–Adriana Doria (‘19)

“Ladies and Gents, this is the moment you’ve waited for!” The Greatest Showman– the movie-musical about the life of circus creator and “the greatest showman” P.T. Barnum and his rise to the top- is shown in your local movie theaters. This movie reminds audiences of all ages that no matter the exterior, everyone is beautiful and talented in their own unique way and should never be overlooked on superficialities such as race, gender, looks or sexuality.  It also reminds us all that love is worth fighting for.  

I recently had the opportunity to watch this movie-musical and was blown away by the entire film. This impeccable true story follows a poor boy named P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) on his journey to prove himself to the world.  Along the way he meets a girl named Charity (Michelle Williams), who later becomes his wife. As Barnum searches for his reputation amongst the upper-class, he meets Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron), and after they break out into song (“The other side”) P.T changes his perspective on life.   
Through many amazing scores written by Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award winning lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, most recognized for their scores for Dear Evan Hansen and La La Land, the audience will experience happiness, joy and sadness all in the course of an hour and 45 minutes. The music is absolutely outstanding and features the song “This is Me”, sung by Keala Settle, which brought chills down my spine.  Keala Settle sings about believing in yourself. It’s an anthem that emphasizes self love and its transformative power in self discovery and how no one can get in the way of your dreams.  This movie-musical will make you want to return to the theater multiple times.  It really is “The Greatest Show.”