The Greatest Showman Broadway — Page 2

After seeing his cover of From Now On, I think Ramin Karimloo would be fantastic in the lead role. Also, I'm not sure how the movie was received by this community as it came out before I started regularly participating in these message boards, but I feel like it should generate decent traffic on name alone, along with the fact that it's Pasek and Paul and a lot of the music seems to have gone almost mainstream. Limited run appearances by just about any of the cast couldn't hurt, but I don't think Hugh Jackman would be required to make it succeed. Though I'd like to see some major rewrites before it comes to Broadway, if it in fact does--the book did have a tendency of glossing over things and generating drama for the sake of drama, and the placement of songs didn't seem to quite click in at appropriate moments. I would definitely be excited to see it on stage though, especially just to see how they would stage certain numbers.

Elfuhbuh said: "NYCblurb, the director of The Greatest Showman said today that the movie will definitely come to the stage."

Doesn't necessarily mean Broadway...could be like The Bodyguard, Flashdance, Dirty Dancing, etc., and never come to Broadway, knowing that it would likely be savaged by the critics.

Jarethan said: "Elfuhbuh said: "NYCblurb, the director of The Greatest Showman said today that the movie will definitely come to the stage."

Doesn't necessarily mean Broadway...could be like The Bodyguard, Flashdance, Dirty Dancing, etc., and never come toBroadway,knowing that it would likely be savaged by the critics."

Actually, he did say "Broadway," and it has nothing to do with potentially bad critics' reviews. It's about whether or not the show can make money, and a hit movie musical by Tony-winning songwriters being adapted for the stage isn't anything like the other shows you mentioned.

I agree that we could use more original musicals on Broadway... BUT, why WOULDN'T they do this? It was a massive hit. It came out a year ago today, and it is currently sitting at #6 on iTunes. It obviously has mass appeal and the fan base for it.

Barnum's story has already been musicalized as BARNUM with pretty much all the same characters, and it was acclaimed when it first came out. (Even giving Glenn Close her first Tony Nomination)

There is honestly no need to adapt this because the above exists, and TGS would have to probably add some fluff and new songs to make a justifiable running time (The movie is only 1h 40m without end credits), and basically they would reinvent the wheel.

Also, aside from a few earworms, I don't think Pasek and Paul's music (in this and as a whole) is that good. Their lyrics are often too simple and straightforward and beat you over the head with a message. (I DETEST "This Is Me".

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I’m about 50/50 on whether this is a good idea, but:

- regardless of what people think of P&P as songwriters, as has been previously mentioned the TGS soundtrack is still charting high on the charts. They also have one of the hottest tickets on Broadway right now. So lots of people like their music and have shown willingness to spend money on it.

- comparing TGS to older movies that made more money is sort of pointless because those movies by being older don’t necessarily have the same built in audience that TGS would. Yes, Pretty Woman is doing great box office, but the bigger the box office doesn’t mean the more successful Broadway adaptation. One only need to look at the success of Waitress and The Band’s Visit to see that smaller movies can yield great results on Broadway. Of course, one could argue that those shows had richer material to draw from than TGS.

- I think TGS’s biggest hurdle (other than the previously mentioned challenges of adapting to the stage) is that people may feel like seeing the movie was enough since it was so recent. Of course, if done correctly, this will be a few seasons (if it even happens) from Broadway fruition. I do think star casting would help tremendously.

Theatrefanboy1 said: "Just rewatched it and really think it will come to broadway"

Hate to burst your bubble, but it ain't coming to Broadway. The producers of the movie and stage show (TSG, not to be confused with TGS) informed all of the potential Broadway investors that they had reached out to quite a while ago that they were no longer planning on adapting it for the stage.

Owen22 said: "I didn't like the movie. But a lot of people did. What I HATE about the inevitable B'way staging is that it will keep a revival of the much superior and inventive Cy Coleman musical "Barnum" out of New York for even longer."



If you trust the info presented above, it sounds like the Broadway staging isn't so "inevitable."

But actually, I definitely could've imagined a scenario where a Broadway adaptation of "Greatest Showman" would spark interest in the subject matter, which might lead to someone putting Barnum up. It might be perfect for Encores, especially since they're already grasping at straws to remain relevant. It would be similar to how they did 1776 right on the heels Hamilton. If not Encores! maybe some Off-Broadway company trying to capitalize on the renewed interest.

it would be better as a touring arena show - think about a theatre in the round, three-ring-circus feeling, trapeze artists, with Hugh Jackman on the tour it would be hit, no?

Maybe some reality check --

The main producer of the movie ( TSG and PeterChernin were part of the producing team but more like providing some financial requirements) was 20th Century Fox which was also the film rights distributor. When Disney acquired the FOX assets, it also acquired the rights to the film studio assets, including The Greatest Showman. So, it will be DISNEY that will make any stage adaptation decisions. Given that it has been busy pushing its streaming business (including developing or acquiring content) and recovering its main source of revenues via the theme parks ( after the pandemic wanes), it may not seem that stage projects will be a priority. Of course, who knows?

Also, if there had been concrete plans before, would Hugh Jackman have accepted the role in The Music Man? TGS has been his passion project ( overseeing it for 8 years) and he is referred to as its uncredited producer because of his involvement in it. It would have been doubtful for him to accept back-to-back Broadway musical projects.

Besides, in his 2019 90-show music tour, he featured some of the songs from TGS but in a completely different context,, Such as this interpretation of A Million Dreams ( Btw, the new choreography was from Warren Carlyle...and the piano accompaniment was from Justin Paul ( see him join Hugh at the end).

Updated On: 3/2/21 at 07:52 AM