What to expect at Jackman’s arena show
Hugh Jackman is the the modern-day equivalent of an old-school entertainer. In other words, he can do it all: He sings, dances, acts and flexes enough box-office muscle to open both Hollywood blockbusters and Broadway musicals.
Now, you can add arena headliner to the mix. Tonight, he will bring to Glendale his first arena tour, which has been rather awkwardly dubbed “The Man. The Music. The Show.” He’s no stranger to the concert stage: “Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway,” held court at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City for three months starting in 2011, and he’s done solo engagements in San Francisco and Toronto.
But, obviously, an arena tour is a huge undertaking. He launched the tour in May in Europe before hitting the States in June. The show has been a tremendous success so far: Billboard reports that Jackman could be heading toward a $75 million finish at the box office once it wraps up in October.
The production is directed by Warren Carlyle, a stage director and choreographer known for the 2009 Broadway revival of “Finian’s Rainbow.” More importantly in this case, he directed “Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway.”
“The Man. The Music. The Show.” is designed as a full-scale spectacle that runs more than two hours (including intermission). He will be accompanied by a full orchestra, and there are dancers (naturally) and costume changes.
Keala Settle, who performed “This Is Me” in “The Greatest Showman,” has appeared at some tour stops, though she will not appear in Glendale. There is no official word on any guest stars appearing in Glendale.
“I want to ask Sting,” Jackman told Playbill about guest stars for the tour. “I just texted James Corden the other day. I was like, ‘Dude, when are you coming to the Hollywood Bowl with me?’ I hope (to have guests like) Kristin Chenoweth, Sutton Foster or Laura Benanti or Audra McDonald ... By the way I haven’t asked any of them yet!”
What he sings
Judging from the setlists from previous “TMTMTS” shows, the concert is heavy on songs from “The Greatest Showman.” He normally features five tunes from the 2017 musical: “The Greatest Show,” “Come Alive,” “A Million Dreams,” “From Now On” and the biggie, “This Is Me.”
That’s good news for movie fans, but even more exciting: He digs into the catalog of fellow Aussie Peter Allen, who died in 1992. Jackman won a Tony Award for playing Allen in the jukebox musical “The Boy From Oz,” which ran from 2003 to 2004. Jackman will offer Allen’s biggest hits, including “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” “I Honestly Love You” and “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do).” But he also goes deeper into the Allen songbook for “Tenterfield Saddler,” a haunting autobiographical song that is one of Allen’s most revealing compositions.
Elsewhere, expect more tunes from Broadway, including, of course, a segment devoted to “Les Misérables.” He also goes further back into the past, including material associated with two other great songand-dance men: Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire.
What the critics say
Reaction has been almost universally enthusiastic for the tour.
“Though the production bears a pompous title, Jackman, a tremendously fit 50, oozes self-deprecation,” Melissa Ruggieri writes in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. “He’s charming and thoughtful, making even his scripted patter sound heartfelt, and a mischievous grin is never more than a fist-thrusting chorus away.”
The thought of Jackman playing an arena struck Ross Raihala of the Twin Cities Pioneer Press as odd.
“Last fall’s announcement that Jackman was embarking on a 90-date world tour of arenas felt like a bit of a stretch,” Raihala writes. “Yeah, he’s clearly talented, but is he a big enough draw to sell out such huge venues? Well, Saturday night, on the fourth stop of his tour’s North American leg, Jackman filled St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center with an impressively diverse crowd of about 14,000 fans ready to whoop it up with a movie star in a hockey arena.”
However, Laura Collins-Hughes, reviewing a performance held at Madison Square Garden for the New York Times, felt Jackman’s talents would have been better served in a smaller venue.
“The disconnect made me wish I were nearer — and in that sense, this show is a superb advertisement for the intimacy of Broadway,” she writes. “You’d never feel so far away in one of its theaters.”
Other critics didn’t share the sentiment. John J. Moser, writing for the Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, had no such qualms.
“Jackman’s audience interaction also was mostly delightful,” he wrote. “Early in the show, he helped some late arrivers find their seats and got another’s ticket laminated as the show went on as a gift. He also was a quick-witted comedian, saying before playing piano on ‘You Will Be Found’ that, ‘clearly I believe three years of piano in high school qualifies you to play in front of arenas.’”
International critics were equally impressed. Ciara O’Brien covered the Dublin stop in June for the Irish Times.
“Jackman isn’t afraid to take a couple of chances with his material, and the audience is right there with him. From the moment Jackman appears on stage – kicking off with ‘The Greatest Show’ naturally – he has the audience in the palm of his hand.”
Perhaps no one was clearer than Mark Fisher, reviewing the star’s opening night in Glasgow, for the Guardian. The headline: “He really is the Greatest Showman.”