SITE GUIDE
SEARCH
REVIEWS
REVIEW ARCHIVES
ADVERTISING AT CURTAINUP
FEATURES
NEWS
Etcetera and
Short Term Listings
LISTINGS
Broadway
Off-Broadway
NYC Restaurants
BOOKS and CDs
OTHER PLACES
Berkshires
London
California
New Jersey
DC
Philadelphia
Elsewhere
QUOTES
TKTS
PLAYWRIGHTS' ALBUMS
LETTERS TO EDITOR
FILM
LINKS
MISCELLANEOUS
Free Updates
Masthead
A CurtainUp Review
Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway
|
The only things we regret in life are the things we didn’t do, so let’s have a go. — Hugh Jackman
|
Hugh Jackman
|
How many entertainers can you name who can command a Broadway stage singing, dancing and telling stories for a couple of hours —and leave the audience with a shivery thrill because they were there? I can guess that in well over a century folks can list certain blockbuster, all-around entertainers like Sammy Davis, Jr., Judy Garland, Peter Allen, but today there are . . . no, there is Hugh Jackman. Period.
Jackman is a mix of great assets but the total package adds up to CHARISMA. In a show briskly paced by director/choreographer Warren Carlyle, Jackman tackles some energetic dance segments. Jackman is not the dancer that his idols, Astaire and Kelly, were. But he moves with buoyancy, grace, a lithe and limber body, and legs long enough to join a Rockettes kick line. When he says that because of an upcoming Wolverine film, he has to bulk up and since dancing takes off weight, he declares he’s “Never Gonna Dance.” This unsurprisingly leads to a medley of terp tunes like, “I Won’t Dance,” “Do I Hear a Waltz?” and “Shake Your Bootie.”
Jackman’s energy never quits and Carlyle uses every bit with a rollicking Golden Age of Movie Musicals tunefest that builds to dizzying speeds. It whizzes from “Luck Be A Lady” to “I Got Rhythm” to the surging express of “Sing, Sing, Sing.”
If not the best singer ever (there's a noticeable nasality) Jackman does have strong pipes, and belts to the last row of the Broadhurst Theatre. He starts off strolling on stage with an a cappella delivery of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!” from Oklahoma! With a selection of standards, Jackman proves “I Happen to Like New York” although he retains a strong tie to his native Australia. At the end of the show, he brings on four natives of the Outback — Olive Knight, Clifton Bieundurry, Paul Boon and Nathan Mundraby — who help him with a unique, moody interpretation of “Over the Rainbow.”
Though there aren't many ballads, Jackman does offer up a poignant rendition of Peter Allen’s autobiographical, “Tenterfield Saddler." His most notable singing moment comes just before the end of Act I, when he illustrates how compellingly he interprets a thoughtful theater song. He precedes this with an anecdote about his father’s trip to New York to see Jackman’s salute to Richard Rodgers at Carnegie Hall. Jackman then delivers “Soliloquy” from Carousel with conversational informality, painting a portrait of the conflicted ne’er do well Billy Bigelow, bewildered about his impending fatherhood.
Add to the Jackman pizzazz a penchant for articulate story-telling, a sense of humor often turned on himself, and most important, an evident love for what he’s doing on stage. This is a showman, a ham in the tastiest sense, irresistible to sample for the infectious charm that draws together everybody in the theater.
Even with Patrick Vaccariello’s robust 18-piece orchestra and six young dancing girls, this is Hugh Jackman’s party and he is a full-time host. EXxcept for the intermission he's always onstage — singing, dancing, talking, schmoozing with the audience. Encouraging audience participation, he even calls a flushed “Buster” to the stage, who tries his darnest to get some Jackman-like hip action going to a finger-snapping “Fever.” Opening Act II, slinky in Peter Allen skintight gold lamé, Jackman pops into a box and shares a little lap-dance with a grey-haired lady of a certain age.
The king of the Broadway stage these days is a real likeable guy who has a lot to give and gives it all. It’s Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway, and for him, it’s home. For us, it’s a treat.
|
Hugh Jackman Back on Broadway
Directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle Cast: Hugh Jackman, Robin Campbell, Kearran Giovanni, Anne Otto, Lara Seibert, Hilary Michael Thompson and Emily Tyra Music Direction: Patrick Vaccariello Set Design: John Lee Beatty Costume Design: William Ivey Long Lighting Design: Ken Billington Sound Design: John Shivers Video: by Alexander V. Nichols Running Time: 2 hours. 15 min. intermission Theater: Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44th Street Tickets:. $67 - $350 and higher premiums. (212) 239-6200; telecharge.com. Performances: Tuesdays, Friday and Saturday at 8PM. Matinees Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm. Previews Oct. 25. Opened Nov.10. Closing Jan.1, 2012. Review by Elizabeth Ahlfors based on performance 11/13/11. |
|
REVIEW FEEDBACK Highlight one of the responses below and click "copy" or"CTRL+C"
Paste the highlighted text into the subject line (CTRL+ V): Feel free to add detailed comments in the body of the email. . .also the names and emails of any friends to whom you'd like us to forward a copy of this review. Visit Curtainup's Blog Annex For a feed to reviews and features as they are posted add http://curtainupnewlinks.blogspot.com to your reader Curtainup at Facebook . . . Curtainup at Twitter Subscribe to our FREE email updates: E-mail: esommer@curtainup.comesommer@curtainup.com put SUBSCRIBE CURTAINUP EMAIL UPDATE in the subject line and your full name and email address in the body of the message. If you can spare a minute, tell us how you came to CurtainUp and from what part of the country. |
Anything Goes Cast RecordingOur review of the show
Book of Mormon -CDOur review of the show
Slings & Arrows-the complete set
You don't have to be a Shakespeare aficionado to love all 21 episodes of this hilarious and moving Canadian TV series about a fictional Shakespeare Company
