I went to see the musical The Greatest Showman last night. I loved it! Is there nothing my movie boyfriend Hugh Jackman can’t do? The movie is a highly-fictionalized version of P.T. Barnum’s life. (The names haven’t been changed, but everything else has.) It is also highly enjoyable with the best musical soundtrack I’ve heard in a decade. I wasn’t too keen on seeing the movie at first. I don’t think the commercials did it any justice.
Then I happened to see a couple of videos on YouTube. These videos are from the first read-through that the cast did to convince the studio to go ahead with the project. The cast is sitting or standing in street clothes in a rehearsal room trying to make the project appealing enough for the studio to invest tens of millions of dollars into making it. But there was a problem. Hugh Jackman has recently undergone facial surgery for skin cancer and his doctor told him not to sing. Of course, the folks involved in the movie panicked. Studio execs were flying int to hear Hugh Jackman NOT sing a musical.
But they went ahead with Hugh reading his lines and another actor (Jeremy Jordan from Supergirl. Who happens to be my TV boyfriend) doing the singing. Near the end of the read-through when the big finale number “Come Back Home” is sung, Hugh can’t contain himself anymore and breaks into song, much to the delight of the rest of the people there. It’s a wonderful moment. Click here to view the video on YouTube.
The second video features the amazing singer Keala Settle singing, “This is Me.” At first, she’s too nervous to come out from behind the music stand, but then she lets go with an amazingly powerful performance. As with the first video, the reaction of her fellow castmates and the musicians is the best part. She can’t hold back her tears and, frankly, neither could I. Click here to view the video.
If you’re thinking of heading out to the movies, I highly suggest this one.