All tagged Dear Even Hansen
To start, this article has no intention of being serious. I was just sitting in my car musing about how you could take two Broadway shows and splice them together into one evening of entertainment. This would certainly cut back on my ticket expenditures and double the amount of Broadway musical viewing I can afford each year. So, strap on your sense of humor, get in the mood for corny ridiculousness, and see how I mashed-up Broadway musicals currently running (or set to open) on the Great White Way.
The sixteen-year-old version of myself probably would have loved the film The Greatest Showman. It’s a movie musical that paints with broad strokes of emotion, sings with melodies of gloriously exhilarating repetition, and it celebrates the misfits of the world, making the idealistic assumption that if we just believe hard enough, the world will embrace us. On one level, it is a musical fantasy and should be enjoyed by anyone who can subscribe to such misguided optimism. On another level, the adult version of myself wants to slap the sixteen-year-old in me for being so naïve, so eager to embrace such folderal and humbug. But then, The Greatest Showman is based on the life of flim-flam man Phineas Taylor Barnum, the man who supposedly said, “There’s a sucker born every minute” (There is no evidence that he actually did), so buying into folderal is exactly what this tale is about. To a degree, I must admit that I bought into this film. Even if it isn’t perfect, its colorful world of humbug makes you feel good. It’s illusion instead of substance, but that can transport just as easily.
