Hugh Jackman Music Tour 2019 — Page 3

So Hugh Jackman fans- u r all in for a treat. Your boy is in top form and delivers. He starts out w a big ole tribute the "The Greatest Show" w a fantastic troop of dancers all in very modern dance outfits.. There is lots of chit chat ( very reminiscent of Back on Broadway) about his wife which leads into "All the Way" w lots of photos of him an Deb esp from their wedding on the screens . Very sweet. Lots of shoutouts to TO about the Raptors winning the NBA and how TO was really the start of his career because of X-Men.

THEN he told the same story about almost getting fired but w the love and support of his wife he wasn't. This bugs me as I was working on that set and while they may have said something about " not seeing what they saw in the audition" he was not going to be fired. They were already behind cos they were waiting for Dougray Scott who couldn't get out of Mission Impossible and HJ was parachuted in more than 3 weeks into the shoot. . ( he'd been under consideration earlier) Brian Singer even coached him on the part.( I've seen the tape) I also know this from the one person who knew everything going on- the script supervisor Blanche. But his story plays better.

But back to the show.

His story about learning to audition for a musical and getting it -with shots of him playing Gaston and of course segueing into "Gaston". Great staging and dancing.

I really have to give a shout to whoever designed the projections they worked wonderfully in the huge cave that is the Scotiabank Arena filling up all that space, esp in the Nomad/Two Worlds portion and creating the cathedral in the Les Mis section.

I liked the "You Will Be Found" number very much He had our local LBGTQ-A choir Singing Out and along with his ensemble, they did a lovely job.THEN he went and gave an explanation about the A standing for Allied which he cheerfully aligned himself with as an ally. Um OK..

Soliloquy was also well done he got all the right elements and notes. Still something was bothering me and I realized I've seen him sing it as well but the song also needs to be acted and I've seen him act it( Back to Broadway) and frankly it felt like he was holding back. When he sings "No fat-bottomed, flabby-faced, Pot-bellied, baggy-eyed bully Will boss him around." you need to feel that that is what has happened to Billy. But he hit the money note at the end perfectly. Glass half full.

Les Mis film section before he goes into " What Have I Done soliloquy " did work well . Jenna Lee James was great in this as well as" This Is Me" earlier Thank G*D for the screens- otherwise she kept getting lost in all the choreography with TIM. I don't have the name of the brunette who sang the other part in " I Dreamed a Dream/One Day More-reprise" she was also excellent. He did mention her by name but I can't remember. Hey they even did the waving flags at the end of the number.

He was very gracious to all his ensemble, giving them individual call outs for bows as well as all his musical accompaniment .

Intermission was 20 mins ( we started 15 mins late and were done by 9:50 closer to 90 mins IMO)

Straight ( sic) into the Peter Allen section- really laid it on with the camp Next he'll pitch a tent ( OK I'll stop!) Totes new costumes different from BTB and lots of great dancing . ( songs were a medley of Arthur's Theme/Don't Cry Out Loud/ I Honestly Love You/ Quiet please... The audience participation bit with a nice older lady w a bedazzled cane was fun but went on a bit long (and security was right there in the big screen glowering. I guess they were afraid of ???) Went right into I Go to Rio. and a great quick change and into the dance numer. The man can work it.!

He leaves briefly and come back out sans glitz no longer the hyper Peter Allen to sing "Tenterfield Saddler".

OK full disclosure- I love this song- loved it when Allen did it , loved it in the original Aus Cast recording ( it was cut from the Bway production) and loved it when Jackman sang it in BTB sitting on the steps of the stage at the Princess of Wales theatre 10 feet from me so- I'm biased. I still love the song but I did miss the intimacy . No other comment required.

More chat about his big bro making fun of him for wanting to take dance lessons as a kid (sissy!) only to have him apologise 10 yrs later as Hugh takes his first tap lesson . AND then we are into the Movie Musical tribute He and the ensemble really get a work out here Luck Be A Lady, Singing In the Rain,Stepping out w My Baby and Sing Sing Sing. Choreography is great tho I swear I saw a bit of Singx3 from Fosse! but it was actually done in Steppin' Out. It's all very fast liked the lite up umbrellas they used for SinR nice bit of contrast.

It gets bit blurry here as he does that great tap dance/ drum number 42nd Street / Thunderstruck / September / Takin' Care of Business / Jump. Unless you are very close to the stage ( I was row 30) follow it on the screens the brilliance gets a bit lost otherwise.

There is that great spiritual bit the Nomads Two Worlds /Over the Rainbow- like I said here is where the projections shine and are an improvement of BTB the Outback dwarfed a theatre but shone in the arena setting. The choir is used well too here. This is identical to BTB but really can't be improved on nicely integrates a tribute to his homeland.

He had the crowd on their feet for "From Now On" w Jenna Lee .

OK almost done There was this weird bit where he kept calling Toronto "sexy". WE THE NORTH r a lot o things sexy ain't one- then he went over to the orchestra and started teasing the sax and clarinet and piano player introducing them as John, Michael, John and even said this part was total improve they don't know what I'm going to do here and the musicians faces showed it. Mostly he just had them riff until he finally got back on track and true to his word earlier announced these were the last two songs so those who needed to head out to the car park to beat traffic....

Mack the Knife was great incredible they have that much energy at that point in the show, and he still had his voice ( which yes has become a bit more nasal) . Final number was Once Before I Go and like i said his voice still held true til the end.

In the end the Show really is HIM -some glitz, some technique, some shmaltz ( but GOOD shmaltz as my mom usta say) some packaging but all incredibly well done.

My only real complaint is I really would prefer the intimacy of a theatre, an arena really can't do him justice( yea i get the economics etc) so I'll wait to indulge that aspect when he goes to do The Music Man.

Sorry I've taken so long hope I didn't take up too much of your time

Enjoy the show!

Updated On: 6/27/19 at 12:41 AM

I'll be at MSG tomorrow night and am very excited to see this. I love the set list and I've never seen Hugh perform live. Also excited to see Keala perform This Is Me.

Hello from Salt Lake City or like some people call it SLUT...Salt Lake UT...The best show ever.....Loved everything about it.....His voice is wonderful....What a star, what a man....Still looks great....Had a wonderful time

As he did elsewhere on his US tour, Hugh's people chose 30-50 Gay Men's Chorus singers as backup in LA, and my husband was one of the chosen. The guys were treated beautifully, and Hugh posed for a great photo with them all. What a thrill it was to see my husband on the Hollywood Bowl stage...oh, and Hugh too, who put on a magnificent show both nights.

I saw it in Sydney last night and it was a great show. Keala sang two songs - 'This Is Me'' and a song from her new album, she said. And we got ''I Still Call Australia Home'' instead of ''Once Before I Go'' finale.

Jo, actually, it was a New York medley that included New York, New York, On Broadway and Empire State of Mind. There might have been another song at the start of the medley but I can't remember what it was.

From looking at a setlist posted earlier on this thread, he didn't sing I've Been Everywhere, so the NY medley replaced that.

Jo, actually, looking at that other setlist posted earlier in this thread, last night he did not sing Soliloquy from Carousel. Keala's second song took that spot.

Updated On: 8/3/19 at 08:43 AM

Yeah, saw him sing in the last tour, so all good. Apparently his kids were there at his show today and they sang Happy Birthday for one of them.

I've been watching Hugh do his live shows for years now (I was a BOY FROM OZ groupie, and always loved the fact that the late great Barbara Cook cut her London engagement short so she could be back in New York to see Hugh's last performance) and this show was amazing (made truly special when my husband, a member of the GMCLA, was one of the guys chosen to sing backup for Hugh at the Hollywood Bowl).

Saw Hugh at Nassau Coliseum tonight (after having previously seen him at MSG back in June). What a treat to see this show again. Hugh was spectacular as always. Act 1 was slightly different...Keala sang both This Is Me and another new song she wrote called Harder, whereas Keala only sang This Is Me at MSG. Hugh did not sing Soliloquy tonight...maybe it was dropped? Act 2 was identical except during the Australian sequence Nomad Two Worlds, there were only three Aboriginal performers instead of four - the one woman who appeared at MSG (Olive Knight) was not there. I know a couple of people seeing the show tomorrow (Sunday) in Newark and they will not be disappointed. Hugh really knows how to put on a fantastic show and the enthusiastic crowd on Long Island was very appreciative. Now I have to wait a whole year to see him again on stage...but I’m sure The Music Man will be well worth the wait!