THE GREATEST SHOWMAN : Soundtrack

[jo]

Just saw this lead sentence on the release of a full cover album of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN by another artist --

Andy Brown Wows With His Version of The Greatest Showman ...
CelebMix (blog)-4 hours ago

The Greatest Showman movie has arguably the most impressive soundtrack of all time. The musical spectacular starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron and Zendaya …

"Arguably the most impressive soundtrack of all time..."


Reading those words...

But if we think about it -- which soundtrack had all songs receiving universal attention and devotion, with each one having its own coterie of fans! Think musical theatre -- there are some with most of the songs drawing public attention but which one had the entire album being universally admired. Think movie musicals -- there are some with most of its songs liked but for an entire album...hmmm....


Jo

[mamaleh]

The new season of Dancing with the Stars got off to a rousing start with its opening number, “The Greatest Show.” Doesn’t it seem like that buoyant song is everywhere? It has become a new classic, as have most of the songs on the TGS soundtrack.

Ellen

[jo]

I agree -- it is very noticeable these days that THE GREATEST SHOW is becoming the signature song of the movie! "This Is Me" is the anthem of the those who have suffered re their identities while "A Million Dreams" is the song of choice by kids! Song belters like ""Never Enough", "The Other Side" is the fun song, and "From Now On" is an inspirational anthem. But THE GREATEST SHOW, from the very first thundering notes, puts us all at attention! It announces and showcases SPECTACLE

PS: Come Alive is also becoming a popular one for those who love both the singing and the dancing!

Jo

[jo]

This is the cutest ever

[jo]

Kids sign-ing A MILLION DREAMS!

www.facebook.com/VisionSigningChoir/videos/1801226873279620/


Check out the little boy ( and the girl on the left) -- they couldn't help but do both at the end -- sing and sign

[jo]

A MILLION DREAMS resonate with young people ( not just kids) so well!

[jo]

Classical voice talents take on NEVER ENOUGH --

[jo]

The beauty of the musical score from Pasek & Paul is that it can be appreciated on so many platforms --

[jo]

Jennifer Hudson sings with THE VOICE contestant who won the panel over with her rendition of NEVER ENOUGH.




www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-voice-blind-audition-greatest-showman-song-never-enough-732022/

JHudson loves the song

[jo]

Small surprises continue -- lovely harmonizing!

[jo]

Much tweeted performance at the UK Strictly Come Dancing --

While it is executed with perfect steps and moves, it seems somewhat too contrived - no charm and no emotional impact. But this only goes to show how much the movie and its score has wrought its influence on so many platforms!

Phineas Taylor's show of his joy of performing makes it a Greatest Show

[jo]

It looks like the dance form is the new platform for artistic performances now -- this time using the music of THE GREATEST SHOW and THIS IS ME to showcase the dancing in an Asian show --

[jo]

How would you like to listen to a " reimagined album" of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ?


variety.com/2018/music/news/greatest-showman-all-star-tribute-album-1202973528/

It’s not hard to convince a lot of pop stars to run off to the circus when that circus is the “Greatest Showman” score, the original soundtrack of which has been one of the biggest selling albums of 2018. Now, Variety can exclusively reveal that an all-star collection of new versions of those songs is due next month. “The Greatest Showman — Reimagined,” coming from Atlantic Records on Nov. 16, features fresh takes on the movie’s songs from the likes of Pink, Sara Bareilles, Kelly Clarkson and Panic! at the Disco.

Among the most intriguing tracks is a remix of the Oscar-nominated “This is Me” that has its original singer-actress, Keala Settle, joined by Kesha and Missy Elliott. Opening number “The Greatest Show” gets the tandem treatment, as rock band Panic! at the Disco perform one version and, as a bonus track, a cappella kings and queens Pentatonix reprise with another. A reigning queen of theatrical pop, Bareilles, sings “Tightrope.” Country-rockers the Zac Brown Band may be the oddest men out, taking on “From Now On.” Or maybe that honor belongs to rapper Ty Dolla Sign, who joins up with MAX for “The Other Side.”

Variety caught up with Panic! singer Brendan Urie at a recent show, and he described his enthusiasm over being asked to participate in the “Reimagined” album. “Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are phenomenal writers,” Urie said. “They sent that song over and said, ‘We think you should sing this.’ And I heard it and I was like, ‘This sounds like a Panic! song. You guys did a Panic! song better than I’ve ever done a Panic! song. So I would love to.’” And then, over the course of this year, Urie had his doubts it would come together. “I tried it, and then for whatever reason — labels, management, I’m not sure why — I got cut out of the process and it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen. But finally I hooked back up with them and we got a demo version recorded and they mixed it and are putting it out. It’s awesome,” he gushed.

Kevin Weaver, Atlantic’s president, west coast (who served as one of four producers on the overall project, along with Pasek, Paul and Pete Ganbarg, the label’s president of A&R) explained to Variety the thought process that went into the album and how it took three quarters of a year to bring it in just under the bell for the holiday buying season.

“Last January or February, when we were doing 100,000 albums a week in the U.S. and it was number one in most of the territories of the world, I had a light bulb moment,” Weaver said. “We really realized we had something at the scale of what this was becoming, and we were quickly like, all right, do we want to do a deluxe version of the album for Mother’s Day? What would that look like? Do we want to take the original cast album and add a couple covers to it, or add some additional demos? But it felt like it warranted something much more significant and robust. Then you had people like Pink and Selena Gomez and other artists who were on social media posting themselves dancing to and singing the songs. And that was part of kind of what went into my epiphany that we have something that’s not only connecting with the masses, but it’s connecting with artists.” As precedent, Atlantic had done “The Hamilton Mixtape,” a similar album of all-star covers, and “I said this deserves that treatment and same caliber of attention.”


So how much were the artists Atlantic went to ready to sign up from the get-go, and how many had to think for a minute about whether they and cinematic musical theater were a good match? “I think it’s a little bit of both,” Weaver says. “I mean, the Panic! guys definitely immediately got the connection with how the theatrical aspect of who they are as a band fits in the wheelhouse of what this was. Pink was posting stuff on social media with her and her daughter talking about it and singing the songs, so that was a natural fit.” (Pink’s daughter, Willow, makes her recorded debut on the album, singing a reprise of “A Million Dreams.”) “Sara Bareilles is very close with Benj and Justin, and so those guys actually had initiated her being a part of this thing, and she immediately reacted to it and that was one of the songs that we got done very early on.”

Some other picks eased into the idea. “I would say that most of these artists ended up having a connection with the film by way of this process,” Weaver says. “Another really interesting one is when we went to Zac Brown to record ‘From Now On.’ We pitched him the idea; he said he wanted to do it and started working on his version of the song, and then shortly thereafter he started playing in his live show.”

A few of the names that may be less familiar to general American audiences will be very familiar to British audiences, which is quite deliberate. “From a purely streaming perspective, the song that actually streams more than anything else is ‘Rewrite the Stars’,” says Weaver. They gave that to the duo of James Arthur and Anne-Marie.

“The album just went four times platinum in the UK and spent more weeks at number one than Adele’s ‘21’ or any other record in the last 30 years. So it was important to me to really try to do something to serve the UK market, so that’s the why I put James Arthur and Anne-Marie on one of the most important songs, and why I put Jess Glynne and Years & Years on ‘Come Alive,’ and why I added a Craig David version of ‘Come Alive’ as a bonus track — to be thoughtful to the success of the album in the UK, wanting to include elements that honored that.”

Greg Wells, who produced the original soundtrack, repeated his duties for Pink’s (and her daughter’s) contribution to the new album. Wells’ stems from the familiar Keala Settle version of “This is Me” were employed for the Keala/Kesha/Missy remix on the new album, but that number is the only one using any recorded elements from the previous album. Other producers on individual tracks include the Smeezingtons. Bruno Mars’ frequent collaborators, and Zach Skelton, who’s part of the Ryan Tedder production camp.

“Reimagined” seems destined to get some love from old-school CD buyers over the holidays, but it’s not the only fresh “Greatest Showman” music product going into the marketplace. In late October it’s being preceded by a two-CD “sing-along” deluxe edition of the original soundtrack that includes a karaoke-style disc, “and I think that one is going to be as big, if not bigger, to be honest with you,” Weaver says. In other words, if there’s a voice fans of the movie may want to hear singing these songs even more than Kelly Clarkson’s or Kesha’s, it’s probably their own.


“The Greatest Showman — Reimagined” track list:


The Greatest Show – Panic! at the Disco
A Million Dreams – Pink
A Million Dreams (Reprise) – Willow Sage Hart
Come Alive – Years & Years and Jess Glynne
The Other Side – MAX and Ty Dolla $ign
Never Enough – Kelly Clarkson
This Is Me (The Reimagined Remix) – Keala Settle, Kesha and Missy Elliott
Rewrite The Stars – James Arthur and Anne-Marie
Tightrope – Sara Bareilles
From Now On – Zac Brown Band

Bonus tracks:
The Greatest Show – Pentatonix
Come Alive – Craig David
This Is Me – Kesha
Rewrite The Stars (Acoustic) – Zendaya

A tribute album is flattering, but --

The original cast album was magical! It wasn't just the singing -- the album evoked images and memories of the story being told, of characters being portrayed, and of the choreography ( artistic or physical) that so enhanced the appeal of the songs from such a fantastic cast!

Jo

[jo]

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”

― Oscar Wilde

Maybe they were hoping to appeal even more to pop culture fans... not sure if this is the way to do it? I could be wrong but the reimagined tribute album will not have the same magical touch and it will not likely outsell the original! But I will likely get a copy just to support the efforts of Pasek&Paul and Greg Wells who gave us the original album with that fantastic movie cast!

Edit : Entertainment media have all covered the announcement. It may have more appeal than we think it could...we'll see!

[jo]

Since they are using the Jackman-led troupe image, will they get artist credit for the reimagined album, or something that acknowledges their contribution to the original album?

[jo]

Scott Mendelson speculates on the future of the never-say-die The Greatest Showman movie and musical score


www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2018/10/09/greatest-showman-cover-album-featuring-kelly-clarkson-pink-kesha-missy-elliott-sara-bareilles-aims-to-keep-the-movie-and-the-music-in-the-spotlight/#5d88175559d9

'Greatest Showman Reimagined' Will Keep Hugh Jackman's Hit Musical In The Spotlight

Scott Mendelson
Senior Contributor


I didn’t see this coming, but perhaps I should have. There’s no way that Hugh Jackman and friends are going to let Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “The Shallow” displace “Never Enough” as the drunken karaoke epic of choice (at least not without a fight)! As announced via Variety, we’re getting a cover album for The Greatest Showman. The 14-track album, due Nov. 16, will feature all of your favorite (and not-so-favorite) songs from last Christmas’s super-leggy musical sensation, covered by an eclectic mix of artists. I know I’m officially old and out-of-touch with the culture since I only recognize half of these folks.

No matter, you can check out the tracklist for yourself below, but I’m only a little disappointed that they didn’t get Christopher Walken for “Never Enough.” This is a pretty logical next step for what I assume is an attempt to keep the Hugh Jackman/Michelle Williams/Zac Efron/Zendaya musical smash in the public consciousness. The film opened to mixed reviews and a mere $8.8 million Fri-Sun (and $13.4m Wed-Sun) debut weekend, only to come alive starting on Christmas Day and eventually leg out to a jaw-dropping $174m domestic.


That made it the leggiest 3,000+ opener of all time and the leggiest wide release since Titanic 20 years prior. It was the kind of old-school word-of-mouth sensation that seemed impossible in this frontloaded theatrical era. It eventually earned 19.7x its $8.8m Fri-Sun debut and 12.9x its $13.4m Wed-Sun debut. The notion of a film bombing on opening weekend and then sticking around through buzz and word-of-mouth just doesn’t happen anymore. It was a miracle even 22 years ago when Scream legged it from a $6.3m debut to a $103m domestic total. By the way, Greatest Showman was leggier than Scream.

And, yes, the soundtrack sold like hotcakes too, becoming 2018’s first million-selling album. It eventually spent 30 nonconsecutive weeks in the top ten, becoming the seventh soundtrack to do so over the last 50 years, alongside Dirty Dancing (48 weeks), The Bodyguard (42 weeks), Frozen (41 weeks), Purple Rain (37 weeks), Saturday Night Fever (35 weeks) and The Lion King (31 weeks). Oh, and this “reimagined” cover album will be preceded by a double-disc reissue in October which will feature a karaoke version of the soundtrack.

As for the movie, 20th Century Fox and Chermin’s $84 million-budgeted P.T. Barnum biopic earned a whopping $435m worldwide, falling just shy of La La Land ($441m in 2016/2017) to become the second-biggest original live-action musical at least since the 1970’s. Truth be told, I was a little surprised to see Fox planning a PG-13/kid-friendly Deadpool movie for Christmas because I half expected them to re-issue The Greatest Showman this holiday season. But there’s always next year, even the next few Christmas seasons may be dominated by Star Wars or Avatar sequels.

One thing's for sure -- the kids will continue to champion the singing and the dancing -- take that, Star is Born

And I don't know about Mendelson ( he who kept insisting at the start that the THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is only for the RinTinTin crowd - ha!) -- but I have not read or heard someone say that some songs in the soundtrack were NOT favorites or disliked!


Jo

[jo]

Many mixed reactions, some strongly negative re the tribute album --

[jo]

How do male covers of songs like NEVER ENOUGH rate?

[jo]

Revisiting YouTube for the OFFICIAL AUDIOS of individual songs from THE GREATEST SHOWMAN --

1.The Greatest Show -- 83 million hits




2.A Million Dreams -- 75 million hits

3.This Is Me -- 71 million hits

4.Rewrite The Stars -- 55 million hits

5.The Other Side -- 44 million hits


Are you surprised by the ranking?

[jo]

It is a powerful and inspiring song -- should work for every man!


That was why it was deemed the movie's eleven o'clock number! And why director Michael Gracey ( who worked directly with Pasek and Paul in developing the songs as they fit the intention of the storyline) calls it his favorite song from the musical score!

[jo]

[jo]

Using music for social good --

[jo]

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[jo]