A Musical

 

The Greatest showman is a musical film based on a true story, of the founding of ‘Ringling Brothers, and Barnum & Bailey Circus. While the story of the creation of the circus may be known to some audiences, notably in America, the story of, or even the company as a whole was largely unknown to the general population. The original show that was produced at the circus in 1919 was said to be The greatest show on earth. Both the film adaptation and the individuals and company behind this adventure has been enjoying a pop culture resurgence in recent years, due to the recent blockbuster film ‘the greatest showman’ and current Melbourne live show Barnum- The circus musical.

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Morally Incorrect

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The background for Barnum’s rise to fame was, like most, murky and unpleasant, facts that were overlooked or taken out of the film. For instance, during his years as an ambassador for the predecessor company ‘Barnum’s American Museum’ Barnum would send out henchmen in order to kidnap and coerce indigenous men, woman and children before he made them known as “human oddities” within his ‘Freak show’ element of his performance.[1]

Barnum tore apart families, and denied them the ability to practice their culture. Barnum made all indigenous people that were either kidnapped or lured into the circus believe and understand that the circus will be their new lot in life, bare in mind this is a time in American History where race relations were tense and a civil war between Slave Abolitionist and Slavers was imminent. This has led to a contrasting view of Barnum, on the one hand he is a circus master who brought joy to families around the country, to others he is a horrible man that acted on his worst desires. [1]

In December 2017 the mainstream audiences were introduced to P.T. Barnum's ‘true story’ in the greatest showman musical. However, this is not the first time that this story had been told. The story had already gained a few ‘haters’ due to knowing Barnum accepted so called “freaks” just to make money and therefore lost quite a few views from the beginning. Supporters of the circus have followed and continued to watch the film, whereas other people that do not enjoy musicals have also  watched and enjoyed the film making the film a cult film, given its passionate support base however with a very contrasting and disagreeable counter audience. [2][3]

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Born an Entrepreneur

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From his birth in 1810, Phineas Taylor Barnum (known as P.T Barnum) showed and array of talent and entrepreneurship. This can be seen in his many business ventures, for example it was known that P.T Barnum used to sell lottery tickets by the age of 12. [4] Prior to the founding of the circus, P.T tried many different jobs, especially in regards to publicity and promotion, this helped him on his career path as he soon turned to show business. While his family was relatively well off, he was given little in life and had to grind in order to create a name for himself, ultimately leading to the creation of the Barnum & Bailey Circus.
P.T Barnum is best remembered for the well-known travelling circus depicted in the Greatest Showman which was very famous. P.T’s rise to fame was helped by a number of factors, including but not limited to, having an entrepreneurial spirit and personal drive and the concept of a circus still being new to many Americans of the time, as it had been imported into the United States from the United Kingdom just a few decades before.

While the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus was a household name within the United States, there was a desire to tell the story to a larger audience. As such, Hugh Jackman, who played P.T Barnum in the film adaptation, spent almost a decade on this project, while simultaneously continuing with his own career, in order for this story to make it to film.

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Production

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Director- Michael Gracey
Writers- Jenny Bicks, Bill Condon
Genre- Musical, Biography, Drama, History
Original language- English
Producer- Laurence Mark, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping
Release date (Theatres)- December 20th 2017 (wide)
Release date (streaming)- December 22nd 2017
Box office (Gross USA)- $174.0m
Runtime- 1hr 45min
Production co:
Chernin Entertainment,
Twentieth Century Fox, TSG
Entertainment
Sound mix- Dolby Atmos, Dolby digital
Aspect Ratio- Scope (2.35:1)
Rating- PG (Thematic Elements/ A Brawl)
[5]

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8 Facts of the Greatest Showman

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1. The music and lyrics were written by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

2. Seven of the movies leading and supporting actors have backgrounds as successful Broadway performers

3. The movie is not completely fictional

4. The movie has an award winning song

5. The whole soundtrack topped the charts

6. "Swedish Nightingale" Jennie Lind is actually Swedish

7. Zendaya did her own stunts

8. The movie was originally titled The Greatest Showman on Earth [6]

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Bibliography:

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[1] Roberts, R. The Guardian, 2019. The real story behind the Greatest Showman is one of exploitation. It's time we told it. https://www.The real story behind The Greatest Showman is one of exploitation. It’s time we told it | The Greatest Showman | The Guardian [accessed 02/03/21]

[2] Bondi, A. 2018. A Great Showman. The Echo. https://www.thetenaflyecho.com[accesssed 02/03/21] 

[3]Kwen, A. "The Greatest Showman" and the problem with P.T. Barnum. 2018. The Echo. [accessed on 10/03/21] https://the tenaflyecho.com

[4]Houston, M. 2013. [accessed 10/03/2021]. https;//www.P. T. Barnum's Lottery | Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project

[5]"The Greatest Showman". 2017. AMC Theatres. [accessed 20/02/21] https://www.The Greatest Showman 

[6] Chapes, A. 2018. 8 facts you didn't know about The Greatest Showman. Her Campus. https://hercampus.com