THE GREATEST SHOWMAN : Publicity and Promotion

[jo]

Ellen,

I've been thinking -- if the commercials are song-and-dance stuff, wouldn't this be a great sideline option for Broadway triple-threats - ensemble or billed

Especially so because the ads can also require good acting and pleasing speaking vocals.

Jo

[jo]

[jo]

D'accord!

[jo]

How costumes were conceived ( in line with Michael Gracey's cinematic vision) and executed --


www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/greatest-showman-costume-designer-giving-circus-a-vogue-makeover-1067305


Please check out the link for the costume illustrations and the completed costumes.

'The Greatest Showman' Costume Designer on Giving the Circus a 'Vogue' Makeover
5:00 AM PST 12/14/2017 by Cathy Whitlock


Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
'The Greatest Showman'

“He wanted it to be classic in the way of feeling romantic” and as if “ripped out of an editorial one would see out of a fashion magazine like Vogue," said costume designer Ellen Miroj.


If the real P.T. Barnum — half-bald, portly and stodgy — were alive today, no doubt he would be thrilled with actor Hugh Jackman as his cinematic counterpart. Fortunately for viewers, The Greatest Showman is "inspired by" and not an actual period-perfect biopic.


Director Michael Gracey, the creative genius behind the contemporary musical that celebrates the larger than life visionary who literally invented "showbiz," designed the film with a "heightened theatrical reality" in mind. Influenced by childhood favorites West Side Story, Sound of Music and Mary Poppins along with Bob Fosse's All That Jazz, he was particularly inspired by Terry Gilliam’s work on The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. The Aussie director notes, "Everything he does has this theatricality to it — the miniatures, textures and wardrobes — and l love that heightened feel as it speaks to the storybook worlds I wanted to create as opposed to trying to emulate reality. This is really important in a musical when you have people breaking into song."



Sketch: Phillip Boutté/Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox; Photo: Niko Tavernise
Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman.

Translating the director's vision via costumes for the fantastical life under the proverbial Big Top fell to Emmy Award-winning designer Ellen Mirojnick who is no stranger to period pieces (The Knick) or over-the-top costumes (she won an Emmy for her Liberace capes in Behind the Candelabra). "The very first thing Michael said to me was that this is a story inspired by P.T. Barnum and he did not want it to be a period-centric film," she says. "He wanted it to be classic in the way of feeling romantic and as if it was fashion forward and ripped out of an editorial one would see out of a fashion magazine like Vogue."


Creating up to 800 costumes within an extremely limited time period, designing clothes for dance and the question of "how do we create the feel and look of romantic fantasy, keeping it being real and relatable and have a fashion edge?" represented the major challenges. Researching both the 18th and 19th centuries (the film takes place "a long time ago in the 1800s"), she also looked to the designs of John Galliano (1998-2001) and Christian Dior (2001-2007) for direction. "Galliano used a hybrid of every century in the world to create his designs and we basically did the same thing with the same point of view."



Sketch: Phillip Boutté/Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox; Photo: Niko Tavernise
Rebecca Ferguson as Jenny Lind in The Greatest Showman.

Clothing Hugh Jackman involved a wardrobe from his early days of making ends meet up to a life of wealth and meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Perhaps the piece de resistance was the ringmaster's jacket. Composed of a luminous red silk and wool with a braided gold bullion chevron pattern on the vest with engraved "B's" on the gold buttons, she recalls the first time Jackman came in for the final fitting.


"I have never seen the birth of a character more clearly and it brought tears to my eyes as well as my assistants and cutters. This was seven years in the making for Hugh and his dream and to watch him put on that costume slowly piece by piece ending with the red coat — I have never seen an actor transform as magnificently as he did. Watching him blossom into the character was like a flower opening!"



Sketch: Phillip Boutté/Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox; Photo: Niko Tavernise

Due to a limited budget, Mirojnick relied on donations from Marchesa, Zuhair Murad and J. Mendel among others. For Swedish songstress Jenny Lind's opening number (played by Rebecca Ferguson), the designer deconstructed the skirt of a spectacular silk satin Zuhair Murad wedding dress. Michele Williams, who plays Barnum's long-suffering wife Charity, wears a pink Marchesa silk satin dress that was remade. "Williams' silhouette was refined, modern, womanly and simple and velvet capes were a great addition to her character. She looks like a little fairy princess." Breakout star Zendaya receives some of the film's more colorful costumes, particularly the orchid V-neck trapeze outfit (she did her own stunts) with matching pink hair and modern gold boots.

The use of color also contributed to the director's heightened reality as Gracey says, "This was really important to me and I did a lot of sketching with artists before hand to work out the color palette which influenced the wardrobe and set design." Mirojnick concurs, noting, "The color envelopes you, it’s so alive and full bodied. It starts with a song, comes alive and bursts on to the screen and everything in terms of light, color and sound shifts."



Niko Tavernise/Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
Michelle Williams as Charity Barnum in The Greatest Showman.

Nowhere is this more evident than with the costumes of Barnum's trademark human menagerie of colorful characters known as "The Oddities" that included the Elephant Man, Albino Twins, Tatoo Girl, Bearded Lady and Gold Girl to name a few. Notes Gracey, "My favorite characters were the ones that Ellen executed in such an unexpected way. The Albino Twins had this sort of dripping wax latex feel to their tops which was stunning and the Gold Girl was so striking — to me, it was period but could have been in a Vogue editorial." For the Bearded Lady's costume, Mirojnick first dressed her in a floral waterfall silk taffeta married with silk tulle number. "When Michael first saw the dress, he was not a fan of prints and unhappy. We had to shoot in two days so I turned the dress inside out." The result was a sculpted magnificent two-tone dress that is a showstopper.

Costume design played an important narrative role in the project that took seven years to bring to the screen and was shot in less than a year. "Ellen really brought these characters to life, and all I could think about is how all those people (actors) could inhabit the characters like never before," says Gracey. "And one of the main themes of the film embraces celebrating what it is to be different and celebrating what it is to be unique. It reminds me of It's a Wonderful Life."


Sketch: Phillip Boutté/Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox; Photo: Niko Tavernise
Keala Settle as the Bearded Lady in The Greatest Showman.

[njr]

Dec 13, 2017 18:25:34 GMT -5 mamaleh said:

Well, strictly speaking, back in the early days of TV, largely in the 1950s, I believe some live TV shows did live commercials. But that hasn’t happened for a good 50 years or so. Plus they were small-scale displays of products by the show’s host. This sounds like quite a departure. And what great marketing: those who watch A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL are the perfect target audience for the TGS trailer. Nice going!

Ellen

I was just going to say the same thing. Lots of live commercials in the 1950s like these:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4HT-OckMYU


m.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qn7fCikPsA

Nancy

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/BcsgfV6DPe0

[jo]

Posting this production clip here, too

It's not a usual media junket interview --

It is a production on the Great White Way!


James Corden's CROSSWALK MUSICAL to honor THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

[hughmanity]

Stayed up late to see it.  Exhausted this  morning, but worth it.  Great bit and a great appearance by Hugh on the show.

Dec 15, 2017 2:18:41 GMT -5 jo said:

Posting this production clip here, too

It's not a usual media junket interview --

It is a production on the Great White Way!


James Corden's CROSSWALK MUSICAL to honor THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

[jo]

Please click on the link in the message to see the clip.

[jo]

[jo]

Dec 15, 2017 2:18:41 GMT -5 jo said:

Posting this production clip here, too

It's not a usual media junket interview --

It is a production on the Great White Way!


James Corden's CROSSWALK MUSICAL to honor THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

I don't how many times I have seen the clip...and I still giggle and laugh a lot every time


From my many viewings, I finally recognized the props and the characters --

*They certainly went "on the town" -- was Hugh "Gene K" or "Frank S"?

*Sit down and stop rockin' the boat -- wasn't that the song led by Nicely, Nicely ( Boy, has he slimmed down to Zendaya willowness) ... Looks like Hugh was Sky and Zac was Nathan and James was the Salvation Army Assistant of Sarah.

*I couldn't figure out what that gray creature was with big ears -- there is no mouse ( not even Mickey, the new owner of the movie THE GREATEST SHOWMAN) in the circus, until I saw that he also had a portable podium ... that was DUMBO/JUMBO

*And the lion jumping through the hoop...and a tiger to spare.

*They even simulated the tentpole ( with those red ribbons forming a big top). Even Lady Liberty and good old Empire State were in on the musical act ... A lot of costumes there for all the skits.

*You can tell Hugh is a Broadway Baby -- look at how was performing to the entire crowd -- making a 360* turn on top of the taxi so he can be seen everywhere

*Hugh did the hat trick again

*Zac was funny as the dumbfounded performer...and initially I couldn't figure out why he was on top of a tricyle --- until I remembered that one of the circus attractions were men/clowns performing on tall unicycles.

*Missed Keala, another Broadway Baby!

*But James was there and he portrayed THE BEARDED LADY and the Broadway Diva ( ala Jenny Lind, opera diva) at the end. Luv how he extended his hand, to be kissed, but the truck driver failed to recognize the cue


Jo

[jo]

Hey --

[jo]

This production of "(BROADWAY) CROSSWALK, THE MUSICAL" is drawing media attention


www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/greatest-showman-crosswalk-musical-james-corden-late-late-show


www.today.com/popculture/james-corden-hugh-jackman-zac-efron-zendaya-re-enact-iconic-t120094


www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/broadway-hugh-jackman-james-corden_us_5a33a805e4b01d429cc7bbbb


ew.com/tv/2017/12/15/hugh-jackman-crosswalk-theater-zac-efron-zendaya-james-corden/


www.eonline.com/news/900393/zac-efron-hugh-jackman-zendaya-and-james-corden-take-their-crosswalk-performance-to-broadway?cmpid=rss-000000-rssfeed-365-topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eonline%2FvzVO+%28E%21+Online+%28US%29+-+Top+Stories%29


www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hugh-jackman-zac-efron-stop-new-york-traffic-amazing-musicals-084818893.html?utm_content=buffer14875&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer


www.billboard.com/articles/news/television/8070717/late-late-show-zendaya-zac-efron-hugh-jackman-corden-crosswalk-musical


toofab.com/2017/12/15/hugh-jackman-james-corden-fight-crosswalk-musical-broadway-zac-efron-zendaya-greatest-showman/



It looks like this is going to be the best publicity stunt for THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, outside of their own creative promotion efforts, as it is drawing quite wide attention

[jo]

Check out the photos from JustJared -- there are additional photos which were not part of the musical clip.

www.justjared.com/2017/12/15/zac-efron-zendaya-and-hugh-jackman-join-james-corden-in-epic-crosswalk-musical-watch-here/

[jo]

Another article focusing on the costume design --

fashionista.com/2017/12/the-greatest-showman-movie-costumes

[mamaleh]

Dec 13, 2017 18:37:33 GMT -5 jo said:

Ellen,

I've been thinking -- if the commercials are song-and-dance stuff, wouldn't this be a great sideline option for Broadway triple-threats - ensemble or billed

Especially so because the ads can also require good acting and pleasing speaking vocals.

Jo

Lots of Broadway actors do commercials, some with song and dance, others just voiceovers. I'm sure it's a great way to earn income, especially if it's a national spot and between stage gigs.

Ellen

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/Bcujyx0DnSp

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/Bcu5RtjDzxk

[jo]

(BROADWAY)CROSSWALK,THE MUSICAL is now trending on YouTube!

It should get to a million hits shortly!

[jo]

Over a million hits now!

Crosswalk the Musical on Broadway (w/ Hugh Jackman, Zendaya & Zac Efron)
1,021,287 views


52,556 LIKES


334 DISLIKES

This can only be positive for attracting filmgoers to THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

[jo]

Pete Hammond of Deadline.com writes about the other great showmen, Pasek and Paul


deadline.com/2017/12/jeff-bezos-big-sick-the-post-oscar-winners-pasek-paul9-1202228166/

OSCAR AND TONY WINNERS PASEK AND PAUL GO FOR MORE GOLD

Speaking of songs, Justin Paul and Benj Pasek are on a roll, having won the Golden Globe and Oscar last year for “City of Stars” from La La Land, and then the Tony three months later for Dear Evan Hansen. They also recently received two Grammy nominations for those projects, and by Oscar time could be just one Emmy short of being instant members of the exclusive EGOT club (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). That could be fixed by Emmy time next year as this Sunday their musical A Christmas Story Live! is airing on Fox. When I sat down with them recently at the Four Seasons bar right after they arrived from rehearsals for it, the pair told me they have written “three or four” new songs for this TV adaptation of their 2012 Broadway musical, which was based on the 1983 hit movie. The show only ran seven weeks since it was a seasonal entry on the Great White Way, but it will get an audience this weekend this young pair of songwriters never dreamed possible. One of those new songs is a big Hanukkah number for Ana Gasteyer to sing. This could have Emmy written all over it.


Related
Fox’s ‘A Christmas Story Live!’ Will Air First Live TV Ad For A Movie


And to add more laurels to this charmed pair, they also have written all 11 songs for the new Hugh Jackman original movie musical, The Greatest Showman which opens Wednesday from 20th Century Fox. In a perfect note of synergy, it will have a live commercial with the cast during the Christmas Story broadcast Sunday. That’s got to be a first for any songwriter. Pasek and Paul already also have received Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations for one of those Greatest Showman tunes, “This Is Me,” a rousing and inspirational anthem in a terrific movie musical full of them. It is primarily sung by Broadway star Keala Settle (Waitress), and after our chat they invited me to watch a spirited rehearsal as they worked out a number to be performed at a press event the next day. These guys just don’t stop.


As they told me, they didn’t set out to write the score for the movie at all, and in fact say that to this day they still haven’t been hired. How is that possible? It was their first big gig, and the filmmakers decided to basically do a bake-off among songwriters to compose each tune in the movie, one by one, a kind of smorgasbord approach to the score. Pasek and Paul knocked the first one out of the park and just kept submitting more as the “contest” continued. Eventually, piece by piece, they had written every single one of the songs being used in the movie. “We were never hired as the songwriters for The Greatest Showman,” Paul said. “We just happened to have written all the songs. It’s 100 percent true.” Pasek added that their involvement on this P.T. Barnum musical predates both Dear Evan Hansen and La La Land; they did their first Showman pitch.about four years ago.


To show you how things come full circle, Pasek and Paul had come to L.A. to being work on what would become Dear Evan Hansen because their book writer Steve Levinson was in Hollywood working on a TV series. They got a meeting by happenstance with a Fox executive who had seen A Christmas Story on Broadway, and that somehow led to meeting Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey, who clicked with them right away after hearing their first pass at a potential song for the movie. “They were out to mostly writers from the pop songwriting world, but he said, ‘Let’s see what you have’ and so we sort of made it our mission,” said Pasek. “That sort of started the collaboration, but then it was really over the next couple of years, one song at a time. Added Paul: “We were just grateful to get an opportunity to do this. It was a wonderful change of pace from living in the world of Dear Evan Hansen and writing songs about inner turmoil and teenage suicide, to get to write music and lyrics and to work on a piece that really is about the celebration of joy and hope and optimism.”

[jo]

Interesting comments on " the red Amazon shipping box" --

[hughmanity]

I don't think this has been posted before...I like this interview-it shows the hat trick!

[jo]

Where can I get that T-SHIRT ??

IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT
HUGH JACKMAN



It has been his fault since I first saw him in OKLAHOMA!

[jo]

During his whistle-stop visit at the ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW, Hugh talked about his upcoming Christmas break in Australia. He did ask Ellen if they were coming over, too ( Portia is from Australia).

which Hugh acknowledged --