THE GREATEST SHOWMAN : Publicity and Promotion

[carouselkathy]

Even if it's high end, I think it's tacky (the perfume)..

[hemma]

Many comments on Instagram about the possible similarity with THE PRESTIGE. It must be the period look and the fact that as a magician, The Great Danton ( aka Angier) was a bit of a showman! Remember how he would even take a bow while he was injured underneath the stage.

[jo]

And the similarity ends there

Angier was an obsessed man and his behavior after the accidental death of his wife made him somewhat unlikable. But if you have read the novel on which the Nolan brothers based their screenplay, what happened to him is even more grisly.

We haven't seen THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, but based on the trailer and other publicity material, it seems that this movie version based on the life of Barnum puts a lot of emphasis on his entrepreneurial drive and along the way becoming the impresario for an assorted types of unusual "showmen". It may be a musical, but I am hoping it is not just a lighthearted one... but that it also has the bearings of a dramatic musical.



Jo

[carouselkathy]

It appears to be dramatic in the sense that it's about outcasts coming together in the shared goal of using their talents to prove their unique worth and to increase their self esteem in a society that would otherwise see them as useless mistakes of nature.

[jo]

There's line from the recent Variety article on Pasek and Paul's work on THE GREATEST SHOWMAN which "colored me intrigued" --

For instance, “From Now On,” the big moment in the last act for Barnum (Hugh Jackman) as he faces a critical stage in his life and career, is uplifting and powerful.

Also, I did read in another article about Barnum turning away from his "troupe" as he gets accepted into high society or something -- I have to look for it.

That is why my expectation of some drama is more to do with a crisis in Barnum's life. I already consider the story on the lives of his unusual showmen as a given in the storyline.

Also, maybe it is not all roses re his family life -- he was too busy with his many interests... and we don't know how the Jenny Lind connection will be handled in this movie version?

Jo

[jo]

I found it -- I knew that sometimes reading Nancy Drew/Perry Mason/Sherlock Holmes/Agatha Christie in my youth must be worth something

www.bustle.com/p/the-greatest-showman-isnt-just-the-next-la-la-land-ok-67101


I will reprint the entire article because there are some aspects that makes more sense now at this stage. It was from a former set visit report when they were filming at Steiner Studios but was not allowed printing till later.

'The Greatest Showman' Isn't Just The Next 'La La Land', OK


BySage Young
June 29 2017

With every successful modern movie musical comes the predictive industry pieces: is the movie musical finally back to its studio system glory days? Though 2016's La La Land took some heat for its simplistic take on the history of jazz, the bittersweet romance was a hit overall — critically, amongst audiences, and during awards season. So, does Hugh Jackman's new starring turn as career entertainer P.T. Barnum owe something to the Damien Chazelle film? The latter may have warmed audiences to song-and-dance again, but The Greatest Showman isn't the next La La Land. Not all musicals are created equal, nor should they be.

The vast difference between the two is evident in the first trailer for The Greatest Showman, which was released on June 28. But almost no information about the film — except for the various superstar and newcomer names involved — was available to me before I visited its Brooklyn set earlier this year. I had to wait until I walked into a repurposed Williamsburg armory to understand the scope of the project. And that turned out to be a full-size big top populated by dozens of costumed extras; real circus performers contorting their bodies, flying through the air, and throwing things that are on fire; world-class dancers; and Jackman at the center of it all, in the most resplendent, reddest tails you've ever seen. La La Land is about a brief relationship that helps two frustrated artists to flourish, but The Greatest Showman isn't just about the origins of the Barnum & Bailey Circus — it's about the birth of show business as we know it.



Jackman and The Greatest Showman have been a package deal throughout the movie's lengthy development process. Eventually, Jackman was joined by Zac Efron as Phillip, a potential collaborator with stars in his eyes and family money in his pocket; Michelle Williams as Barnum's wife Charity; Rebecca Ferguson as his Swedish opera-singing discovery Jenny Lind, and an ensemble portraying Barnum's "oddities," including Zendaya and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a sibling trapeze act. "What’s interesting about them is that they’re not oddities because they have an extra leg or horns or weird freaky tattoos or things," Abdul-Mateen says on set, "but they’re black trapeze artists during the 1800s... that definitely would have been rare at the time." The "heart" of the film, almost everyone the visiting press speaks to tells us, is the relationship between Barnum and the misfits he brings together.



Director Michael Gracey remembers the Wolverine actor bringing him the script — originally a straightforward biopic.
"I went back to him and said, 'Look, if you’re really gonna put 'The Greatest Showman above your head on a poster, you should really play to your strengths,'" Gracey says. "And I grew up seeing him in Australia doing musicals. So I said it should be a musical. And that really naive remark has cost me seven years of my life, because it is so difficult to do an original musical."

Honestly, the director doesn't seem to be too broken up about the time spent. He's more eager to share the clips he has queued up for the assembled journalists and to get our take on them. He asks us to let him know, for example, if he's achieved his goal of making the first time Efron's Phillip sees Zendaya's Anne as dreamy and world-stopping as "when Tony sees Maria for the first time in West Side Story." When the clip stops rolling, we all murmur our entranced approval.



One clip that seems to be in the running for the most representative of the movie's vision is the intro to the opening and closing number, "The Greatest Show." Jackman stands underneath bleachers waiting to take the center ring, while audience members without an inch of space between any of them rhythmically stomp in anticipation above. It's inspired by scene in Steve Jobs, since Gracey considers both men similarly revolutionary. It's also a very unsubtle, Queen-esque reminder that The Greatest Showman isn't a period piece. The director describes it as "a storybook world. It’s not being faithful to the period; we have things that weren’t invented yet, but it feels of its own universe."


The result is a pop/period mash-up that would would make Baz Luhrmann blush. The film's costume designer Ellen Mirojnick tells us that she doesn't want the audience to be able to tie the looks she's created — inspired as much by avant garde designers as they are the big top — to any particular era, including the mid-1800s, when Barnum's career had really taken off. “Hopefully the audience is able to look at the whole movie and say, 'well that was delicious,'" she says.


And circus coordinator Matthieu Leopold had the same type of freedom to include more modern performance elements in his choreography. Leopold was responsible for casting the real circus acts featured in The Greatest Showman, but also had to get the actors who were new to this particular kind of entertaining up to speed. He choreographed Phillip and Anne's aerial love duet, "Rewrite The Stars," and has nothing but praise for Zendaya and Efron's work ethic and fearlessness. "They came in, smiles through the roof and just crushed it," he remembers.



The time-bending tone of the movie extends to its songs, as well. Though the Barnum spectacular isn't scheduled to hit theaters until Christmas Day 2017, composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul's Oscars will have already collected a few layers of dust by then. But the team actually booked this flashy new movie musical long before they collected their trophies for writing La La Land's "City Of Stars," not to mention the Tonys heaped onto their Broadway musical, Dear Evan Hansen. Though it's taken longer — seven years, to be exact — to come to fruition than the movie that brought them to the Academy Awards, The Greatest Showman was the first major motion picture to book the young talents, and the teeth-cutting they did there helped them get acclimated to Hollywood. (It hasn't jaded them yet — before sitting down to take questions, Pasek and Paul shake hands with each of us.)


"We definitely were trying to be really chill about the whole thing," Paul says about being in the studio with Jackman. "We’d never met any celebrity before." When Jackman walked into another room, the two would silently freak out.
The composers worked closely with Gracey throughout the process as well, as he wanted the songs in the film to be both theatrical and familiar to a contemporary audience. Paul says that the director referenced "everything from Ingrid Michaelson to Kanye," as they honed the show's song list, and producers like Ryan Lewis were brought on board to add to the soundtrack's radio-friendly quality. "To get to work with these pop guys and find this interesting marriage between [pop and theater] has been a real adventure and a real journey for us," Pasek adds.


That stirring song that plays over the trailer is sung by Lettie Lutz, the circus's Beaded Lady, played by stage actor Keala Settle. "This Is Me" isn't easily confused with any of La La Land's old Hollywood numbers; it's a pop anthem that wouldn't sound out of place on Katy Perry's Prism album — though it's Settle's forceful and emotional vocal performance that took her all the way through the early-stage readings of the script (which, for musicals, are usually populated by lesser known actors who don't expect to be cast) to filming a big-budget holiday release. Her come-to-Jesus number is a response to Barnum turning away from his circus family when he's accepted by high society. It hurts so much, Settle says, because Barnum gives Lettie a life when he first meets and validates her.


"He looks at her and says, 'You’re beautiful and I’ve never seen someone like you in my life, and your voice takes my breath away, will you be a part of the circus?,'" Settle explains, with tears in her eyes. "And the second that that happens, and she realizes that one person, sorry, gives a sh*t about who she is, it's enough for her to at least start trying to repair who she is as a woman."


So though The Greatest Showman leans towards spectacle where La La Land chooses intimacy, the hope is that audiences will still emotionally connect to its band of outcasts and the visionary who brought them out of the shadows and in front of a crowd. "To celebrate one’s otherness," is how Abdul-Mateen sums up the film's message. "That if you’re different you still matter. And you matter, period."

[carouselkathy]

Well said, Jo. I think you're correct about the turmoil in Barnum's life being an important element in the storytelling.

[jo]

Interesting comments --

Her come-to-Jesus number is a response to Barnum turning away from his circus family when he's accepted by high society. It hurts so much, Settle says, because Barnum gives Lettie a life when he first meets and validates her.

THIS IS ME does have a very interesting story ( not just as mentioned above) --

*When Keala sang it in that momentous February 2016 final reading (for FOX top execs), she was so good that FOX CEO ( which I presume to be already new CEO Stacey Snider although there were some assumptions that it could have been departing CEO Jim Gianopulos) stood up and hugged Keala telling her : "Young lady -- you have just booked yourself for your first major Hollywood movie!")

*Much more that half a year later or thereabouts -- the following day after they had actually filmed the scene, Keala was very touched to see a bouquet of flowers awaiting her in her dressing room as a gesture of thanks from the producers of the movie!


*Of course, we know that even as we know now that THIS IS ME is The Bearded Lady's response to Barnum's turning away from his troupe and was likely being sung to Hugh as Barnum... yet, it must have touched an emotional and artistic chord with Hugh, as that was the song that he chose to sing in his Broadway to Oz concert series. If this song ever goes to as far as the Oscars dais for winners, Hugh will be very proud to know that he was the first one to sing it in public


*But the most surprising of all is that it is The Bearded Lady's response to Barnum leaving them for a place in high society. I wonder -- in real life, Barnum did run for political office and became a known abolitionist -- so I am curious how their stories end in THE GREATEST SHOWMAN?


Jo

[jo]

Also --

One clip that seems to be in the running for the most representative of the movie's vision is the intro to the opening and closing number, "The Greatest Show."

Jackman stands underneath bleachers waiting to take the center ring, while audience members without an inch of space between any of them rhythmically stomp in anticipation above.

It's inspired by scene in Steve Jobs, since Gracey considers both men similarly revolutionary.

It's also a very unsubtle, Queen-esque reminder that The Greatest Showman isn't a period piece. The director describes it as "a storybook world. It’s not being faithful to the period; we have things that weren’t invented yet, but it feels of its own universe."

LOL- when that article was first published, I thought there was a typo error and had truncated " THE GREATEST SHOWMAN" to " THE GREATEST SHOW" --

Now it makes complete sense ( including the remarks in the article "while audience members without an inch of space between any of them rhythmically stomp in anticipation above.")!

There was some comment on the released song from the soundtrack to the effect that the approach to the song was one of first slowly and somewhat diffidently communicating to the crowd ( with Barnum initially using an unsure and soft tone) -- he needed to sell the concept of a show/circus-like to a crowd who may not have seen how mass entertainment can be offered. Then it builds up as he begins to realize that he was succeeding... and then the whole troupe joining him in mass selling! We cannot see the dramatics because we are only hearing the vocals! The singing must have been lifted directly from the soundtrack and we are completely unaware of the visual acting dimensions!


With Hugh Jackman performing onstage -- all he needs to do is to bound onto the stage and we are all completely enthralled! Just kidding


Selling...then performing -- hey, isn't that what show business is all about

When you go see a musical on stage - one is either made to gape with a spectacular Opening Number ( Lion King) or a simply magnificent musical overture ( Carousel or South Pacific) -- and the first 5-10 minutes will have been enough to keep you enthralled for the rest of the performance!

With movies, unless it is a musical and has the opportunity to convince you with song and maybe dance -- we only depend on trailers ( the more eye-popping or the more shocking or the more dramatic, the better) to give us an insight on what is to come!


Okay, lesson now fully understood by moi!


Jo

[jo]

I am also most interested to see the drama that accompanies Barnum's showstopper and supposed finale number, FROM NOW ON!

We'll see how that brings the storytelling to a great ending!

Jo

[jo]

Another product tie-in

Join the contest!


www.joeandsephs.co.uk/thegreatestflavour

[jo]

FOX UK has introduced the soundtrack release --

[jo]

[jo]

It is Official!!

FOX-USA has announced on its official site that THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is opening on December 20, 2017!


www.foxmovies.com/movies/the-greatest-showman



Please scroll down re the movie details - for the designated opening date of DECEMBER 20, 2017. It has not removed the word CHRISTMAS on the graphics but maybe it wanted to retain the holiday timing of the release? Such as Christmas-time!


Jo

[jo]

It has also announced the same information of a release date of DECEMBER 20, 2017 on the official site for ALL FOX movies under current or immediate future releases --

www.foxmovies.com/


The words " THE GREATEST SHOWMAN In theaters on December 20, 2017 " overlaid on the image --

[jo]

[jo]

Across the pond, Cunard is also running a contest for a chance to attend the premiere in NYC aboard the QUEEN MARY2 --

www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/291075/win-tickets-to-the-world-premiere-of-the-greatest-showman-on-the-worlds-greatest-ocean-liner

The Contest however is open only to travel agents who are UK residents!

Also --

The prize includes the following events in December of 2017: Round-trip economy class flight for the winner and Guest from the UK’s major airport nearest winner’s residence (as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion) hotel accommodation in New York City for three days and two nights in one double/twin standard hotel room; two tickets to attend the Official Premiere Screening of “The Greatest Showman” on board Queen Mary 2 while stationed at Brooklyn, New York cruise terminal; transportation to and from the airport in New York, and between the hotel and cruise terminal in Brooklyn, New York; two tickets to attend The Greatest Showman pre-screening reception in the Queens Room venue on board Queen Mary 2 while stationed at Brooklyn, New York Cruise Terminal; and five hundred dollars ($500) in spending money

Queen's Room at QM2.


It looks like Cunard is participating in this tie-in to promote its transatlantic voyages via the luxury ship?

Jo

[jo]

I am just guessing here

I wonder if this contest published on the official site --

Get a Taste of Hollywood
at a VIP event to celebrate
THE GREATEST
SHOWMAN!
Want to get a taste of Hollywood’s glitz and glamour? Now’s your chance! Enter to win two tickets to an exclusive "Greatest Showman" event to celebrate the film and its setting in New York City. The winner and a guest will spend the evening of December 9th 2017 at a quintessential NYC location rubbing elbows with the who’s who of New York City and the world of The Greatest Showman – a crowd that would impress even P.T. Barnum!

Is the event of the WORLD PREMIERE on QM2?

QM2, based on its sailing schedule, has a 12-Night cruise departing NYC on November 26...and will return to its Brooklyn terminal most likely either late night of December 7 or early morning of December 8.


Jo

[jo]

Remember the article re the making of replica costumes --

[jo]

It looks like the publicity train may be starting to rev up --

A look into the musicality of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN by the L.A. Times, from the point of view of Pasek and Paul!


beta.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-sneaks-greatest-showman-songs-20171103-story.html

'La La Land' songwriters change their tune for risky new musical 'The Greatest Showman'

By Michael Ordoña

Nov 03, 2017 | 06:00 AM



Songwriters Benj Pasek, left, and Justin Paul, collectively known as Pasek and Paul, photographed in Burbank October 25, 2017, are working with actor Hugh Jackman on the musical "The Greatest Showman." The songwriters won Academy Award Oscars last year for La La Land songs (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)


If you look up "Hot Streak" in the current edition of the musical dictionary, you'll see a picture of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Collaborators since their freshman year at the University of Michigan, Pasek and Paul shared last year's original song Oscar with Justin Hurwitz for "La La Land's" "City of Stars." They won this year's original score Tony for "Dear Evan Hansen." And they're currently working on "A Christmas Story Live" — the upcoming live telecast of the musical for which they received their first Tony nom.


Justin Paul, Justin Hurwity and Ben Hasek won the Oscar for Original Song for "La La Land's" “City of Stars.” (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times )


And then there's "The Greatest Showman," opening Dec. 20, the Hugh Jackman-starring big-screen musical about P.T. Barnum, directed by Michael Gracey — they provided the song score.



"We had a period of many years where we didn't have anything coming out," Paul points out over a quick breakfast before more "Christmas Story" rehearsals. "When you look under the hood, it's more a day-in, day-out grind, and sometimes they come to fruition."

The downright ripe contemporary pop of "Showman" figures to flavor the soundtrack of this awards season. The choice to go with music not rooted in the story's 1800s setting was to express not just the characters' feelings, but how ahead of his time Barnum was.


Pasek says, "He wasn't bound by the world in which he lived; he wanted to create one."


P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) comes alive with the oddities in Twentieth Century Fox's "The Greatest Showman." (Twentieth Century Fox )


Paul says, "The first number ['The Greatest Show'], it's this magical, colorful world. I think something in the time period wouldn't capture the visceral feeling Michael was after."


Gracey suggested the song be influenced by hip-hop, so the composers recruited Ryan Lewis (of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis) to create its driving rhythm track and group chant. Many of "Showman's" songs have an anthemic quality, none more so than the empowerment belter "This Is Me."


"We wanted a song that represented the Oddities' [the circus performers] struggle, and claiming their identities and finding pride in your strangeness," says Pasek. "To quote our leading man from 'Evan Hansen' [Ben Platt], he had a great line at the Tonys: 'The things that make you strange, make you powerful.' "


They struggled, though, to find the ballad for star-crossed lovers played by Zac Efron and Zendaya. They knew the scene would involve a trapeze; eventually they stopped thinking of it as one chasing another and started thinking of it as two people longing to soar together. The result, “Rewrite the Stars,” seems destined to haunt karaoke bars for years to come.

"To know the staging — they're literally flying through the air — really frees you up to write music that matches that idea," says Pasek.

Philip (Zac Efron) is entranced by Anne's (Zendaya) trapeze artistry in Twentieth Century Fox's "The Greatest Showman." (Twentieth Century Fox )



Jackman, meanwhile, gets to range from teasing the crowd in "Greatest Show," to exhorting the troops in "Come Alive," to a full belt in "From Now On."


"This will sound funny, but we were interested in figuring out how Wolverine-Hugh Jackman could make his way into a musical," says Paul. "So we went for moments of stillness where [Jackman] could just be the brilliant actor that he is, then evolved into something big and sung out. Hugh has this big, beautiful voice with vibrato; it can be almost operatic in a very confident and muscular way.


"We were working in the studio, we did reference Wolverine: 'How do we get this grittier? … This is crazy low, but what would happen if you sang this an octave down?' … Magical! The hairs stood up on your arm. This is a man as raw and vulnerable as he gets."


Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times )

"Risky" new musical?!! More like a refreshing wind of change

"This will sound funny, but we were interested in figuring out how Wolverine-Hugh Jackman could make his way into a musical," says Paul. "So we went for moments of stillness where [Jackman] could just be the brilliant actor that he is, then evolved into something big and sung out. Hugh has this big, beautiful voice with vibrato; it can be almost operatic in a very confident and muscular way.

"We were working in the studio, we did reference Wolverine: 'How do we get this grittier? … This is crazy low, but what would happen if you sang this an octave down?' … Magical! The hairs stood up on your arm. This is a man as raw and vulnerable as he gets."

When I first heard THE GREATEST SHOW, I did think that Hugh was acting out the song! You can discern the nuances he placed in his singing, as if he was telling us a story! It wasn't simply singing the notes and the lyrics and trying to put his personality into it ( sorry, no offense meant - but Zac's singing was more reminiscent of other pop music stars's style of music artistry) -- Hugh was forgetting who he was -- he has become a character fully acting out his story and his emotions! Was that the influence of his stint in Les Miserables or maybe that of his musical theatre background -- maybe so

His vocal range was impressive -- from an octave down ( almost whispery, almost like sharing a story) to going up the scale, from low throbbing sounds to belting the notes!

I can't wait to see how the singing is merged with the dance moves and the acting chops in the production number in the movie itself


Jo

[jo]

Hey, the new poster is for real -- according to Barnum himself

http://instagram.com/p/BbCLFz1jYnW

[jo]

And there is one of HUGH JACKMAN, too -- resplendent in red and gold -- as P.T.Barnum!

[jo]

And another one --

[jo]

And this one with Charity ( Michelle Williams) --

[jo]

And with Jenny Lind ( Rebecca Ferguson) --