THE GREATEST SHOWMAN : Awards Talk

[jo]

The award for BEST ORIGINAL SONG was the sole award aspect that FOX submitted for awards consideration.

So many have complained why LA LA LAND was given so much awards brouhaha and actual nominations...while an equally impressive ( if not better) movie musical has been basically ignored.

Why Fox did not submit other aspects of this well-loved movie musical for award consideration baffles me. Had they submitted every aspect ( regardless of what the critics- who- did-not-get-any-public-sympathy said ) of the film-making effort, maybe THE GREATEST SHOWMAN could have won the respect and admiration of awards voters. Was it the fact that FOX also had pessimistic box office projections made them reluctant to spend campaign money for other award consideration? No screeners were sent out and no script was downloaded for the awards community, no special screenings with Q&A's, no promotional appearances were made ( except for the all-out efforts to highlight and increase the chances of "This Is Me") nor did they release publicity material for purposes of highlighting the artistic quality of the movie ( the ubiquitous FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION ads).

I wonder how they feel now that the movie is doing spectacularly well in the USA and the UK ( where the Oscars and the BAFTAs are awarded) in terms of box office performance plus the very strong public approval expressed in many forums?! Ironically, The Greatest Showman rated much better with audiences ( Rotten Tomatoes/IMDB) compared to Fox main awards candidate The Post. Both movies earned identical Cinemascore ratings of "A". It was their subsidiary Fox Searchlight though which has two very strong candidates ( Shape of Water and Three Billboards) at the Oscars race... and not the main studio which produced both Greatest Showman and The Post.

Even if the movie might not have received any other nominations, the act of submitting the movie and its component creative aspects would at least be a recognition that they believed in their film offering! Ironic that it has recently received an award for Sound Editing by the relevant guild, while a nomination from the Costume Designers Guild was given to the movie. Hugh did receive a Best Actor nomination and the movie a Best Picture nomination with the Golden Globes.

Hope the FOX people will know better next time around ... or did the pending change of ownership of the film studio to Disney influence or color their decision ( i.e., maximize profitability on the project) ?

What a lost opportunity!


Jo

[jo]

Posting this again, this time on this thread --

Feb 23, 2018 9:08:06 GMT -5 jo said:

It is confirmed here, about the live participation of ALL the singers for the nominated songs!

Let's add our messages of support to Keala!

Here's mine --

Replying to @theacademy
It's the message and the music! Slay 'em, Keala!
Sing THIS IS ME, not only to the Olympians ... but to the whole world!

[jo]

IMDB Interview ( with Dave Karger) of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul --

www.imdb.com/videoplayer/vi315471897


"There's no one like Hugh Jackman!"

[jo]

I found another reason why Hugh should be there at the Oscars -- Keala needs reassurance from her pal!


Jo

[jo]

Hope AMPAS voters see this -- voting has just started a few days ago!

And maybe, especially by reading the readers comments, the voters realize that these came from actual covers of the song, artfully and lovingly compiled by Atlantic Records! And that they are heartfelt and artistic expressions of agreement with the appeal of the music and the resonance of the message of THIS IS ME!

Maybe ATLANTIC can also reproduce the NBC Winter Olympics ad to show that the song is resonant not only with those with some perceived physical or emotional impairment ... but that it is also a song of encouragement "to do faster and higher and stronger"! (Note: The Olympic motto is the hendiatris Citius, Altius, Fortius, which is Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger". It was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin upon the creation of the International Olympic Committee in 1894.)

Jo

[jo]

VARIETY, a very early believer in THE GREATEST SHOWMAN and its music (Take a bow, critic Owen Gleiberman!), has given THIS IS ME additional publicity push!


variety.com/2018/music/news/this-is-me-greatest-showman-soundtrack-billion-streams-1202709399/


Do check out the full article from the link, but it is reprinted partially here --

‘This Is Me’ Catapults ‘Greatest Showman’ Soundtrack Toward One Billion Streams
The anthemic song has been streamed more than 160 million times globally.
By Kirsten Chuba


“This Is Me,” the showstopping number from original musical “The Greatest Showman,” is up for best original song at the upcoming Academy Awards and is propelling streams of the movie’s soundtrack as the March 4 broadcast inches closer.

Atlantic Records, which released “The Greatest Showman” album, a companion of music from the film, announced that the anthemic song “This Is Me” has been streamed more than 160 million times globally, and that the soundtrack is approaching one billion streams worldwide. “This Is Me” is sung by Leala Settle, who plays the bearded lady in “Greatest Showman: and was written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who last year won the best song Oscar for writing “City of Stars” from “La La Land.”

Further popularizing the song, a video collection showing fans lip-syncing to the track was released. It features singers of all ages, genders and races giving their takes on “This Is Me,” including interpolations by dance groups, school bands and classes of students, alongside clips from the film.



Star Hugh Jackman tweeted the video and thanked fans for their support, writing, “You’re each exceptional, an original… and that is what makes you extraordinary.”

Pasek and Paul also tweeted their thanks on their joint account to fans “who have taken @kealasettle’s song and have made it their own.”

Other nominees in the best song category this year include Mary J. Blige for “Mudbound’s” “Mighty River,” Sufjan Stevens for “Call Me By Your Name’s” “Mystery of Love,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for “Coco’s” “Remember Me,” and Diane Warren and Common for “Marshall’s” “Stand Up For Something.”

[jo]

I wonder when the soundtrack album CD is going to reach PLATINUM status ( 1 million sales of the CD) ?


Jo

[jo]

More insights on Pasek and Paul on this excellent article from INDIEWIRE --

www.indiewire.com/2018/02/the-greatest-showman-this-is-me-soundtrack-oscars-1201931307/

‘The Greatest Showman’: How ‘This Is Me’ Morphed from a Low-Key Ukulele Song into an Oscar-Nominated Anthem
2017's Best Original Song Oscar winners could repeat the feat on March 4.

Jenna Marotta
7 hours ago


Justin Paul and Benj Pasek at the 90th Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock


If Benj Pasek and Justin Paul had been better at pirouettes, there’s a good chance that they would not be the reigning Best Original Song Oscar winners (“City of Stars,” “La La Land”), now vying for their second statues (“This Is Me,” “The Greatest Showman”).

Read More:‘The Greatest Showman’ Review: Hugh Jackman Shines in a Joyfully Insane Spectacle Worthy of P.T. Barnum’s Name

The composers — who have only scripted songs for two completed films — became friends during their first week at the University of Michigan, where they studied musical theater. “We were the two worst students in our ballet class, which was required for our major,” Pasek told IndieWire by phone. “We were so bad at it that we would kind of hide behind each other and cover for each other, so that the teacher wouldn’t notice.” Unlike their confident, tights-clad peers, Pasek and Paul were dance novices in baggy sweatpants.



The next year, when they got cast as “Man with Camera” (Pasek) and “Coroner/Back-Up Dancer” (Paul) in the comedy “City of Angels,” Pasek remembers worrying, “We’re not even going to be single threats,” let alone triple threats. But they had already started collaborating as songwriters. So they crafted a show about early adulthood, “Edges,” and gave the roles to fellow students stuck in their program’s thankless supporting parts. “Edges” went on to be performed in 200-plus productions across five continents. Before graduation, the duo had become the youngest-ever recipients of the American Theatre’s Wing’s Jonathan Larson Award, named after the late “Rent” composer.



Stacey Mindich, Alex Lacamoire, Justin Paul, Benj Pasek, and Pete Ganbarg with their best musical theater album Grammy Awards for “Dear Evan Hansen”
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock


Over just 11 months, they won 75 percent of the coveted EGOT quadfecta (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). This stretch of victories began at the 2017 Academy Awards, where Pasek and Paul competed against themselves, with two “La La Land” tracks (the other was “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)”) counting among the film’s 14 nominations. Next, in June, they picked up Best Original Score Tonys for “Dear Evan Hansen.” The Broadway hit translated to Best Musical Theater Album honors at last month’s Grammys. “The Greatest Showman” star Hugh Jackman has compared them to such legendary composer pairings as Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, and John Kander and Fred Ebb.

“We’re [always] writing something that in an ideal world helps to tell the story and helps to further the narrative, as opposed to just stopping and letting the characters sing,” said Paul. “Who’s the character, what are they feeling in this moment, what are they meaning to express, what are they needing, what’s their objective, what’s in their way? And then what actions does the song cover, what emotional ground does the song cover?”

Most movie-musical fans probably assume that after the success of “La La Land,” Pasek, now 32, and Paul, 33, were greeted with fawning offers, and chose “The Greatest Showman” — the tale of big top mastermind P.T Barnum — as their next project (Barnum’s circus concluded its 146-year run in May.) They actually began working on “The Greatest Showman” first, in early 2013, and somewhat unofficially: 20th Century Fox never named them as the film’s songwriters of record.



Michael Gracey directing Hugh Jackman on the set of “The Greatest Showman”
Courtesy of 20th Century Fox, photo by Niko Tavernise


When they met first-time director Michael Gracey, their biggest credit to date was “A Christmas Story,” a limited-engagement on Broadway for seven weeks, inspired by the 1983 film classic. “I don’t think anybody knew who we were, and we didn’t really know who we were either,” Pasek laughed. “We just were very, very desperate to get the opportunity to be in the room with a director of a movie musical, and get to talk about what a movie musical could be.”

Gracey liked them so much that “He definitely lied to the Fox executives,” said Pasek. “He told them that we had won a Tony Award for ‘James and the Giant Peach,’” a show that peaked at the Seattle Children’s Theater. Later, Gracey even housed New York-based Pasek and Paul when they flew to the West Coast to pitch songs to “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle and composer Justin Hurwitz.

Still, Pasek and Paul had to audition for the right to pen each of nine original “Greatest Showman” tunes. Throughout four years, Pasek said they hosted numerous readings of the movie and musical workshops, “try[ing] to come up with song moments and do our best to try to be in contention.”


“The Greatest Showman
Courtesy of 20th Century Fox, photo by Niko Tavernise


One frequent member of their workshop ensemble was Keala Settle, a veteran of Broadway shows like “Les Misérables” and “Waitress,” who received a 2013 Tony nomination for “Hands on a Hardbody.” Settle was auditioning to play Lettie Lutz, better known as The Bearded Lady. Pasek described her as “so gutsy and so visceral and so honest and vulnerable in the way that she lends her whole self and voice to anything.”

The duo knew Gracey craved “this anthem for the oddities and we really couldn’t figure it out,” said Pasek. They strove to represent “these people who have lived their whole lives in the shadows and been told that they are unwanted or unlovable or broken for being who they are.” For a while, they tried a song on the ukulele, performed by General Tom Thumb (dwarf actor Sam Humphrey). “It wasn’t a big rallying cry by any means.”

With a deadline looming, the duo began to wonder, “If Keala sings the song, what kind of song would we write?” said Pasek. Gracey was intrigued. “That’s when the role of The Bearded Lady got expanded in a really big way, because we thought, ‘Okay, let’s make this Keala’s moment…We know that she can blow them away, and she can also imbue the song with a real sense of heart and humanity and a real vulnerability.”‘

They wrote “This Is Me” for Settle in less than a week. During initial runthroughs, she mostly stayed hidden behind her music stand. Then she was asked to do a rendition for a room full of Fox executives, as they decided whether to greenlight the film and its $84 million budget. The resulting clip has been viewed more than 11.6 million times on YouTube; Jackman teared up, and Settle won the role.



“The Greatest Showman” went on to make box-office and album sales history. After a fourth-place opening weekend that earned just $8.8 million, the film made $15.2 million the following weekend. That 73 percent increase set a record for features being shown on at least 2,000 screens. Around New Year’s Day, Paul said his less-green colleagues from the film confided, “‘We were all biting our nails there at the opening.'”

Since December 20, it has generated nearly $157 million domestically, and $345 million worldwide. A Broadway adaptation seems like a safe bet. “We’re really happy for everyone who worked so hard on the film that it found its audience, its return audience,” Paul said, calling it “really sweet and really gratifying” to have helped make “something that families can go to and enjoy together” — along with a fascinating patchwork of celebrities.



Keala Settle sings “This Is Me” with piano accompaniment from Justin Paul at Tramp Stamp Granny’s
Blair Raughley



On Saturday night at Tramp Stamp Granny’s — a soon-to-open Los Angeles bar from the duo’s former college classmate Darren Criss (“Glee”) — a six-song Pasek and Paul concert was attended by fellow “La La Land” Oscar winners Emma Stone, Hurwitz, and Chazelle, plus Ricky Martin, Mindy Kaling, Nick Kroll, Chrissy Metz, Charli XCX, and more. The songwriters are now working with Nicki Minaj and Justin Timberlake’s musical director, Adam Blackstone, on a version of “This Is Me” for the Academy Awards telecast (as well as songs for Disney’s upcoming live-action remakes of “Aladdin” and “Snow White”).


That eclectic group represents the ubiquity of Pasek and Paul’s songs. “The Greatest Showman” soundtrack spent two weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart in January, a feat only accomplished by four other soundtracks this decade (“Glee: The Music, Volume 3 — Showstoppers;” “Frozen;” “Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1;” and “Suicide Squad: The Album”). “This Is Me” has been regularly incorporated into NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage in PyeongChang, and was even used to preview the Games during last month’s Super Bowl. “The Greatest Showman” made Oprah Winfrey’s annual Favorite Things list. (“‘This Is Me’ should be everyone’s theme song,” she wrote in her magazine.)

“We’re in really divisive times right now, and some would say challenging times,” said Paul. “I think being reminded that the world doesn’t have to be as it is — it has the possibility of being something greater and better — is a wonderful sentiment and something that we’re both really, really proud to have contributed to.”

“The Greatest Showman” is in theaters now.
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This Article is related to: Awards and tagged Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Oscars, The Greatest Showman

Benj and Justin said that back in the day that they were not even "single-threat"  then

They couldn't even do a correct pirouette

Benj and Justin are so grounded and so likable - no wonder that Hugh et al found them exceptional colleagues!

Around New Year’s Day, Paul said his less-green colleagues from the film confided, “‘We were all biting our nails there at the opening.'”

Hugh must have felt like the day after Opening Night for THE BOY FROM OZ!   But look at how a success story has repeated itself


Jo

[jo]

The Greatest Showman picked up an award with the AARP ( Movies for GrownUps awards) --

www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/aarp-movies-grownups-awards-2018-winners-list-full-1081953/item/best-picture-best-movie-grownups-1078593?utm_source=twitter

Best Grownup Love Story


Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

The Greatest Showman (WINNER)

[jo]

It shows up better on Hugh's Instagram post --

http://instagram.com/p/BfjYgr0jHpR

[jo]

How can the AMPAS voters deny THIS IS ME as its Oscar winner for BEST ORIGINAL SONG?

Here, it is at a finale exhibition event at the Winter Olympics inspiring the best in their show of talent and determination!

Only for CBC ( Canada?) viewers --

[jo]

Finally --

[jo]

Laughing at the banter

http://instagram.com/p/BeTAyfshgyw

[jo]

Goosebumps!

[jo]

Watch it on full screen -- pretty spectacular!

[jo]

A major international news aggregator, the UPI, adds its reservations on the Oscars race. It cites among others THE GREATEST SHOWMAN as worthy of awards consideration --

www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2018/02/28/2018-Oscar-predictions-Who-will-win/3911518977491/

The Greatest Showman should've gotten recognition, although most critics didn't like it, for an entirely different reason. It is a big-hearted, top hat-tipping homage to the old movie musicals of yesteryear. Most detractors seem to find it old-fashioned, but the film knows what it is and leans into that without apology. Other haters seem irked that it doesn't accurately reflect troublesome details about circus founder P.T. Barnum, played by Hugh Jackman, but this is no biopic and doesn't pretend to be. It's interesting that the same critics who praised last year's Best Picture runner-up La La Land, which was boring and derivative, were so scornful of The Greatest Showman.

Coco's ballad "Remember Me" will likely lose in the Best Original Song category to The Greatest Showman's, Golden Globe-winning barn-stormer of an anthem to individuality "This is Me." The feel-good movie musical was panned by critics, but has been a huge hit at the box office, amassing a loyal fan-base particularly charmed by its music and message of inclusivity. This might be the chance for the industry to show it some respect after snubbing it.

[jo]

Peter Travers predicts an Oscar win for THIS IS ME --

abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/oscar-predicting-win-academy-awards-sunday/story?id=53438132


Excerpts --

Best original song

The nominees are "Mighty River" from "Mudbound," "Mystery of Love" from "Call Me by Your Name," "Remember Me" from "Coco," "Stand Up for Something" from "Marshall," and "This Is Me" from "The Greatest Showman."

Although the favorite all along has been "Remember Me" from "Coco," Travers is going with "This Is Me," written by the same team who scored "La La Land" and "Dear Evan Hansen" on Broadway.

"If there's ever a song that's reflecting this year at the Oscars, that's the one," he said about the song sung by the Bearded Lady, played by newcomer Keala Settle, in the film.


Travers said the song represents "all of these people this year that are either going to win or [will] be this close to winning the Oscars."


He added, "Look for those winners who get up and say, 'This is me,' because this is a year where the Oscars are going to be all about identity and reflecting. You can thank me later."

[jo]

Check out his message - but before that, enjoy Zac's reaction to THE OTHER SIDE!

Hmm... so, is Hugh attending the Oscars ?


Jo

[jo]

[jo]

The Hollywood Reporter predicts a win for REMEMBER ME over THIS IS ME.

WILL WIN: "Remember Me" (Coco)

The margin of victory in this category could be razor-thin. Weirdly, the nominated song from the most viewed film, the Simon & Garfunkel-esque "Mystery of Love" from Call Me by Your Name, seems the longest shot. Mudbound, which is streaming on Netflix, was certainly seen by many, too, and more Academy members know its singer and one of its songwriters, Mary J. Blige, who is also nominated for best supporting actress, but end-credit songs tend not to fare as well as tunes that are better integrated into a film. Which brings me to "Remember Me," a catchy tune — written by "Let It Go" winners Bobby and Kristen Lopez — that is played, in different ways, some five times throughout Coco, a film with which any Academy members who have a child, and many others who don't, are familiar. Many are picking "This Is Me," a song by last year's winners of this category Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land) and featured in The Greatest Showman (no other song nominee this year hails from an actual musical), which has gotten a lot of exposure by playing over NBC's Olympics coverage, or "Stand Up for Something," from past winner Common and eight-time bridesmaid Diane Warren, which has been used as an anthem against gun violence and other causes. But they represent their films' sole nominations, which means they either weren't seen or weren't particularly liked by Academy members.

Partly Fox's fault because they only released a clip and songsheet for THIS IS ME. Since they did not release screeners and scripts ( they did not submit THE GREATEST SHOWMAN for overall awards consideration), it failed THIS IS ME into not being appreciated in the context of the movie itself, for those who did not see it in cinemas themselves. Of course, it is not public knowledge that they might have relented and sent out screeners much later. And Keala has gone on a publicity blitz in the last few weeks.

Also, it was the only song submitted by FOX for Best Original Song.

One advantage for THIS IS ME is its recent win as BEST SONG from the Golden Globes!

Let's cross our fingers that the AMPAS members go for a song that wears its theme of diversity and acceptance on its sleeve, apart from the sheer beauty and delivery of the song!



Jo

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/Bf0nMikj-Wx

" A billion streams is all it's gonna take!'

(with reference to the billion streams of the entire soundtrack album reported by Atlantic Records)

It looks like he is NOT going to the Oscars! Unless...


And - hey, where is the message for the LOGAN team?


Jo

[jo]

Wow -- MTV has already picked up Hugh's Cheers to his Showman Oscars team!


www.mtv.com/news/3067441/hugh-jackman-thank-you-greatest-showman-oscars/


Excerpts --

We'll have to wait and see if all of the good vibes give Pasek and Paul the edge on Oscar night. Either way, The Greatest Showman has already won in the hearts of its cast — and fans.

Shame on the AMPAS if they don't crown THIS IS ME as the Best Original Song

[jo]

Zac's Tweet also gains attention -- from ACCESSOnline

www.accessonline.com/articles/zac-efron-shares-video-himself-listening-his-song-greatest-showman-first-time/

[jo]

[jo]

It's amazing how many have noted the success story of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, emphasizing how it beats some Oscar nominees in the affection of the public. If there is a PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD, it is probably going to win it hands down ( I know I am biased but as the Oscars approach it is noteworthy that TGS is also mentioned in a positive light ( such as "if it wins Best Song, that would be vindication for the film's snubbing by the Oscars") .

Here, BBC itself does some analysis of critic ratings vs audience scores -- and highlights how it scores tops with moviegoers. And UK is a great example of audiences falling head over heels over THE GREATEST SHOWMAN!


www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-43146027