Breaking: Hugh Jackman to Return to Broadway in HOUDINI 2013-14 by Stephen Schwartz & Aaron Sorkin!

[Rob]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 11:24am

Click Here to Read Breaking: Hugh Jackman to Return to Broadway in HOUDINI 2013-14 by Stephen Schwartz & Aaron Sorkin!

[Kad]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 12:03pm

What happened to Danny Elfman?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 12:06pm

If this happens, I am not going to miss it.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 12:10pm

Who wants to place bets that at least some of the material from The Magic Show will return?

[inick122492]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 12:18pm

Wasn't Ramin Karimloo attached to this??

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 12:19pm

Makes me wish I had a few million to invest!

[finebydesign]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 12:23pm

"What happened to Danny Elfman? " So weird Glenn Slater was talking about their collaborating already.

Updated On: 1/4/12 at 12:23 PM

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 2:06pm

Another show where the entire center orchestra will be $275 and $400 for premium!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

I bet it recoups in a week and breaks massive records!!!! YAY BROADWAY!!!!

[The Josh]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 3:47pm

I was really looking forward to a Danny Elfman score!

[Fan2]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 3:49pm

This was originally penciled in for Broadway in "spring 2010" always with Jackman, but obviously that didn't happen. I remember reading a while ago (forgot what the event was) that Elfman was no longer on the project and Schwartz had taken over.

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 4:42pm

Yeah, Hugh Jackman is supremely talented, but despite it being two years down the road, I can smell the price gouging already, and I don't love him enough to shell out big bucks.

Five bucks says this will be no more than a glorified star vehicle (Like BOY FROM OZ)

[quizking101]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 4:42pm

Yeah, Hugh Jackman is supremely talented, but despite it being two years down the road, I can smell the price gouging already, and I don't love him enough to shell out big bucks.

Five bucks says this will be no more than a glorified star vehicle (Like BOY FROM OZ)

[jo]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 4:48pm

A fantastic creative team( Schwartz, Sorkin, O'Brien and Rockwell who designed Hollywood's Kodak Theatre), a fascinating take on the most famous magician in the world, and Hugh Jackman - I will be there !

In the meantime, I hope he has time to consider another movie ( or two) after he completes filming LES MISERABLES and THE WOLVERINE.

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/4/12 at 4:48pm

I would much rather pay to see him in an actual show then a concert performance.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/5/12 at 2:14am

I'm pretty on the fence when it comes to Schwartz but I admit this sounds like it has potential to me. At least it's more exciting than many of the other big budget musicals being announced lately. I like Elfman, particularly his early stuff, but I don't really have faith in him creating a dramatic song score (I'm sure some could argue the same for Schwartz, but...)

As for Schwartz re-using some of The Magic Show--I sure hope so! I'd love to see Hugh bring the house down with Solid Silver Platform Shoes! (Seriously, just because thery['re about magicians, I think Schwartz would realize how inapropriate the 70s soft pop rock score would sound for Houdini. Whatever one thinks of Schwartz he's not too well known for recycling songs...)

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 1/5/12 at 2:28am

Houdini's book collection is in the Library of Congress.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 1/5/12 at 2:41am

"Wasn't Ramin Karimloo attached to this??"

That's a different show, which is planning to open in London with a book by Hadley Fraser.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 1/5/12 at 3:43am

I don't get what they mean by "contemporary take". Do they just mean the score won't be in a pastiche style true to Houdini's era? Or is it set now? And umm why?

[Starcarolina]

Posted: 1/5/12 at 4:12am

I hope it is better than the 1968 London lavishly produced musical, MAN OF MAGIC, with Stuart Damon, Judith Bruce, Stubby Kaye that flopped. I wonder if any recordings of that exist?...Just referenced it and LP recordings are in several library collections. I'd like to hear it. Always interested in Houdini ,as my great uncle, Norvel of NY and Hollywood, the astrologer to the stars and spiritualist (I think I shouldn't have mentioned him because he was quite controversial and people compare him to L. Ron Hubbard) met him and related some stories. I do not think they liked each other.

[Starcarolina]

Posted: 1/5/12 at 4:40am

I wonder if Hugh Jackman minds getting wet?

[Starcarolina]

Posted: 1/5/12 at 4:41am

Updated On: 1/5/12 at 04:41 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/5/12 at 6:45am

I wish I were more excited about this. I'm not hugely keen on bio-musicals, unless they're Gypsy (and largely fictionalized). Most of them plod along telling a life story by the numbers, and by the end of it you haven't learned anything you didn't already know. I personally don't see Houdini's story as that interesting to fill up an entire musical. He came from humble beginnings to become world famous. The famous "immigrant" who did stunts and illusions. The rest of the show will be filled with stunts and illusions and perhaps a sideline love interest or two. The end. I feel like I've seen it already.

I also feel like they made the point and summarized his life in five minutes of "Ragtime." I got how he took people out of their ordinary lives and made them feel that anything was possible.

The end.

That'll be $400, please.

[jo]

Posted: 1/5/12 at 6:53am

The announcement made it clear it is not going to be a complete biopic of Houdini, but it will dwell on an aspect of his life when he was fighting against spiritualism. It says that it will focus on his conflict with 3 women who were engaged in the practice of it. Not even sure that the show will feature a big number of his magic tricks. Maybe a few?

My hope here is that Aaron Sorkin seems to be taking the lead in dramatizing this particular phase in the life of Houdini. I remembering reading before that he was already working or about to complete the book, before Stephen Schwartz joined the team as composer.

Will Jackman mind being wet? He loves Bondi Beach ... and he was a swimming team member in school, if I remember right

Updated On: 1/5/12 at 06:53 AM