THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

[jo]

Hugh, along with Alcc Baldwin and Jamie Foxx ( all three are singing duets with Barbra in her latest album ENCORE: MOVIE PARTNERS SING BROADWAY - check out the Broadway section of this forum), are in talks to sing with Barbra as her guests for the Brooklyn leg of her concert tour. It has not been confirmed yet.

Jo

[jo]

Not in the photo but who sang during the workshop are Jeremy Jordan and Andrew Keenan Bolger.


As the movie is filming in New York City, will anyone be lucky enough to join the film project? For Les Miserables, Tom Hooper sourced his secondary roles ( the Barricade Boys and the Factory Girls mainly) from West End ( London) stage actors, some with even very prominent West End careers.

Jo

[hughmanity]

Exciting news....funny how this article doesn't mention their previous "hookup"!


www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michelle-williams-talks-join-hugh-903335

[foxie]

Michele Williams great addition!

[jo]

Deadline was actually the filmsite ( or could we call them a trade paper now?) who first reported the news --

deadline.com/2016/07/michelle-williams-in-talks-to-join-hugh-jackman-p-t-barnum-in-the-greatest-showman-on-earth-1201783215/

Michelle Williams In Talks To Join ‘The Greatest Showman’ With Hugh Jackman



by Ali Jaafar

July 6, 2016 11:46am


EXCLUSIVE: Michelle Williams in in talks to join the P.T Barnum pic The Greatest Showman opposite Hugh Jackman. Zac Efron also is in talks for the project, which follows the story of the founder of what became the famous traveling Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.


The gears are ramping up now on the Fox musical, which has been a passion project for Jackman since 2009. The pic will purportedly be the first original live-action musical in more than two decades — since 1992’s Newsies, starring a pubescent Christian Bale. The film will tell the story of Barnum’s invention of show business, and his ultimate invention of the three-ring circus.

Oscar winner Michael Arndt is scripting, with Chernin Entertainment, Laurence Mark and Jackman producing. Jenny Bicks, Bill Condon and Jonathan Tropper have worked on previous drafts. Michael Gracey is set to direct. Gracey is best known for his dance-filled commercials and for creating one of the original flash mob videos. The original songs are by Justin Paul & Benj Pasek, who were Tony-nominated for The Christmas Story.


The versatile and talented Williams, who classes up any project she joins, recently received a Tony nom for her performance in Blackbird. Her upcoming role in Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea opposite Casey Affleck was unanimously praised out of Sundance and has already received Oscar buzz. That film opens November 18 in theaters from Amazon and Roadside Attractions.

Williams is repped by WME, Brillstein and attorney John LaViolette at Bloom Hergott.

Michelle has had 3 Oscar nods so-far!



Will she be Charity or Jenny


Probably Charity!


Jo

[jo]

The original songs are by Justin Paul & Benj Pasek, who were Tony-nominated for The Christmas Story.

It looks like this composer team will be very busy for the rest of the year --

*Musical score for GREATEST SHOWMAN ( What will their role be? Probably during the studio recording phase? And also during actual filming?)

*Their successful off-Broadway play DEAR EVAN HANSEN will preview/open on Broadway in November!


Jo

[jo]

Variety acknowledges that it was DEADLINE which first reported the news on Michelle possibly joining the cast. Other film sites have now started picking up the buzz.

variety.com/2016/film/news/michelle-williams-hugh-jackman-greatest-showman-on-earth-1201809404/


Btw, the three Oscar nods for Michelle came for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, and BLUE VALENTINE!

Such an accomplished actress! And she can sing and dance, too


Jo

[jo]

Another signal that this project will be topnotch -- Michael Arndt is penning the final version of the screenplay!

From Wiki --

Michael Arndt is an American screenwriter. He is best known as the writer of the films Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Toy Story 3 (2010) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).

Arndt won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Little Miss Sunshine and was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for Toy Story 3. This made Arndt the first screenwriter ever to be nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay for his first two screenplays.

He also wrote the script for HUNGER GAMES : Catching Fire.


Am I hearing possible Oscar buzz for this project -- hope so!


Jo

[jo]

NYTimes critic Ben Brantley's review of Michelle's CABARET performance --


www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/theater/cabaret-opens-with-alan-cumming-and-michelle-williams.html?_r=0

The most conspicuous difference is the bright blond actress portraying Sally, a role imperishably created for the Roundabout by Natasha Richardson. The promiscuous, hard-partying Sally is now embodied by a very brave Michelle Williams, who doesn’t look all that happy to be there. I’m assuming that’s more a matter of character interpretation than of personal discomfort, but it does put sort of a damper on the festivities.

Since Ms. Williams’s Broadway debut is the biggest news in this revival of Joe Masteroff, John Kander and Fred Ebb’s oft-reprised 1966 musical, let’s linger on her. As you probably know, she’s a fine screen actress, and very good onstage, too, as I can testify, having seen her in productions of “The Cherry Orchard” and Mike Leigh’s “Smelling a Rat.”



Given that she played Marilyn Monroe in the 2011 film “My Week With Marilyn,” for which she received an Oscar nomination, Ms. Williams obviously knows about wrestling with the ghosts of sexy performances past. But for some reason, she has chosen to tamp down any evidence of spontaneous sensuality.

With a lockjaw Mayfair accent that sometimes has her talking literally out of the side of her mouth and a sustained air of high tension, Ms. Williams’s Sally brings to mind more an anxiously slumming heiress out of Evelyn Waugh than the exuberantly hedonistic Sally of Christopher Isherwood’s “The Berlin Stories,” on which “Cabaret” is based (along with John Van Druten’s play “I Am a Camera”).

Though never previously known as a singer or dancer, Ms. Williams does just fine with her musical chores here. (And don’t forget that even though she was played by a top-form Liza Minnelli in the 1972 screen version of “Cabaret,” Sally was never meant to be very talented.)

Leading the Kit Kat girls in nightclub production numbers like “Don’t Tell Mama” and “Mein Herr” with a shiny, metallic vibrato, Ms. Williams comes closer to evoking the musical style of the Depression than any Sally I’ve seen. And for her climactic performance of the show’s title song, she has the shouty power and shell-shocked stare of someone who’s seen the future and knows that it’s terrifying.




But this Cassandra-like aspect is implicit in her performance from the beginning. That means that it’s harder than usual to credit her seduction of the cautious, bisexual Clifford Bradshaw (Bill Heck), who falls for her and the town of Berlin because they’re so much damned fun.

As Clifford, a young American writer hoping to find inspiration for his novel, says to Sally of their shared life: “It’s so tawdry and terrible, and everyone’s having such a great time. Like a bunch of kids playing in their room — getting wilder and wilder — and knowing any minute their parents are going to come home.”
...

[jo]

Brantley's take on how Michelle interprets the role of Cassandra-like Sally is shown on this clip from CABARET --

[jo]

Cinemablend is excited about the news about the casting of Michelle --

www.cinemablend.com/news/1531899/hugh-jackmans-big-top-circus-biopic-has-landed-an-exciting-leading-lady

It takes great showmen to craft a narrative about great showmen. Although we still know very little about Hugh Jackman's upcoming P.T Barnum biopic, The Greatest Showman on Earth, our excitement has slowly built and built as information has trickled in. In fact, the latest bit of news concerning the project is arguably one of the most excited revelations about the film to date. The film seems to have finally found its leading lady, and she's absolutely perfect to star alongside Jackman.


According to a brand new report from Variety, it seems that The Greatest Showman on Earth has enlisted the acting chops of actress Michelle Williams to take on the lead female role in the upcoming biopic. The exact nature of her role in the film remains unclear to say the least, but the report seems to confirm that she will headline the film alongside everyone's favorite X-Men actor.



Although she's somewhat less prolific than some of her Hollywood contemporaries, Michelle Williams has a long history of choosing incredibly strong projects for herself. With over two decades of acting experience under her belt, she has turned in impeccable performances in a wide variety of films, ranging from My Week With Marilyn to Blue Valentine and even Brokeback Mountain.

In addition to her work on the silver screen, Michelle Williams has also proven that she has a knack for dominating a stage with her roles on Broadway. Her energy and magnetism as a stage actress even led her to a Tony nomination this past year for her role in Blackbird opposite Jeff Daniels. The fact that she has agreed to sign on to The Greatest Showman on Earth seemingly indicates a great deal of promise for the upcoming film.



The cast for The Greatest Showman on Earth seems to slowly but surely be coming together in the best possible way. In addition to the news about Michelle Williams' casting, Variety also reports that Zac Efron is similarly rumored to be joining the cast. It takes more than three actors to carry a film of this weight and magnitude, but we have to say that it's most certainly off to a good start.

We will bring you more information concerning The Greatest Showman on Earth as it becomes available to us. With the addition of Michelle Williams to the film's ensemble, we have a feeling that this project could potentially dominate next year's award season. The Greatest Showman on Earth will hit theaters on Christmas Day 2017.

I wonder if the casting of the other female lead will also generate as much excitement


Jo

[hughmanity]

Looks like good chemistry to me!

[hughmanity]

A  more recent encounter:

[jo]

One filmsite remembered the strong pairing years back --

www.themovienetwork.com/article/michelle-williams-star-opposite-hugh-jackman-greatest-showman-earth

[jo]

The original songs are by Justin Paul & Benj Pasek, who were Tony-nominated for The Christmas Story.

*We have heard only one song -- Hugh debuted THIS IS ME (which is not really Barnum's song, but more of a song for the so-called circus freaks - bearded lady, mermaids, Tom Thumb, etc.) at his Broadway to Oz concert series in Australia. If that is an indication, we may have a beautiful and exciting score! Otherwise, why would they use topnotch Broadway actors to showcase the musical score to the producers and Fox execs. Broadway talent who sang parts of the score included Jeremy Jordan, Caroline Bowman, Cynthia Erivo, Keala Settle, Andrew Keenan Bolger, Natalie Weiss, etc.

*Can we now look forward to a soundtrack recording of the musical score for this movie musical ( similar to the Les Miserables soundtrack album)??

*There was talk that this is going to use the traditional format for filming musicals -- studio recording which will become the basis for the actors's lipsynching efforts as they simultaneously show off their dramatic chops or dance moves or even their acrobatic skills ( don't forget -- this is a movie about the founding of the Barnum and Bailey Circus)! Does this mean the soundtrack might be available early??



Jo

[mamaleh]

I hope so.

Ellen

[jo]

[jo]

Clip from CABARET with Michelle --

[jo]

The color of her eyes has a striking similarity to that of Hugh


Jo

[hughmanity]

More casting news that will help broaden its appeal to younger audiences!


www.ew.com/article/2016/07/12/zendaya-greatest-showman-musical-hugh-jackman

[jo]

The Hollywood Reporter reports the EXCLUSIVE!

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/zendaya-talks-join-hugh-jackman-908799?utm_source=twitter


Zendaya's inclusion, together with Zac's casting, is likely to attract the millennial audience! But at least she is playing a circus role ( a trapeze artist) and not just cast for the singing part.
 

At least, the trade paper and filmsites are now sorting the facts right --

*It is Oscar-winner Michael Arndt who is penning the script.

*The musical score will be exclusively composed by Pasek and Paul

*Michelle is going to be the love interest ( as his wife Charity)...except she will not be the only one! They still have to cast the role fo the singer with whom Barnum was infatuated with, Jenny Lind! So, watch out for that casting news!

*Zac is supposed to be his protégé ( I wonder if it is true he plays a playwright?) who will become the circus ringmaster.

*I am keen to know if there are any Broadway triple-threats joining the movie musical. Maybe at least one or two from the workshop team?



Jo

[jo]

A 12-year old tweets --

alyssa ♡
‏@msalyssaefron
Zac in a musical with Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams & Zendaya...I'm already ready for the movie and it hasn't even started filming yet 😩

It is supposed to be a family-friendly movie after all

So expect a wide demographics

Jo

[jo]

Hugh and director Michael Gracey have worked together before -- remember the Lipton Ice Tea commercial?

From Memory Lane --

Behind the scenes, with Michael shown in his ubiquitous headgear.






It may be just a microcosm but it featured music, dance, and spectacle!


Jo

[jo]

One of the most visited sites is of course ROTTEN TOMATOES.

The Editorial page of the site features FRESH developments on upcoming movies. GREATEST SHOWMAN is among the 7 upcoming movies with FRESH ideas /news (Btw, there are 2 ROTTEN ideas/news featured, too ) --

editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/hollywood-is-officially-hunting-for-pokemon-go-rights-and-more-movie-news/

4. ZENDAYA TO TRAPEZE SWING OVER HUGH JACKMAN IN THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH


One of the most ambitious non-superhero movies that Hugh Jackman has been attached to star in for several years now (since 2009) is 20th Century Fox’s The Greatest Showman on Earth. As the title suggests, this film (scheduled for 12/25/17) will be a biographical musical drama about the life of 19th century circus entrepreneur P.T. Barnum, who, of course, will be played by Jackman (who’s also producing). In recent weeks, we’ve heard about the casting of both Zac Efron (as Barnum’s “right hand man”), and Michelle Williams (as Barnum’s romantic interest). This week, we learned that Fox is hoping to attract a young audience with the news that former Disney star Zendaya is now in talks to play a trapeze artist in Barnum’s circus. The Greatest Showman on Earth will be the feature film directorial debut of Michael Gracey (who is working on an adaptation of the manga/video game Naruto), working from a script by Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3; cowriter of Star Wars: The Force Awakens). 20th Century Fox has scheduled The Greatest Showman on Earth for December 25th, by which point the world will probably be much more familiar with Zendaya, due to her reportedly major role in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7, 2017).

The casting may be partly to attract a young audience, but could it also be that the script calls for a character that she can depict well? At any rate, Rotten Tomatoes thinks it is FRESH idea!


Jo

[jo]

Waiting for news on the JENNY casting! Hope it comes soon!

It's about 2 1/2 months to go before start of filming -- that is the only missing key casting news left ...and then


Jo