesterday.


I’m told the stage show is the priority over any sequel or spin-off movie.

The Greatest Showman was actually work-shopped for ten weeks before filming, mirroring the preparation of a theatre show.
KEALA SETTLE, who was plucked from Broadway obscurity to play the bearded lady, seems an obvious lock to star in the stage version.

Given HUGH JACKMAN’s passion for the project – it was only his pluck that got the film made after eight years of trying – that will be enough to coax him back to Broadway too, according to my sources.

And can you imagine what director MICHAEL GRACEY would do with his debut Broadway show given the runaway success of his first film?

My Greatest Showman insiders say the musical is most likely to start in New York – because that’s where Hugh lives with his family.

But a transfer to the West End is considered inevitable, especially given the success of the film here.
And weekend singalong versions of the movie continue to be a box office smash, even as the DVD is released.

It's been talked about even in interviews with Fox and Hugh and Gracey -- but there has been no indication as to the timing...and what version the live adaptation may take ( stage adaptation in full or a travelling arena show).

As for Hugh -- he needs to be coaxed to return to Broadway to lead the show?? LOL - try and stop him


Jo

[jo]

Deadpool calls THE GREATEST SHOWMAN as the "fabulous dancing monkey musical" and he is jealous that its box office results beat the first Deadpool movie.

wegotthiscovered.com/movies/deadpool-2-international-promo/



Psst: Mr. Deadpool 2 -- I have news for you : Japan is not too keen on superhero movies! They would rather watch Les Miserables ( $ 62.1 million) and The Greatest Showman ( $ 46.5 million). Black Panther couldn't do it either ($ 13.6 million). We'll see if Avengers:Infinity War can do it - it is currently at $ 23.4 million ( after 10 days)...even if it does, it has no way of beating Beauty and the Beast ( $ 110.8 million). In fact, it seems that at the moment, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN has the 3rd largest box office results for live-action musicals in Japan, followed by La La Land ($ 38.1 million), Mamma Mia! ($ 27.4 million), Chicago ( $ 27.4 million) and Into the Woods ($ 19.3 million).

Psst 2: Mr. Deadfool2, oops, Deadpool2 -- enjoy it while the FOX sun shines on R-rated superhero movies! Who knows how the studio that has built its name on family-friendlies will treat a movie like the Deadpool franchise once the Mouse House, aka Disney, moves in

[jo]

De-aging Hugh to "early to mid-twenties Barnum" ( in THE GREATEST SHOWMAN) --

Let's find a photo when he was in his early 20's in real life --


Maybe this one when he graduated from UTS?

http://instagram.com/p/BF3mydrChHf

[jo]

Interesting article on how The Sound of Music may have paved the way for other movie musicals!


www.theguardian.com/film/2018/may/16/why-the-sound-of-music-led-the-way-for-the-critic-proof-hit-musical

How The Sound of Music led the way for the critic-proof hit musical

It was dismissed as a ‘sugar-coated lie’ by Pauline Kael – but The Sound of Music’s enduring success suggests audiences enjoy being manipulated. Just look at Mamma Mia!

Pamela Hutchinson
@pamhutch
Wed 16 May 2018 13.25 BST
Last modified on Wed 16 May 2018 15.11 BST



The cinemas are alive with The Sound of Music once more as the classic musical returns to the big screen. With five Oscars under its belt, legions of devoted fans including those prone to dressing up and singing along, and having taken so much box-office cash that it is in the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time, The Sound of Music is comfortably, and indisputably, a resounding hit. Take a bow, Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Rodgers and Hammerstein, director Robert Wise, all the warbling Von Trapp children and even that saucy, if wooden, yodelling goatherd – you created a movie that is inordinately beloved. However, the question many word-perfect fans may not want to ask is this: is The Sound of Music actually any good?

On the film’s first release in 1965, the answer from most critics was a flat no. In the UK, Monthly Film Bulletin called the three-hour tale of a gamine postulate who gives seven precocious children and their uptight widowed father the gift of music and affection “an exceedingly sugary experience” whipped up from ingredients “that might have been bearable if the songs had been better”. Other critics gagged on that taste, with noted grump Bosley Crowther describing it in the New York Times as “cosy-cum-corny”. Others took exception not just to its sweetness but its distortion of history. As with the original stage musical, the film is set in Austria on the cusp of the Nazi invasion. Courting a family audience, however, the film drastically dilutes the threat of fascism. In Vogue, Joan Didion lambasted “its suggestion that history need not happen to people … Just whistle a happy tune, and leave the Anschluss behind”. Most famously, Pauline Kael called it “the sugar-coated lie that people seem to want to eat ... and this is the attitude that makes a critic feel that maybe it’s all hopeless. Why not just send the director, Robert Wise, a wire: ‘You win, I give up’?”


Why not, indeed, as audiences and the Academy took little note of those negative notices. In fact, perhaps the recent success of The Greatest Showman, as well as other fan favourites such as Mamma Mia! (which Peter Bradshaw called a “soulless panto”), tell us critics and audiences want very different things from a musical. Where reviewers found The Sound of Music slow, sugary and mendacious, audiences discovered a heartwarming story about childhood, and a series of catchy, upbeat songs.


Dr Martha Shearer, a musicals expert at King’s College London, takes issue with the critics: “There’s some kind of implication that the audience for this film is either too stupid to pick up on how bad it is. Or that they’ve been tricked.”

On the contrary, The Sound of Music delivers exactly the responses it promises: you’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll be humming My Favourite Things for weeks afterwards. Where critics see manipulation, audiences applaud what composer and broadcaster Neil Brand calls “Hollywood professionalism of the highest order”. The film pivots on Julie Andrews’s inarguably excellent performance as Maria – she not only sings with great skill and charm, but no doubt also brought lots of audience goodwill and a useful aura of maternal efficiency from her performance in Mary Poppins the previous year.


Brand agrees that some reviewers are allergic to song-and-dance shows: “The musical is the easiest genre to denigrate on the basis of its artifice alone. You can either accept the artifice of ‘real’ people suddenly bursting into song and dance, or you can’t.” Shearer discerns a gender angle too, whether the critic in question is male or female: “There can be a tendency amongst critics to be particularly dismissive of musicals and of mainstream films that are coded as feminine in some way.”


The Greatest Showman, argues Shearer, triumphs because from its opening number on, it tells audiences to sit back and enjoy the spectacle. “It’s so overt and it even has a critic character who can’t appreciate the show because he can’t appreciate joy.” The Sound of Music does something similar. Right at the beginning of the film the nuns debate the question: how do you solve a problem like Maria? They’re effectively asking whether we should enjoy her effervescent spirit or condemn her for breaking the rules. Whose side are you on?


There is also more than one way to watch The Sound of Music. Viewing it as a dramatisation of a true story from the Anschluss is not the best approach. Most of us watch the film first when we’re a child, and subsequently enjoy the ritual of its slowly unfolding plot and frequent song reprisals with the comfort of nostalgia – not for nothing was its first UK TV broadcast on Christmas Day. Many, people, including academic Stacy Wolf, read androgynous Maria as radiating “delicious queerness”. Alternatively you can wallow in the film’s toothsome charms as the last gasp of the family-friendly studio musical before the climate changed and the genre went in darker directions.



It’s even possible to enjoy being manipulated. “Its recognition of how ridiculous it is, is part of the pleasure of it,” argues Shearer. For Brand, Andrews alone is worth the price of admission. “She is the phenomenon,” he says. “To be able to play an Austrian with impeccable English vowels, to make us concerned for her because she’s the politest rebel in all cinema, to be able to make singing sound exciting whilst never giving the impression it is anything but radiantly enjoyable, above all to challenge Audrey Hepburn in the tomboy stakes.” Just like Captain Von Trapp himself, we may start out sceptical but soon find ourselves to warming to plucky Maria and her guitar.

We shouldn’t forget that even Kael herself was susceptible. That line about the “sugar-coated lie” refers to The Sound of Music all right, but it comes from an aside in a review of a later film, The Singing Nun, for McCall’s. Her initial assessment of the movie, in an unsigned note for the New Yorker, admitted she was not immune to its contrivances and charms and praised Plummer’s “sinister, archly decadent performance”.

“Whom could this operetta offend?” she wrote. “Only those of us who, despite the fact that we may respond, loathe being manipulated in this way and are aware of how cheap and ready-made are the responses we are made to feel. We may become even more aware of the way we have been turned into emotional aesthetic imbeciles when we hear ourselves humming the sickly, goody-goody songs.” Did Kael exit the cinema singing Edelweiss? Perhaps she should have sent that note of surrender to Wise after all.

So much parallel to the success story of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN!


Similarly, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN triumphed and brought us so much joy because --

*Pasek and Paul gave audiences music worthy of Rodgers and Hammerstein's appeal! Not only that, we can dance ( not just sing) to that awesome score!

*Who could have given us an equally ebullient and charismatic updated version of Julie/Maria than Hugh/PTBarnum

When Maria started singing THE HILLS ARE ALIVE promising the viewers a really enjoyable time...then move on to Hugh/Barnum introducing us to the circus with THE GREATEST SHOW -- two opening numbers that stunned and created such a delighful impact on audiences! When Maria sings I HAVE CONFIDENCE, looking forward to her new life...aren't we also equally mesmerized by the vision of the young/adult Barnum singing about his MILLION DREAMS! Captain VonTrapp sings a song that resonates with audiences ( EDELWEISS)… Barnum delivers an equally emotionally-resonant eleven o'clock number in FROM NOW ON. Perhaps THIS IS ME and REWRITE THE STARS deliver more contemporary social justice messages.

Those are just examples!

Btw, included in the analysis is a similar impact of MAMMA MIA!

Sorry to disagree -- MAMMA MIA! was enjoyable purely because of the well-known musical score. But those songs were simply shoehorned to fit an invented storyline. It is a pure jukebox musical without much soul ... The songs did not advance the story nor did they really enhance characterizations. Mamma Mia! is something to enjoy for its music alone ( if you are a fan of ABBA) but never because there was also strong emotional resonance. The Greatest Showman was very strong with that...while Sound of Music also tugged at the emotional core towards the end.

I did prefer the film version of MM compared to the stage show because of the background of Mediteranean/Adriatic Greece in the summertime. Nothing suggests more of an easy-going holiday than the air of summer in Greece by the sea, unless you prefer the tropical paradises with their aquamarine waters and white/beige/pink sand.

Jo

[jo]

Some insights from screenwriter Jenny Bicks --

www.la-screenwriter.com/2018/02/07/talking-divorce-and-the-greatest-showman-with-jenny-bicks/

John Bucher: You are one of the rare writers that’s had great success in a number of different formats and mediums. You’ve had quite a year with The Greatest Showman and Divorce. How do you switch mindsets when you’re writing features and then breaking story for television? How do you move back and forth?


Jenny Bicks: It’s fun to do both. I know I’m not the only writer who feels this way: I have compartments. Sometimes if I get stuck in one genre, I like to be able to move over into another and play in that world for a little bit. I originally wrote Greatest Showman nine years ago. At the time I was writing on The Big C. I recall the excitement of being able to go back and forth because The Greatest Showman‘s so different, right? It was the first time I’d written a musical. The first time that I had written a movie with a star already involved. So, Hugh (Jackman) and I were working closely on it together. I do find in general it’s nice to have multiple projects because you just sometimes aren’t feeling a piece you are working on. You aren’t feeling whatever projects you’re supposed to be doing and you move on over and work for a little bit in a different genre and move back. I work better when I have multiple projects. I don’t think I’m the only writer who feels that way. I think sometimes it’s too hard if you only have one to focus on.

[jo]

I've been curious how James Mangold came into the picture, enough to be given Executive Producer credit in THE GREATEST SHOWMAN --

ew.com/movies/2017/12/22/the-greatest-showman-michael-gracey-musical-numbers-broadway/

Excerpts --

This week, there was a report that Logan director James Mangold assisted on Showman in reshoots and post-production (Mangold is credited as an executive producer on Showman). “There were eight producers on this film and they all came and sort of weighed in like they would on any film,” says Gracey. “And it was amazing having one of them be a filmmaker. I’ve worked with Alfonso Cuaron and I’ve seen the way he works with Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro [Iñárritu]. And they all come in and weigh in when [they] are editing their films and give their thoughts. I’m a big believer in that in terms of process. Fortunately, on this because Hugh’s really close with Jim, we had access for Jim to play that role. I have such amazing respect for him and we had such a great collaboration when he came in towards the end of post [production]. It was great. It was fantastic actually.”

Based on reports, it seems Jim Mangold helped in both last minute reshoots and in the film editing?

Jo

[jo]

This image is one of the most enduring and iconic ones in entertainment -- movies, home entertainment, soundtrack album...all over where those are sold!

[jo]

This is very imaginative and very amusing

Re-editing the movie to fit into 7 different film genres!





What's your favorite ?


These are the 7 categories :
Thriller
Silent Film
Horror
War Film
Fantasy
Musical Parody
Drama


Mine is between " SILENT FILM" or " MUSICAL PARODY" -- can't decide which made me giggle more


Enjoy!!

[jo]

May 24, 2018 20:16:05 GMT -5 jo said:

This is very imaginative and very amusing

Re-editing the movie to fit into 7 different film genres!





What's your favorite ?


These are the 7 categories :
Thriller
Silent Film
Horror
War Film
Fantasy
Musical Parody
Drama


Mine is between " SILENT FILM" or " MUSICAL PARODY" -- can't decide which made me giggle more


Enjoy!!

Just a thought --

Would Hugh fit into a Charlie Chaplin biopic? I'm sure there will be drama and comedy and a bit of music?

I'll have to check whether Chaplin was fairly tall.


Jo

[jo]

End of fantasizing -- Charlie Chaplin was not tall at all ( 5'5") compared to Hugh's 6'2.5"


Of course there's always the 5'3" Wolverine versus Hugh's height

Except Wolverine is only real in every fanboy/fangirl mind


Jo

[mamaleh]

Anyway, many people consider the Chaplin biopic starring Robert Downey, Jr., the definitive Chaplin portrait.

I’d still love to see HJ in a Fred Astaire biopic, assuming he hasn’t yet aged out of the role (depending on what periods of Astaire’s life are covered in the screenplay).

Ellen

[jo]

The season for Open-Air Cinema starts...in the UK... with THE GREATEST SHOWMAN as the featured movie in this case.

[jo]

Not even FOX expected ( and maybe Hugh and the cast & creatives, too) the almost juggernaut box office impact of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. Like the theatrical run, the movie is also a strong winner on the home video charts.


www.cinemablend.com/news/2427259/people-in-the-uk-cant-get-enough-of-the-greatest-showman

Not mentioned is the equally amazing success of the soundtrack album in the USA/UK and other parts of the world!

If the standing ovation for THIS IS ME at the Oscars is any indication, the movie musical has touched a lot of hearts with the joy and inspiration it has brought to so many, as well as an acknowledgment the exceptional peformances from the cast! What is truly remarkable is its impact on the daily cultural scene!


Jo

[jo]

There is no direct association with the recent hit The Greatest Showman, but a recent major fashion show (MOSCHINO) in LA seems directly inspired by a circus theme. Note the versions of the RingMaster's outfit/costume! And check out the Top Hat influence


www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jeremy-scott-plays-ringmaster-at-circus-themed-moschino-runway-show-la-1118928

[jo]

Other than the Cy Coleman stage musical called BARNUM, there is a past non-musical movie which is more biographical in nature and starred Burt Lancaster. It seems that the DVD of this BARNUM was re-released in the light of the very strong success of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN.


This review is detailed enough to give us a good appreciation of the film ( although it seems the reviewer prefers the more straightforward style of biopics and didn't like the contemporary tone of the Jackman version ) --

www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/10087-DVD-REVIEW-BARNUM-1986-STARRING-BURT-LANCASTER.html

[jo]

Are shows based on the movie and the music like this licensed?

www.kentonline.co.uk/whats-on/news/extra-date-to-sing-along-to-the-greatest-show-184791/

Theatre bosses have added extra performances of a stage version of The Greatest Showman after tickets were snapped up.

Featuring an all star cast from London's West End, The Greatest Show: Live in Concert! is inspired by the box office smash musical starring Hugh Jackman, which celebrates the life of PT Barnum.

The audience will be able to let their hair down and sing along to the hits from the show.

The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury is staging the show, which has a live orchestra, circus acts and spectacular special effects, twice on Wednesday, August 22.

But tickets were snapped up so quickly, they have added two more shows on Monday, August 27.

Tickets cost £19.75 and go on sale at 9am today. To book go to marlowetheatre.com or call 01227 787787.

The accompanying graphic image shows a similarly-costumed ringmaster, ala Barnum character personified in the movie.


Maybe FOX should accelerate their plans for a live stage adaptation to minimize artistic reproductions like this show?



Jo

[jo]

Even other FOX people are not immune to the charm of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN --

[jo]

It looks like all kinds of adaptations from the movie musical are sprouting. Some in the UK... and this one in South Korea.

[jo]

Here's another live show using the music from THE GREATEST SHOWMAN --

[jo]

To enhance the sing-along screenings --