THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

[jo]

Having some confused moments trying to reconcile these rehearsal photos with Hugh's busy schedule then --

*He was obviously in LOGAN facial hair mode. He was filming LOGAN also in 2016. He was supposed to have taken a month's break ( as required) between filming for these 2 projects.

*He filmed LOGAN mostly on location - first in New Orleans...and then in New Mexico. If I recall right, didn't he shave his facial hair immediately after LOGAN wrapped?

*According to Hugh, they rehearsed for 9 weeks for THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. Was he rehearsing for the film when he was back in NYC for his breaks during filming of LOGAN?

*I also read or seen a clip where it was said that rehearsals for THE OTHER SIDE was intensive and became a daily regimen! Btw, he first sang the song in front of audiences in Turkey when he was there earlier for a repeat of BroadwayToOz/BackOnBroadway! He sang the song with a popular singer from there.

*He was rehearsing for the fight choreography for LOGAN, at the same time he was rehearsing for Greatest Showman?? Must have been a bit confusing - LOL!

The double life of Hugh Jackman!


Jo

[jo]

Keala suffered a very serious health issue around the time of the Oscars 2018 --


people.com/health/keala-settle-greatest-showman-stroke-week-before-oscars/


Hope she has recovered from the surgery...and taking all the necessary steps to minimize any recurrence, if it can be prevented.

Keep your spirits high, Keala! We are with you all the way!


Jo

[njr]

How did Hugh and The Greatest Showman not get nominated for any Golden Globes?!

Nancy

[jo]

It was released on December 20, 2017… if you are referring to the movie being qualified for this year's GGlobes?


The movie, Hugh Jackman, and This Is Me were all nominated at last year's GGlobes awards.

[njr]

Dec 6, 2018 23:46:13 GMT -5 jo said:

It was released on December 20, 2017… if you are referring to the movie being qualified for this year's GGlobes?


The movie, Hugh Jackman, and This Is Me were all nominated at last year's GGlobes awards.

Oh, I see! It is just still talked about so much I forgot it was released that long ago! 😂

[jo]

All celebrating the first-year anniversary of its theatrical release!

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BroHu8QlOtn

http://instagram.com/p/BrnttzaBEkb

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

A year after its release, THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is hailed for the admiration from many people across the globe --
here a Canadian media outlet analyzes the magic formula that defied critical opinion.

Giving full credit to whom it is due -- to Hugh Jackman and to Pasek&Paul!


www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/hugh-jackman-pasek-paul-greatest-showman-1.4944761

Entertainment

Don't bet against Hugh Jackman: How The Greatest Showman defied the critics

Deana Sumanac-Johnson · CBC News · Posted: Dec 22, 2018 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: an hour ago


Hugh Jackman arrives for world premiere of The Greatest Showman aboard the Queen Mary 2 in New York on Dec. 7, 2017. (Timothy Clary/ AFP/Getty Images)


When The Greatest Showman opened on Dec. 20, 2017, the critics found little to love about the musical take on the life of circus magnate P.T. Barnum.

Rolling Stone's Peter Travers called it a "shrill blast of nothing," while the Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney opined it was "all smoke and mirrors, no substance." There were also criticisms around the film's role in whitewashing Barnum's reputation as an exploiter of people with disabilities, and abuser of animals.

"At first, we were worried in terms of will the film stick around in theatre long enough for audiences to experience it," says Benj Pasek, who with songwriting partner Justin Paul wrote the soundtrack for the film. But then the box office numbers started rolling in.

"Very soon after the opening, which was not great in terms of critical response, you saw that people were really championing the movie and that audiences were really loving it and they were the ones that carried the moment in America and across the globe."

Carry it, they did. The Greatest Showman stuck around in theatres for remarkable 219 days, closing in July with a worldwide total of more than $400 million US.

Hugh Jackman announces first ever world tour

The soundtrack by Pasek and Paul is among the top-selling albums of the year in both the U.S. and U.K. Hugh Jackman has announced an arena tour of his one-man show including the tunes from the movie.
The Greatest Showman isn't the first film to prove itself critic-proof, but it's one of the more remarkable examples of the phenomenon.


Fans vs. critics

Ali Plumb, a London-based film critic who works for BBC Radio One, has a theory on the wide discord between critics' and fans' opinions.

"The Greatest Showman is an easy target for a traditional film critic because it doesn't have any lofty aspirations to really move you through its dialogue, or its dramatic scenes. It just wants to entertain."


BBC Radio One film critic Ali Plumb gave The Greatest Showman three out of five stars, but praises the film's music and entertainment value. (CBC)

But Plumb thought the film accomplished that quite well, mostly due to the palpable passion for the project of its star Hugh Jackman and infectious pop tracks by Pasek and Paul.

Jackman started talking about the movie almost a decade ago and played a key role in convincing studio executives leery of musicals, which cost a lot to produce but rarely make money, that the film should be done.

Plumb points out that the studio behind The Showman is 20th Century Fox, which also produced The X-Men and Wolverine movies starring Jackman, making the actor one of Fox's most trusted and bankable stars.


'One foot in the past and one foot in the present:' creating The Greatest Showman's music


Songwriters Justin Paul and Benj Pasek on the inspiration and themes behind the music of audience hit The Greatest Showman. 1:17

And Plumb says that passion showed in the movie. "Whether you didn't necessarily love it for the highfalutin, clever reasons, this has a lot of love in it, and you can see it because it screams off the screen."
Magic in the music

But even Jackman's star power would only take the film so far if not for its soundtrack, he adds.
"The film has the best music we've seen in a long, long time."

The songs for the movie, like This is Me and A Million Dreams, are immediately singable pop nuggets by Pasek and Paul, who became famous for their Oscar-winning work on La La Land.

The pair, who worked on the tracks from The Greatest Showman before La La Land, said they were drawn by the film's upbeat esthetics and the fact it's a movie families can watch together.

"It's a movie that really a celebration of optimism and hope. It's not cynical at all. It's really a film that asks you to believe in possibility again — and dreaming," says Pasek.

"Yup, it's cheesy, but you know it's something that the world needs right now."


Benj Pasek on how he drew from his own experiences to write the standout tune This is Me, a fan favourite from The Greatest Showman. 1:17


Tracks like This is Me — sung in the movie by a Bearded Lady who refuses to be kept out of Barnum's society parties because of her looks — became anthems of self-acceptance for fans, many of whom uploaded their own versions of the songs on YouTube.

"People were able to claim it was their own for so many causes. Such a broad spectrum of groups and individuals wanted to make that song their own anthem," says Paul.

And it looks like some famous singers were fans as well. Pink and Kelly Clarkson jumped at the chance to record their versions of the movie's songs on the new, "reimagined" soundtrack, which was released in November.


A year after the film's release, fan videos continue to proliferate on YouTube, while other devotees have found new ways to help the movie live on.


'More than just a movie'
Gianluca Ferrara, a second-year student in graphic design management at Ryerson University in Toronto, went to see The Greatest Showman with his mom last year. They both loved it.


Toronto student Gianluca Ferrara, centre, watched The Greatest Showman with his mother, Daniela Ricchio, at right. They both loved it. (Turgut Yeter/CBC)

"I loved the music, the visuals, everything about it. It felt like a show, more than just a movie, a very immersive experience," says Ferrara.

So he decided to design some posters inspired by the movie. Bright yellow, red and black, they play with the film's visual themes and minimalist, geometric shapes to explore the idea of circus and Barnum's imagination.

The posters became popular among the film's fans on the crafts site Etsy, where Ferrara sells them for $8.


Inspired by The Greatest Showman, 19-year-old Toronto-based graphic design student Ferrara created these posters, which he sells online. (Turgut Yeter/CBC)

But Ferrara says he's more proud of the fact his art is helping fellow fans have something from the movie they love.
"I guess they wanted a piece of it to remember down the road."




About the Author

Deana Sumanac-Johnson
Reporter
Deana Sumanac-Johnson is a national CBC News reporter for the entertainment unit. She appears regularly on The National and CBC News radio programs, specializing in stories on music and literature/publishing. Before joining the arts unit, she was an award-winning current affairs producer for CBC News: Sunday.

[jo]

Quite a tribute that one religious institution/church has chosen to present THE GREATEST SHOWMAN as part of the Christmas celebratory and inspirational sessions for its congregation.

www.ocala.com/news/20181224/christmas-messages-methods-vary-in-marion-county

[jo]

Dec 31, 2018 5:38:59 GMT -5 jo said:

It also shows in how the support for his forthcoming tour has evolved.

Initially, only 2 London-O2 Arena, 1 Manchester and 1 Birmingham dates were slated in the schedule. The final schedule became 5 shows for London, 3 for Manchester ( largest performing arena in the UK), and 3 for Birmingham!

[jo]

The Greatest Showman has resurrected the movie musical in a big way!

Almost 10 years ago, Mr. Showman Hugh Jackman sang and danced with the theme " The Musical Is Back", with talents like Beyoncé, Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper and Vanessa Hudgens.


Baz Luhrmann directed that spectacle...and here he gives us a recollection of how that came about --

ew.com/oscars/2018/02/20/oscars-beyonce-baz-luhrmann-musical/?utm_campaign=entertainmentweekly_ew&utm_content=link&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_term=59D2960C-0596-11E9-A6BF-A6AD984234C2


There is a Baz video on the lower right hand corner.


Ironic that this spectacular number had to take the backseat to what seemed like a highly improvised Opening Number. That Opening Number earned a standing ovation from Hugh's peers and won the hearts of TV audiences   ( and even won an EMMY for its writers) because it showed Hugh Jackman in a very different light. Little did they know that two major movie musicals will be part of his successful acting portfolio eventually!

Also, little did we know that it was Hugh in rehearsals for The Musical Is Back! which would inspire Oscars producer Larry Mark to suggest to Hugh that they work on an original movie musical together, which eventually became The Greatest Showman!



Jo

[jo]

That turning point moment when Phineas expressed how he has been treated in an inferior manner by the social class...and expresses part of his motivation to succeed in a big way.

[jo]

"Will.I.Am" of Black Peas band says he has never heard of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN.

"Will.I.Am" who was part of the key cast of "XMEN ORIGINS: Wolverine" says he has never heard of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, aka Hugh Jackman, aka Wolverine


www.heart.co.uk/showbiz/tv-movies/will-i-am-greatest-showman-voice/

[jo]

Someone wants to do a duet with The Greatest Showman for his next album.

He ain't Barbra Streisand...

just kidding...


www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/robbie-williams-calls-star-duets-13818838

[jo]

I was not surprised that the movie is being reshown on the big screen, even with singalongs, in the UK because of its immense popularity there.

But this re-screening in a cinema is in Abilene, Texas!


www.reporternews.com/story/entertainment/events/2019/01/10/greatest-showman-big-screen-weekend-paramount-theatre/2508905002/

[jo]

Special screening at Ann Arbor in Michigan --

Isn't Ann Arbor an academic community?

Inspired by the imagination of P.T. Barnum and with music composed by Oscar, Grammy, Tony, and Golden Globe Award-winning songwriters Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, who also graduated from U of M!

[jo]

More screenings ( with singalongs) in the USA --

[jo]

Natalie Weiss, one of the first Broadway singers who was part of the workshops ( we found out that workshops were underway while Hugh was still in The River, through her tweet) -- performing with Justin and Benj for a small charity event for a hospital --

She was also part of the ensemble in the movie soundtrack!

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BsnTACdHyQj

THE GREATEST SNOWMAN!!

[jo]

The Greatest (Show)Man!

I have seen the video...and it is the most poignant ever -- Hugh singing parts of A MILLION DREAMS like a lullaby with such kindness in his eyes!

Click on the tweet of Calli to see the video.



*****************************************


And this is the heartbreaking story on what the young boy is going through

[jo]

And Tens has seen it --

[jo]

Update on Keala Settle --

She is going to sing SEASONS OF LOVE ( the only song I know from RENT) in the live TV production!


www.washingtonblade.com/2019/01/24/greatest-showman-songstress-gears-up-for-rent-live-broadcast-sunday/


coming up on Sunday, January 27, on the Fox network!


I've never really heard SEASONS OF LOVE sung solo, but I am sure Keala will give it her own inimitable interpretation( or maybe she will sing some parts solo, but the rest with the group?) --

[jo]

Wow - what a fantastic interview with Keala Settle, right before THE GREATEST SHOWMAN was released in December 2017!


She shares so much of herself as an artist... and then gives us a few insights on the kind of wonderful, caring person Hugh Jackman is!! I had to backtrack on the interview in case I misheard what she said about Hugh





Enjoy it -- better late than later ( Wish we had seen this right then! )


Hope Keala is fully recovered from the health issue (stroke?) she suffered right around the time when she sang at the Oscars. Hugh said he hopes he can bring her in as guest for TheManTheMusicTheShow!



Jo