GOSSIP: HUGH JACKMAN'S ONE-MAN SHOW TO HIT THE WEST END?
Posted on 11 January 2012
The Australian movie star's recent hit US stage show Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway which grossed $14.6 million in just 10 weeks at the end of 2011 is rumoured to be making a London transfer to the West End.
The revue ran from 10 November 2011 to 1 January 2012 (including previews from 25 October) to rave reviews at New York's Broadhurst Theatre. With the backdrop of an 18-piece orchestra it featured a selection of Jackman's favourite musical numbers reflecting his career. He is due to start filming in the UK in March playing Jean Valjean in a long-awaited new film version of Les Miserables.
He will co-star with fellow Aussie Russell Crowe who will play Javert. One suggestion is that the revue could be performed on Sunday evenings which would fit around his shooting schedule.
Jackman is well known for his Hollywood film credits such as Wolverine in the X-Men franchise and spin-off film, Kate & Leopold with Meg Ryan, Baz Luhrman's Australia with Nicole Kidman and monster killer Van Helsing. Some may not be aware that over the years he has also racked up quite an impressive catalogue of stage credits. He won a 2004 Tony Award for his role as Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz on Broadway, and in fact has hosted the Tony Awards on three occasions. The revival of The Boy From Oz in Australia in 2006 met a similarly rapturous reception. He turned down the role of lawyer Billy Flynn in the film version of Chicago that eventually went to Richard Gere, a role it has been suggested he could have won an Oscar for.
Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway followed another successful one-man show earlier that year at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco from 3-15 May 2011, which eventually led to the show's current incarnation. The San Franciscan show also featured slide shows of Jackman's youth family and work and featured some one-on-one interaction with the audience. Fellow musical theatre veterans Merle Dandridge and Angel Reda also featured as support. It is not known at this stage the exact format the mooted UK version of the show would take, but of course London Theatre Direct will let you know as soon as we hear anything!
Book Les Miserables tickets online now.
