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Greatest Showman for pre-production/filming soon!


BACKSTAGE, an actors casting site, summarizes details on the casting for GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH --

www.backstage.com/news/casting/why-3-musical-theater-stars-are-heading-fox/


Casting News

Why 3 Musical Theater Stars Are Heading to Fox

By Rebecca Welch | Posted July 25, 2016, 4:30 p.m.



Roaring lions, clowns on unicycles, and trapeze swingers are just a few of the circus staples that could be attributed to P.T. Barnum, and 20th Century Fox wants to delve deeper into who some consider to be “The Greatest Showman on Earth.” Come one and come all! This semi-biographical film about the famous showman, who created the three-ring circus, will follow his financial downfall after he invites Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind stateside to perform a series of concerts. The film, cast by noted casting experts Telsey + Company, will feature its own musical element with some veterans of the genre: The cast of songbirds currently includes Hugh Jackman as Barnum, Michelle Williams as Lind, Zendaya, and Zac Efron, heading back to his “High School Musical” roots. Filming on the project is set to begin in the fall around late October in New York, with rehearsals beginning in September.






*They seemed to have based their storyline on the old published details which talked about the angle on the infatuation with Jenny Lind. According to updates on the script, the focus of the movie has de-emphasized the Jenny Lind story and is giving the spotlight to how Barnum formed the famous circus.

*The casting of Jenny Lind is still to be finalized, from what I hear. Michelle Williams is playing the role of Charity, Barnum's wife.

*No word yet on whether any of the Broadway actors who were part of the reading will be part of the movie musical.

*Most importantly, it looks like the project is generally on schedule -- with filming in NYC starting in late October ( or maybe early November?) The start of rehearsals will be some time in September, which gives Hugh a time to recharge after what may have been exhausting WOLVERINE 3 filming.

*Not indicated is the studio recording of the songs ( it is NOT going to be live-singing as in Les Miserables) which will be needed prior to filming ( where the actors will presumably act and lip-synch at the same time). But this would be the recorded songs that will form the soundtrack for the movie, which expectedly will also be released 



What about the lead star? Is he now free from his WOLVERINE 3 filming?

Yessssss! WOLVERINE 3 has just wrapped filming...and Hugh sends a message of Thanks to New Mexico where the last phase of filming took place !


https://www.instagram.com/p/BJDxeB5jP2T/?taken-by=thehughjackman



And Hugh has shaved all the facial hair and is now ready, presumably after a well-earned break, to put on the costume and hairstyle for Phineas T. Barnum 


https://www.instagram.com/p/BJE1QLxjaUX/?taken-by=thehughjackman



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More confirmation --

myentertainmentworld.com/cms/feature-films/page/2/


Posted: September 22, 2015 at 5:26 pm EST
Updated: October 1, 2016 at 2:55 pm EST
Title:
The Greatest Showman On Earth (aka Barnum)
Category:
Feature Film
Genre:
Biography / Drama / Musical
Shoot Date:
November 18, 2016
Location:
 New York, NY


Story: The film is the story of American showman P.T. Barnum, founder of the circus that became the famous traveling Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.


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http://www.etonline.com/media/video/exclusive_hugh_jackman_earned_cool_dad_points_working_with_zac_efron_and_zendaya-199485/


ET (Entertainment Tonight) interviewed Hugh Jackman briefly on October 1 (Saturday) and part of it addressed THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH!

*He said that they did a table reading in the past week...and mentions that they will be involved with it in the next four months.

*His daughter Ava is begging even for a teeny-weeny part in the movie -- it looks like ZENDAYA is the main attraction for Hugh's pre-teen darling daughter...All of a sudden, he is now a cool Dad 

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It looks like Hugh went away for a few days -- he posted a few photos with the backdrop of the landscape reminiscent of his location shooting for LOGAN ( aka WOLVERINE before the official title was released) - maybe he did some reshoots?

But it seems he has come back to NYC ...and possibly to rehearsals for GREATEST SHOWMAN ( see hashtag #rehearsalflow) ... and a belated birthday celebration --


https://www.instagram.com/p/BLkWQDbg2_L/?taken-by=julius_anthony


The poster seems to be from the Broadway community. Is this an indication that some of the casting may have come from the Broadway talent pool? Hope so!

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The poster (Julius Anthony) is a dancer on Broadway and has appeared in a few shows...and has performed the job of dance captain in Finding Neverland.

If the group shown greeting Hugh upon his return are part of a dance rehearsal group, it looks like Hugh will be involved in some dance numbers in the movie. His dance talent ( which has such an athletic grace) has been showcased on stage but was never highlighted in his first movie musical LES MISERABLES. Looking forward to this  

Given that Michael Gracey has directed some ads/videos involving superb choreography, it is likely that GREATEST SHOWMAN will showcase some exacting and exciting dance numbers!

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