Hugh Jackman Is Quitting An Acclaimed Role
Hugh Jackman has announced that his run on Broadway for The Music Man is coming to an end.
Since he was a high school student, Hugh Jackman wanted to play Professor Harold Hill in The Music Man on Broadway. Now that he’s fulfilled that dream, the production will end its run on January 1, 2023. While the Tony-winning star finishes his lengthy commitment to the popular revival, producers briefly considered looking for another actor to take over the role. But performers of the Aussie’s caliber are few and far between. And, they don’t usually have the kind of commercial appeal to fill the Winter Garden.
At the Toronto Film Festival, Hugh Jackman said the revival will play its last performance at the beginning of the next year. “January 1st is going to be the last show,” he said via ABC News. “So we’ve got another three and a half months.” After conferring with his publicist, the Marvel alum asked anyone who hasn’t seen the how to please try before it’s over. The X-Men star added that he had a blast doing the show, which has double Tony Award winner Sutton Foster playing his love interest.
“I love it. I love the cast. I love everything about the show. The audiences have been incredible and I’m going to be sad,” Hugh Jackman continued. Throughout its run, The Music Man shattered the Winter Garden’s box-office record 48 times and has already played to 402,017 audience members. The revival will have played 358 regular and 46 preview performances when it takes its final bow. Jerry Zaks directs the production, which features choreography by Warren Carlyle. The show was nominated for six 2022 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical.
The Music Man is based on the musical book by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey. The story follows con artist Harold Hill, (played by Hugh Jackman) who poses as a band organizer to trick naïve Midwestern townsfolk into buying uniforms and instruments with a promise of being in his band. But Harold is no musician and plans to leave River City after collecting the cash. Things change when Hill starts to fall for the town’s librarian, Marian Paroo who is suspicious of his intentions from the start.
Meanwhile, Hugh Jackman is currently earning Academy Award buzz for his performance in Florian Zeller’s The Son. Based on his 2018 stage play Le Fils, the movie serves as a prequel to Zeller’s 2020 offering called The Father. The film also stars Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath, Hugh Quarshie, and Anthony Hopkins. The movie had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival and is scheduled for theatrical release on 11 November 2022.
The story follows 17-year-old Nicholas who no longer feels he can stay with his mother, Kate after his parent’s divorce. So, he moves in with his father Peter (Hugh Jackman), and Peter’s new partner Beth. But his new life isn’t what he imagined. Juggling work, a new baby, and the offer of his dream job in Washington, Peter tries to care for Nicholas as he wishes his own father had cared for him. But by reaching for the past to correct its mistakes, he loses sight of how to hold onto Nicholas in the present.
