If you haven’t seen The Greatest Showman yet, then I have no idea what you’re waiting for! The circus-themed musical film is about the fascinating life of a man named P.T. Barnum. When sent home from work after learning of his company’s closure, he racks his brain for ideas to provide the perfect life for his wife and two kids. He ends up buying a wax museum. After creative input from his children, he realizes that he’s just going to need a little bit more of a spectacle to draw a crowd… The musical is very fast paced, and it features 11 songs — all perfectly integrated — to help move the story along. This amazing musical film has a lot of layers to it, so here are eight facts you didn’t know about The Greatest Showman:
1. The music and lyrics were written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
You’ve definitely heard their songs even if you haven’t heard of their names before! In addition to writing for The Greatest Showman, Pasek and Paul alo wrote music and lyrics for Broadway musicals Dear Evan Hansen and A Christmas Story: The Musical, as well as off-Broadway musical Dogfight. Their talent doesn’t stop there, though; they also wrote lyrics for songs in the movie La La Land and a song for the movie Trolls. The craziest part is that they’re only 32 and 33!
2. Seven of the movie’s leading and supporting actors have backgrounds as successful Broadway performers.
These actors include Hugh Jackman (P.T. Barnum), Michelle Williams (Charity Barnum), Keala Settle (Lettie Lutz, bearded lady), Austyn Johnson (Caroline Barnum), Will Swenson (Philo Barnum, P.T’s father), Byron Jennings (Mr. Carlyle, Phillip’s father) and Eric Anderson (Mr. O’Malley).
3. The movie isn’t completely fictional!
Not only are the characters — such as P.T. Barnum, Charity, Jenny Lind, Tom Thumb — based on real people, the plot, too, is loosely based on events from the 1880s. The characters Phillip Carlyle and Lettie Lutz are partially based on real people.
4. The movie has an award-winning song.
“This Is Me,” performed by Keala Settle and written by Pasek and Paul, won the Golden Globe award for Best Original Song.
5. The whole soundtrack is topping the charts, too.
The Greatest Showman soundtrack album is currently #2 on iTunes.
6. “Swedish Nightingale” Jenny Lind is actually Swedish.
Actress Rebecca Ferguson, who plays Jenny Lind, is from Stockholm, Sweden.
7. Zendaya did her own stunts.
Zendaya actually trained and learned how to perform as a trapeze artist for her role as Anne Wheeler in the movie.
8. The movie was originally titled The Greatest Showman on Earth.
But we love the name it’s got now, too!
The Greatest Showman is still running in theaters, so make sure to catch the movie before it’s too late. Your movie-watching experience will be all the better now that you have a handful of fun facts to set it in context with!