'The Greatest Showman' Featurettes: The 'La La Land' Composers Have Outdone Themselves

‘The Greatest Showman’ Featurettes: The ‘La La Land’ Composers Have Outdone Themselves

While there may be a lot of mystery surrounding whetherThe Greatest Showmanis any good or not — the review embargo remains while the movie swoops up surprise Golden Globe nominations for best comedy/musical and best actor — there is no mystery to the fact that this is a straight-up musical.

And these newTheGreatest Showmanfeaturettes are here to remind you of that, offering you plenty of clips ofHugh Jackmanbuoyantly dancing to the songs written by the acclaimed composers ofLa La Land.

There’s a lot of hyperbole going on inThe Greatest Showman— the most obvious being the title. But it’s trickled down to all aspects of the film as well, with directorMichael Graceyclaiming “What [composersBenj PasekandJustin Paul] have created, it’s the best work they’ve ever done.” Since these are the composers behind the Oscar-winningLa La Landand the Tony Award-winningDear Evan Hansen, that’s high praise. But consideringThe Greatest Showman’srecent Golden Globe nominationfor best original song, perhaps it’s not too far off.

The two featurettes dive into the songwriting process that Pasek and Paul underwent to create the pop-Broadway hybrid songs that are woven throughoutThe Greatest Showman. Jackman praises the two for writing 24/7, on planes, trains, and supposedly automobiles, and expresses maybe a little disappointment that they got big beforeThe Greatest Showmancould have been the ones to “discover” them. But what else wouldThe Greatest Showmanmarketing team have put on their trailers and posters?

The first featurette explores the radio-friendly songs ofThe Greatest Showman, including Golden Globe best original song nominee, “This Is Me.” The second featurette is all about the difficulty in creating a full-fledged original musical, which Pasek and Paul still tackle with trepidation even after the acclaim for their songs inDear Evan Hansen. Maybe that’s the mark of a great showman.

Here is the synopsis ofThe Greatest Showman:

Inspired by the imagination of P. T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business & tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation.

The Greatest Showmanstars Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, Keala Settle, and Zendaya. The film hits theaters onDecember 20, 2017.