This Is The Greatest Show: The Greatest Showman Review

Well holy hell! This is what I want when I go to watch a musical on the big screen: 2 hours of fantastic music, spectactular dances and a heartfelt storyline to boot. Hugh Jackman shows us why we all fell in love with him in Oklahoma, Zac Efron is a delight to watch (his voice has massively improved), Zendeya is just out of this world and shows us all why she is regarded as such a remarkable talent. In addition to those mainstream Hollywood actors, Broadway veteran Kealla Seatlle steals the show with the triumphant anthem This Is Me. And thats just the tip of the iceberg! This is everything I craved when I went to see La La Land and wasn't given. THIS IS HOW YOU DO A HOLLYWOOD MUSICAL! It has moments of pure joy, heartbreak and moments that make you want to stand up and belt at the top of your voice. Which is exactly what I will be doing after finishing this blog along with the cast album. Okay, now thats out the way, let's go into depth as to why The Greatest Showman really is one of The Greatest Shows I have seen in a very long time.

As it states in the above picture, the score is beautifully written by Pasek and Paul who are writing some of the best songs of their career (see Dear Evan Hansen). The show opens with the glorious ensemble number The Greatest Show which imediately places the audience into the world of the show, meaning from that moment on, you accept everything that is going to happen. Memorable songs include Never Enough sang gloriously by Loren Alled (who sings for Rebecca Ferguson as it was deemed her voice wasn't strong enough) which shows the class and talent of the star she claims to be in the film. Rewrite the Stars by Zac Efron and Zendeya is a traditional love song brought into today's mainstream sound matched by some truly amazing aerial choreography (and Zac Efron, I mean come on, its Zac Efron singing a romantic love song, what's not to love?). And the song of the show, the anthem that is This is Me belted gloriously by Kealla Seattle and the circus cast. It is a classic "I want" song that will become a musical theatre anthem and watch every youth theatre, choir and performer do a version of this song in the coming months. This song to me not only resonates with the audience due to the story of the characters but as a performer, it perfectly highlights how I feel about performing and wanting to persue the career I want. There are tons of other beautiful songs in the show that once I've listened to the soundtrack in depth I shall probably have more to say on but from my first viewing, they are the songs that stood out the most.

The story of the film revolves around PT Barnum (Jackman) and the circus he created putting people who had never been represented before on the stage. In modern day society, the people in Barnum's circus would not be classed as oddities or freaks. This was clearly highlighted by the young girl who sat behind me in the theatre when, the audience in the film laughs at Sam Humphrey's character because of his height, turned to her mother and asked "why are they laughing at him, he's only little, that's not funny?" And then, when because of the colour of her skin, Zendaya and Zac's relationship seems like it can no longer continue, she again turned to her mother and said "why can't they be together? They love eachother!" Which shows that even though society still isn't where we want it, it has come a hell of a long way since Barnum's day.

As I highlighted before, this musical is everything I craved from a traditional Hollywood musical. The story pulls you in and you care for every single character and everything that happens to them. You just cannot not love everything about this musical as it contains heart, soul, extravagant choreography and songs that come at just the right places in the film. There is no doubt this is going to be a historical moment in musical theatre history and this will hopefully herald in the new era of the Great Hollywood Musical. And as an avid musical theatre performer/watcher, I cannot wait to see what else Hollywood can bring. After all, in the words of P.T Barnum "the noblest art is that of making others happy" and that's what this film does, it has you leaving the cinema with the biggest smile on your face and what more could you ask for?

#Musicals #TheGreatestShowman