Posted: 7/22/22 at 10:21am
ColorTheHours048 said: "mamaleh said: "I cannot comment on Max Clayton's Harold Hill, as I did not see the show with him in that role. I appreciate that many of his fans applauded his portrayal. However, I did see him twice cover for Remy Auberjonois in the Charlie Cowell role. I much preferred Remy. Mr. Clayton raced through his lines and did not convey anywhere near the apoplectic anger and malice conjured so deliciously by Remy. Whether those were Mr. Clayton's choices or the director's I do not know."
This probably has more to do with the fact that Charlie isn’t actually a role he covers and he probably learned the track that day or over the course of a couple quick rehearsals. Standbys for a lead role never cover other roles, but we’ve now seen Max cover Charlie and Marcellus, likely due to COVID illnesses requiring all swings in deck. Highly unusual circumstance and hardly indicative of how he handled a role that he built for Hugh Jackman to learn."
Max Clayton built the role for Hugh Jackman to learn??
Incroyable!
A Max Clayton teaching the Hugh Jackman how to interpret and act out a role??
A Max Clayton teaching the Hugh Jackman how to sing in musical theatre??
Max may have done the preliminary dance workshop ( Hugh was away filming) to test some of the new choreography from Warren Carlyle, but it did not mean that he was there teaching Hugh all the dance steps until previews started? Hugh has a long professional relationship with Carlyle having been the dance captain in Oklahoma! and being the musical director of Hugh's BackOnBroadway, the 2014 Tonys & the 2019 Jackman music tour -- and danced with him a few days a week during the 2 year pandemic -- so if there is anyone who harnessed Hugh's dance ability, it is more to do with Carlyle working with him for a long time.
During the pandemic, Hugh posted about the lessons with Music Director Patrick Vaccariello ( who has worked with him since The Boy From Oz) on the music and songs from The Music Man.
Let's not give Max more than his due. I saw one show ( 3rd row center) when he was filling in for Hugh ( tickets I bought when Hugh was on schedule which I did not get refunded because I had guests from out of town) -- he may have been technically competent dance- and song-wise but he was not particularly impressive to me. He was rushing ...and his acting lacked finesse! If some people here appreciated him more, that's their own appreciation of the artist. But let us not imply that the role belongs to him because he created it!
Updated On: 7/22/22 at 10:21 AM