In late February I posted an interview with Shoshana Bean about her new album Spectrum. Over the weekend she posted a video of her cover of the song “This Is Me” from The Greatest Showman. Now we know how good the song really is.
When I saw the movie in December, my first comment was that I know how good Justin Paul and Benj Pasek are as songwriters, but it was too bad that the music was so over-produced for the film I felt their work was lost.
In the music video, Ms. Bean is joined by dancer Travis Wall. The video is simple. And it is effective. Not only does the point of the song get across much better than it did in the film, it resonates with an emotionality that reflects Pasek & Paul at their best. (Just ask anyone who has seen Dear Evan Hansen.)
By the way, speaking of Dear Evan Hansen, if you haven’t seen the mash up of songs from that show and Hamilton performed by Ben Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda here is another example of simplifying songs to reveal new shades of emotion that you might not have realized previously. This is called Found Tonight.
If you download This Is Me, every penny will go to the Los Angeles LGBTQ Center.
Proceeds from Found Tonight will go to the March for Our Lives Initiative.