THEATRE NOTES
Hugh Jackman, Curtains & Deviant Ears Theatre Commentary by Paul Myrvold
arts@outandaboutmagazine.com
Hugh Jackman in Performance at the Curran Theatre SHN
I
am not a regular reviewer of the SHN organization, which operates the Curran,
Golden Gate and Orpheum
Theatres in San Francisco, so by the time I put in a request with them to attend Hugh Jackman in Concert at the Curran Theatre, a limited two-week engagement, they could not accom- modate me.
Rats! Had to see the show! Spent the money.
For those of my readers who only know Mr. Jackman from his film work in such movies as Kate and Leopold, Van Helsing or most famously, as Wolverine in the fantastically successful X-Men series, Hugh
had never seen in all the many produc- tions of the old chestnut I had wit- nessed. Simply awesome! And then when he and Josefina Gabrielle, who was his equal as Curly’s love interest Laurey, actually danced the dream bal- let themselves, I knew I was seeing a very special talent.
Jackman took time out from the movies to earn a Tony Award for his role as Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz, the ultimate proof of legiti- macy.
A pair of
hundred-dollar tickets on a Friday night got us seats on the aisle four rows down from the very
back of the mezzanine. Not a bad seat but the man in front me was tall and sat up very straight putting his head smack in the middle of the stage, so I spent the night dodging left and right to peer around him. Didn’t really matter. I got lost in the performance.
I had expected a great show; what I got was stupendous. Jackman is the ultimate charmer engaging the audience in spontaneous banter and introducing numbers with autobiographical tales. He made great comedy out of the shocking dichotomy of his musical career and his image as the fierce, heav- ily muscled Wolverine. Vocally the audience got the living breathing affir- mation that he is the real deal, a power- ful fluid voice of great range and expression. He is no Baryshnikov, but he dances with satisfying grace, vigor and, when required as in his Peter Allen numbers, exuberant flair.
HUGH JACKMAN IN CONCERT AT THE CURRAN THEATRE PHOTO: JOANMARCUS
Jackman is a GOD of the musical the- atre. I first saw him perform musically as Curly in a video of Trevor Nunn’s astonishing re-imagining of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! From the first breath, the first note, the first expres- sion, Jackman showed me a character I
46 June 2011 • Out & About
HUGH JACKMAN IN X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION
The show runs an hour and a half plus without intermission and is filled with delights. A breathtaking medley that spans decades of beloved hits starts off the evening. He takes on dancing with a sequence I will call (since there was no listing of numbers in the pro- gram) “Don’t Dance/Gotta Dance.” He sets it up by having his trainer come on and admonish him “No dancing!” because dancing sheds pounds and he needs to bulk up for Wolverine. Needless to say, dancing wins out. In another hilarious sequence, he tells how he auditioned for The Music Man at the age of fourteen where the requirement was to sing a song from the show. Not knowing any better, he learned the entire opening number which is famously an eight-character rhythmic patter song sung by salesmen in a railroad car kvetching about
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