Hugh Jackman should hold out....

yes yes yes ......

That is such a terrific idea. He would be so perfect.

I also saw the show in London. You're right that his talents would not be used enough. And you're right that he'd probably never sign on. But think..marquee value and ticket sales. WOW.

Laura Michelle Kelly is going to blow the roof off th place though. SHE like Jackman can carry a show..She has, and will do so again!

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I hope you're not referring to your first choice as Esparza...the guy has a hard enough time playing a Brit now...

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Emcee's a fangril, but she's not known to bite. Save the popcorn for some other time, unless you just want a snack.

Look. I'm not going to throw rocks if people don't like someone. I love the guy to pieces, but I also believe with everything that I am that he can do *anything*. HOWEVER, I didn't just say that because I think he should do every show ever just for kicks -- I think he could do this.

The first time my mother looked at Raul, she just went "he should play Bert in Mary Poppins!" And I thought that was a fabulous idea. If he can hook up with an actress with whom he has decent chemistry, I think he'd be adorable. You can't argue with me when I say he's got charisma and charm.

I don't think I need to justify his ability, but he's having FAR less trouble in Chitty than he used to have, and his issues were NOT simply because Caractacus is a Brit, or even because of the show's slightly difficult-to-grasp British humor. I see that statement as nothing but dumbing down what he's trying to do with the role AND severely dumbing down his talent. He's done British roles before, and one of them even got him his Tony nomination.

I know you don't think as highly of him as many of us do, but it's time to drop the issue already. It's silly to re-hash it.

He would absolutely be my first choice.

(See? No popcorn needed. )

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Updated On: 10/6/05 at 10:12 PM

I think Hugh should hold something else - like me.

The current Bert in the London production, Gavin Lee, does a wonderful job and will give a phenomenal performance if he is allowed to come over to Broadway.

I read an excerpt from the book this new movie is based on here:

http://www.ceceliaahern.ie/silverlining.htm

and the first thing I thought of was it sounded a bit like a combination of Mary Poppins and The Ghost & Mrs. Muir. Can't wait to see how it translates to the big screen - and I hope he gets a big star who can sing to be the leading lady - like his friend Nicole Kidman or Catherine Zeta Jones, who did "Chicago" for the two producers that are doing this movie.

Hugh has a lot of things on his plate - he has this movie (although since there's nothing else attached to it yet, it may be a while), he's doing "The Prestige" with Christian Bale in January, "Wolverine" at some point, "The Boy from Oz" for a few weeks in Australia in the the coming weeks, and who knows what else. He has a lot of movies coming out next year - "The Fountain", "X-Men 3", the Untitled Woody Allen Movie, "Flushed Away" (animated), "Happy Feet" (also animated but I believe he's a singing penguin in this one since that's the gist of the movie - penguins who sing - Nicole plays his wife!), and now these two recently-announced movies, the "Wolverine" movie, and don't forget "Good" had been postponed so who knows what will happen with that. I have a feeling that his return to Broadway will be his rumored one-man show at some point.

Having said all that, I could definitely see him as Bert!

Updated On: 10/7/05 at 11:49 AM