The Greatest Showman

[CPannullo]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 11:33am

Several reports that a stage adaptation of the movie The Greatest Showman are in the works. Anyone know if this is for sure true? Here are some links 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/greatest-showman-broadway-new-york-musical-hugh-jackman-a8352461.html%3famp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cinemablend.com/news/2419041/instead-of-a-sequel-the-greatest-showman-may-head-to-broadway

https://www.slashfilm.com/the-greatest-showman-broadway/

Updated On: 5/19/18 at 11:33 AM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 11:36am

God I hope not

[CedricOates]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 11:44am

I really hope this isn’t going to make it to broadway.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 11:45am

I've been wishing for this since New Years Day. In fact until the movie came out I had not been excited for a movie musical since Frozen.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 11:57am

Dear God please NO. They'd have to rewrite so much of the story to create an actual plot. Not to mention write songs that aren't all pop anthems and that actually advance the plot or even better provide REAL character development. 

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 3:25pm

i"d prefer a revival of BARNUM. 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 10:51pm

^ Me too, a thousand times yes.

[Elegance101]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 11:43pm

Cute songs, but they belong on the radio, not on a stage. As for the plot, we all know how sh*tty that is.

[haterobics]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 11:54pm

BwayLB said: "In fact until the movie came out I had not been excited for a movie musical since Frozen."

If Frozen came out in 2013, and Great Showman in 2017, were there all that many movie musicals in those four years TO get excited about?!

[BwayLB]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 12:26am

I meant that I was extremely excited for

[jo]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 1:56am

The reporter who originally wrote about it in the UK's The Sun said that he picked up the news when he was at the Cannes Film Festival. But there has really been no official word. Fox CEO Stacey Snider has talked about the possibility when the movie started its unexpected leggy run at the box office. In this interview at end-March  by Forbes.com with Jackman, Pasek, and Paul, the subject was touched upon.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2018/03/28/hugh-jackman-on-greatest-showman-challenges-and-retiring-from-wolverine/#3ff63f7063ca

Excerpts --

"Mendelson: Is there any possibility that we'll see more of his life? Either in a theatrical sequel or in a Broadway show? I can't imagine Fox is looking at these numbers and saying, "Yeah, we're done."

Jackman: We were talking about a live version of the show even before [the movie] came out. There was a discussion at one point in the eight-year journey of this movie of maybe going live first. I remember Stacey Snider calling me and saying, "Maybe we go live first."

When Keala Settle got up, stood in the middle of a room and sang “This Is Me,” with no makeup, no nothing, no anything, there was not a dry eye in the house. The musical really works live."

 

And --

"Mendelson: What's next for everybody?

Jackman: I have a movie coming out called The Front Runner with Jason Reitman. I finished filming that last year, and honestly, we are working hard right now on working out a live version of the show. There's like three different possibilities currently."

I guess we wait and see 

Btw, the article is very informative including addressing issues on the movie's swift pacing, the way the musical score was developed, etc... Btw, the movie has now run world-wide receipts of $ 432 million, of which $ 174 million is from domestic grosses( which makes it the highest grossing original live-action movie musical-domestic  http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=musical.htm).

Maybe there is a market for it on Broadway?

Updated On: 5/20/18 at 01:56 AM

[jo]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 5:39am

If a stage adaptation happens and the major cast are not all available, will they consider any of the Broadway performers who performed in the series of workshops to develop the musical score, such as those who participated in the final one to get the film project greenlit?

 

 

Updated On: 5/20/18 at 05:39 AM

[lilac3]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 6:00am

I think these are very much just rumours at this stage. Although, there is definitely a market for a stage adaptation. They'd almost be crazy not to do it.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 8:51am

Those who disdain SHOWMAN or are jealous of its success need not attend any live adaptation, whether Broadway or touring concert.  The many more who derived great enjoyment from the movie should provide a hefty audience and further those already astounding box office receipts.  

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 1:50pm

I'm sorry, but I refuse to feel bad for not liking it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I'm glad people like it and "derive enjoyment" from it and if it brings Musical Theatre to the forefront of peoples interests great. I think it is worth pointing out most of the songs are in fact POP songs. They get away with doing it in the movie, but they don't actually have any storytelling. Musical theatre is about telling the story. The songs have to advance the plot or provide some sort of character insight or understanding. If they didn't plan on making any drastic changes to the score, the touring concert would be a better medium I think. 

[BwayLB]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 2:12pm

In my offense the pop sound of the music is generic yet tolerable. But the execution is forgiving in my book

[jo]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 2:27pm

I thought, as so many others, that  THE OTHER SIDE was a perfect example of a song which advanced the story. It portrayed the coming together of prospective business partners - Philip Carlyle was a member of the social elite who was a producer of theatre plays and PTBarnum who wanted Philip to help him persuade the carriage trade to watch his newly formed circus entertainment.

Clip is an unofficial upload taken from the movie itself.

 

 

Updated On: 5/20/18 at 02:27 PM

[jo]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 2:41pm

Character insight ?

Charity Barnum loved her husband without reservation and was willing to take the risky road with him  in any of his endeavors. In TIGHTROPE, she sings of her uncompromising devotion & love for him and the risk she was willing to take to travel the same road with him... Sadly, at some point this devotion was severely strained by Barnum's own ambitions.

 

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 2:47pm

A shill is indeed among us

[jo]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 2:50pm

Hey, I have been posting on this board right from the beginning, having joined it sometime in May 2003!

Some opinions were stated...and I replied with examples rather than just being contrarian.

Can we not just have decent discussions without any name-calling?  That is offensive!

 

Updated On: 5/20/18 at 02:50 PM

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 3:38pm

LOL Shill is hardly name calling. It's much tamer then what I've seen other posters say about each other. Either way I actually agree with you that those songs and those two alone (Otherside, Tightrope) show the most potential as actually musical theatre songs. Also I think it's worth noting that Come Alive, This Is Me, Greatest Show, and From Now On are basically all interchangeable. Emotional pop ballads are fine, but it wouldn't make sense to include all of them in a potential stage adaptation. PS I saw your PM. I apologize for calling you a "shill". In my defense, every time I've run across one of your posts it has usually been in another TGS thread praising it. There's plenty of musicals I love that certain people don't like. We can agree to disagree :) I think I would have enjoyed TGS more perhaps if there had been more traditional musical theatre songs (and also maybe not based on PT Barnum, by all accounts he was actually a horrible person)

[jo]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 3:45pm

Thanks for replying. 

I do not live in NYC and have not had too many chances to see shows lately, so I simply enjoy reading the discussions. I respect when people say that they did not enjoy the movie or the musical score or think they do not fall within what is considered musical theater. But I hope you and others also reciprocate  when we express our preference for the material.  For the record, I think FROM NOW ON is an excellent eleven o'clock number. I have seen enough stage musicals to recognize one. As far back as Richard Kiley's original Man of La Mancha performance! 

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 6:38pm

As someone who enjoyed the movie, I'm not sure I'd be interested in seeing this go to the stage. It was a fine popcorn flick, but unless there are substantial rewrites and more songs added to bulk up the story, the material just seems too flimsy to warrant a solid stage adaptation.