If this happens, I won't be able to afford going several times:
Asked if there was a role he would consider being a replacement for, Jackman revealed he would take on the part of a closeted gay father who commits suicide in the new musical 'Fun Home,' opening on Broadway in 2015. Explains the actor, "It's an astonishing part."
If the producers are smart, they should just bank on HJ's interest and watch the show sold-out even before it opens. If he can sell an obscure little play, he would definitely have no problems selling a great musical.
He has a film he's doing in the spring/summer of 2015. Also, he's not within their tight budget.
mike-there is also a chemistry between this cast (many of whom are remaining, if the casting notices are to be believed). It would turn into 'the Hugh Jackman Show' rather than "Fun Home" which is truly an ensemble piece.
Updated On: 11/6/14 at 12:15 PM
Why is this being discussed? Jackman saying it's a role he'd like to play does not mean at all he is being, or has been, considered for it. He isn't and hasn't.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
"Why is this being discussed? Jackman saying it's a role he'd like to play does not mean at all he is being, or has been, considered for it. He isn't and hasn't. "
What a strange thing for you to say considering when I have asked that in the past on other threads, you defend evolving threads vigorously.
I'm glad Michael confirmed this, Hugh Jackman would ruin the entire thing. Although, I asked Michael nearly a month ago on Twitter if he was continuing with it on Broadway and he said yes, so I don't think his casting was a secret.
I really don't think Hugh Jackman would ruin the entire thing....he might not have been as 'good' as Michael Cerveris (I don't know), but I really don't think the show relies on that performance to be successful. Hugh Jackman in the role would have exposed a wider audience to this musical and could potentially have really challenged/influenced the audience's attitudes, which I would argue would have been a better outcome than what will happen now. (i.e., I suspect the show will be 'preaching to the choir').
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
It would have turned into the Hugh Jackman show, which would have been terrible. Michael Cerveris is a far superior actor, and I think his performance and character are crucial to every aspect of Fun Home.
Cerveris will again play the father, as he should; it's the performance of a lifetime. But in the announcement they stated they would love to have Hugh play the role someday. As I doubt he would ever go in as a replacement (would the producers have recast Michael had they known about Hugh? Obviously the contracts were already signed for his reprisal of the role awhile ago) I wonder if this clears the way for Hugh to return to the city that made him a star in Oklahoma (possibly at the National), thus clearing the way for the West End to see a work that would probably have been relegated to the Menier or Southwark, if at all.
"As I doubt he would ever go in as a replacement..."
Err, the whole question that prompted this was whether he would ever consider being a replacement in a role, and Fun Home was his answer. So, that is the exact situation in which he answered the question.