THE GREATEST SHOWMAN : Fan Reactions/Reviews

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Yesterday, I was out grocery-shopping when the faint first notes of a familiar song wafted through the music system. I was bemusedly going through the aisles and half-singing THIS IS ME

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Reading the readers's response to this article is very enjoyable, as the article in general says that they did not discover THE GREATEST SHOWMAN until only now ( Jo: They hid under a rock - LOL!), which is unusual if this has not been supposedly " a professional entertainment" site.

celebrityaccess.com/2018/06/19/the-greatest-showman/

The Greatest Showman
Posted on 19 June, 2018, 03:54 pm UTC by Bob Lefsetz

This could be the biggest act in the world.

I was clueless until my buddy Jeff Laufer hipped me to it, singling out the track “This Is Me,” an empowering anthem straight out of the “Fame” playbook, why is this phenomenon getting no ink, despite hiding in plain sight for six months, the flick having been released back in December 2017.

This has been on my mind, because Jeff keeps e-mailing me and because Saturday night as I was hiking in Will Rogers Park they were screening it at Street Food Cinema (bit.ly/2mPogpe) and there were more attendees than I’ve ever seen for any screening there.

And then, today’s “Record of the Day” informed me that in the U.K. the soundtrack was number one for the nineteenth time in twenty three weeks.

But we never hear about it!

Then again, the single “This Is Me” went to number three in the U.K. and only to number fifty eight in the U.S., could this be further proof that terrestrial radio in the U.S. has lost touch, that the U.S. is no longer the greatest country in the world?

Yes, if we want to make America great again, maybe we need to start playing the world’s hits, not only “This Is Me,” but “Human.”

Now “The Greatest Showman” is bigger than “Hamilton,” that’s right, it’s got more streams on Spotify, that’s the power of film.

Five out of the eleven cuts on “Greatest Showman” have triple-digit million streams on Spotify. And the remaining tracks are deep into double digits.

Not a single cut on “Hamilton” breaks triple digits.

Although both cast albums are released by Atlantic, does Craig Kallman know something the rest of the industry does not?

As for the iTunes Store, “The Greatest Showman” is number three right now.

So what we’ve learned is despite the lauding of hip-hop, it’s not the only game in town.

But media loves a sexy story, which is why there’s a dearth of info on “Greatest Showman.”

And the barrier to entry in music is not as big as we think it is. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote “The Greatest Showman” songs, ever heard of them? I didn’t think so. Then again, they’re not complete unknowns they won an Oscar for their song for “La La Land,” but mostly they’re working off the pop radar, in stage, films and TV. Are they being unjustly ignored?

Seems so.

So everything we thought was kaput, training, dues, melody, it seems the public still has a hungering for all of it. We keep reading in “The New Yorker” and other august publications about beat makers, top-liners, and I’m not saying they’re not successful, but they’re not the only action deserving attention. All the popsters going urban, they’d be better off going “Showman!”

So, you sing along with the tracks to “Greatest Showman.” You’re not going to be offended, you’re not going to want to take it off immediately, you might just get hooked.

But there’s no associated lifestyle, there are no shenanigans featured on TMZ. All the trappings of today’s success are missing, other than the LISTENING!

He never knew that the album was #1 on Billboard 200 for 2 straight weeks ( and that it is still on the Top Ten up to now, which would be more than 6 months from release)?! That it had already gone PLATINUM in the USA and has created all kinds of records in the UK charts?!




You may enjoy reading all the responses -- what has emerged is that it was the youth sector which originally discovered it and brought it to many adult attention ( presumably, it lay unnoticed because the negative reviews did not give the movie much press when it was released)...and from there, proceeded to slay across all demographics and across borders! The rise to fame is a great story, unexpected, but totally overwhelming as the music became a worldwide sensation. That same story happened to the box office, but the attendant media notice came much earlier. Remember those weekly Forbes.com update, but all preceded by the Variety review and writeups by Owen Gleiberman which defied the negativity towards it, followed by the NYTimes reader survey/interview, etc., until they finally recognized that it was a genuine crowd-pleaser? Many of the responses tell similar tales of unexpected and pleasurable encounters, many written with simple but full appreciation of what the movie and the music has achieved.


The President of Atlantic Records/West Coast sent in a response and he shared an awesome fact!

The album has already sold close to 4 million copies worldwide!

I brought Showman into Atlantic and oversaw the project for us with help from Pete Ganbarg and Brandon Davis. It’s been magical to watch how the world has responded to these songs and the film after the years of work which went into it. The album is nearing four million in worldwide sales and it has been an amazing project to be a part of.

Pasek and Paul are very special guys and incredibly talented songwriters and storytellers. We love having them as partners not only on The Greatest Showman, but also on Dear Evan Hansen, as well as our overall label deal together.

Pete Ganbarg and I are working with them on a Pop-covers version of the album, which will have new renditions of all of the songs. It will be from an eclectic line-up of artists and global superstars who have all been affected by the music. That album will be coming later in the year and will have some really fun new versions of the songs on it.
Thanks for the nice write up. I hope all is well.

Best,
Kevin
Kevin Weaver
President, Atlantic Records | west coast

Jo

[jo]

Pete Ganbarg and I are working with them on a Pop-covers version of the album, which will have new renditions of all of the songs. It will be from an eclectic line-up of artists and global superstars who have all been affected by the music. That album will be coming later in the year and will have some really fun new versions of the songs on it.

Didn't they originally put together a cover version of THIS IS ME, with young pop stars from around the world ( recorded at the Abbey Road Studio in London) but that was never released?

This upcoming project is now talking of pop interpretations of the entire soundtrack ? It will include global superstars who have been affected by the music? Will that spawn more attention to the home video/digital versions of the movie itself?

If and when a stage adaptation comes to Broadway, will it also spawn a new cast recording


Jo

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Some of the more interesting responses to the article --

I was lucky to work on TGS showman as a background actor in which the scenes in the big tent was filmed in Brooklyn.

The first week we learned Come Alive and This is Me on the spot and we knew we were working on something special. As a songwriter myself when they play backed Come Alive thru the speakers and that chorus came across the Gmajor7 chord, it sent chills thru me even tho I didn’t know what chords were playing at the time.

And all knew This is Me right there and then that the Academy should recognize this for an Oscar. As it turned out the picture was completely ignored except for the song and still didn’t even win the Oscar. Little did we realize tho that some of the crew including the songwriters and Assistant Director worked on La La Land, the most overrated film to be acknowledge for awards. That’s right I said it. And I work in the business, lol.

Everyday Hugh Jackman thanked us for being there and for all of our hard work.

And yes I did get a chance to meet him on our last day and wish him good luck on Logan which was coming out at the time. Reach out his hand and said “Thank You Mate !”

Yes ladies, the will deal: tall and handsome and very down to earth. A real Class Act.

So far the best working experience I’ve had working in this business.

Thx Bob for acknowledging TGS.

Frank Ball

Thanks Bob for giving The Greatest Showman some well deserved recognition. I work for the Feld organization and the film came out in December six months after we closed Ringling aka The Greatest Show On Earth. The film had personal resonance to a community of Circus performers, staff and management beyond the story telling and soundtrack. It was refreshing to see the genre used as a backdrop and still being appreciated. Everyone in the community acknowledges the music drives the film but the visuals and acting/singing were impressive and everything came together to make the magic work.

The sad thing is how the Hollywood elite seemed to ignore The Greatest Showman when the awards season came around. While this original work was ascending the box office, charts and playlists the elite were fixating over the usual quirky art films. Simply put The Greatest Showman was shunned, ignored and too lowbrow for the left coast film voting crowd. Oh yes they allowed This is Me to be played at the Oscars and it blew people away only to lose to Coco. Through it all the film made it on street credibility and good old fashioned word of mouth which is a testament to the creators and audience finding each other.

Bill Powell

Michael Gracey had me over to a loft on hollywood Blvd a few years ago to talk me through a PT Barnum movie he was putting together with Hugh Jackman. It did not start as a musical, but had turned into one. They didn’t have a deal in place yet, the music was in demo form. They had been working on it over a few years at that point. He was working on his pitch to studios, and wanted feedback on the music.

He moved through the entire piece brick by brick over the next four hours, acting out the parts himself with key pieces of what ended up being the dialog, showing vision boards, artists renderings of sets, and video of possible choreography, and playing demos of those songs.

As good as the movie ended up, it did not compare to the presentation of the vision that was going on in Michael Gracey’s head that I saw that night. I was stunned. Even just talking it down like he did, the piece had such heart. It felt as epic as “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

He had the vision, the focus, the clarity.

He is a low profile guy, so to see his name absent from your thread does not surprise me.

But it takes someone like Michael Gracey, a bit of a genius, who has a deep understand of the soul of the story and the perseverance to follow it through, in order to end up where this ended up.

Kim Bullard

The original plans, announced in 2009, was for a movie musical with a contemporary tone! But at the time Michael joined the project in 2011, no songs had been written and the first script draft did not have any of the musical score. So, it was essentially starting from scratch insofar as the musical score was concerned. And Michael did discover the songwriting talents of Pasek and Paul, by coincidence. Pasek&Paul were in the same place in LA where Gracey was conducting another business and the composers were introduced to him. And Pasek&Paul were not hired as the sole composers then - they were eventually asked to compete for each musical sequence number, starting with the scene that became A MILLION DREAMS, with other songwriters. They eventually ended up as writing the entire soundtrack.

Hey Bob,

Hope that you’re well.

The impact of this film is quite extraordinary.

My two children (10 and 14 Y.O boys) would run a million miles away from any musicals and are generally disinterested in movies unless Marvel or The Rock are involved.

They LOVE this movie and have become obsessed with the soundtrack.

When they would normally listen to Drake, Post and songs by You Tubers (that phenomenon is just bizarre – Jake Paul etc) they will now listen to these songs over and over and over.

With their favourite songs from the OST this can be up to 10 times in a row – more than they would ever listen to any other song. It is amazing!

And not just listening, but singing along at the top of their voices.

These are very sporty, self conscious (you gotta be play it cool) and non flamboyant boys belting it out with Zac Efron and Hugh Jackman with joy and abandon.

It really is so interesting to see and a completely different reaction than any other music they have loved.

I think the additional emotional context of the music, and pairing it with the visuals/storyline has enhanced the connection in the way that brilliant soundtracks do?

Maybe they’re just great songs?

Whatever is going on with this soundtrack, it is an amazing achievement that they have destroyed all kinds of demographic boundaries and made something that is usually pretty cheesy (show tunes) very cool and addictive

Also worth noting that they’re not hearing any of these songs on radio (which is still the #1 influence in Australia) – it’s all on demand streaming

Quite a phenomenon!

Jesse Flavell

[jo]

Rewriting the stars

Somehow I am getting the feeling that the awesome sense of movement that the musical score and dance numbers ignite are the major reasons for the interest of kids in THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

[jo]

If you are thinking of artistic and filmmaking standards, it may be arguable --

But if you are talking of the joy & happiness quotient -- 100% on point!

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So many stories of young people persuading their parents to watch THE GREATEST SHOWMAN! Mostly success stories!

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"You've created a legacy in this one movie."

It's beginning to seem like that now...as the interest is not abating but is expressed musically in so many places and so many ways.

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There have been quite a few tweets talking about young kids expressing how they admire Hugh ( mostly through reenactments-of-TheGreatestShow or kid fanart or kid fanletters or declarations of "Will-marry-Hugh-when-I-grow-up") re THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. One would think that it was mainly because of Wolverine


Amusing to read one saying that he/she has decided that he/she has transferred her affection from Zac to Hugh - LOL!


Jo

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What a graceful little girl...dancing with Dad ( Eric Anderson) :

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Art class...not math class

I have a feeling that A MILLION DREAMS is kids' first song choice ( they like it without anyone prodding them to the song), maybe even more than THIS IS ME ( usually sung by them in a presentational mode, and more likely suggested by adults such as choirmasters or teachers because of the lesson therein). A MILLION DREAMS inspire the imaginations of young people!

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Again, another interesting way in which the movie is contributing to current social scene discussions. It seems quotes from THE GREATEST SHOWMAN may be the point of discussions for a teacher forum?

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A school band covers A MILLION DREAMS ( sorry, not too great audio) --

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Lol - many fans call the FROM NOW ON workshop video clip as feeling like one's in church

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The most unusual tribute - LOL!

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And somewhere in South America --

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*Clap* *Clap*

Watch it till the end

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And the bonnie lads and lasses from Scotland rewrite an anthem from THE GREATEST SHOWMAN -- " A Million Ways to be the Greatest Friend"

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A cappella! Bravo!

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A young boy invites Hugh Jackman to his birthday party! Somewhere in the heartland ?

www.4029tv.com/article/local-boy-inspired-by-greatest-showman/21952972

A local boy loved the movie, "The Greatest Showman ", so much that his birthday party's theme is based on the movie. One of his birthday wishes is for the actor, Hugh Jackman, to come to his birthday party.

Is that a real tent out there

Jo

[jo]

Everyone's a fan

Except Mr. Critic