Hugh Jackman is no stranger to musicals. He actually made his acting debut not through playing Wolverine in 2000's X-Men (which he once described as being "lonely"), but through stage musicals during the ‘90s like Beauty and the Beast and Sunset Boulevard. Well, his stage musical appreciation continued when he gave a shout-out to the cast of Dear Evan Hansen, and they returned the favor with a sentimental tribute to him.
Dear Evan Hansen, which is considered to be the longest-running show to play at the Music Box Theatre in New York, will have its final Broadway performance on September 18th. Luckily, the Australian star was able to catch a performance during its run, and he told the cast on Instagram, “Sending big love and gratitude to the extraordinary cast of @dearevanhansen.” They decided to return the love by having the Broadway cast, including Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo playing Jared, post a photo of themselves wearing Evan’s signature cast with names of his past characters written on them.
The X-Men star’s place in musicals did not stop on the Melbourne stage. He played Jean Valjean in the 2012 musical film Les Misérables, which featured Jackman doing impromptu singing alongside his costars. After performing his toe-tapping number at the 81st Academy Awards, film producer Laurence Mark approached Jackman to do a movie musical about showman P.T. Barnum, and The Greatest Showman was born. He brought out the spirit of a dreamer who wanted to wow audiences with his unique star attractions.
Hugh Jackman went back to his musical stage roots by starring in the revival of The Music Man last year where he crushed his tap-dancing skills and received a long-standing ovation. It was because of this role that he received his second Tony nomination for Best Actor. As for if we’ll see Hugh Jackman in another movie musical again, he said he would be open to a Greatest Showman sequel if a good idea came about for it. Director Baz Luhrmann, who worked with Jackman on Australia, has also expressed interest about making a musical with the actor. Hopefully Hollywood will make one of these projects happen soon, as Jackman’s voice and choreography continue to charm audiences.
Dear Evan Hansen also had a movie adaptation last year, where Ben Platt returned to the emotional role that made his Broadway career. Some changes were made to the film version like adding a new song to the movie and a new ending. The Dear Evan Hansen reviews praised the performances, but felt that the Tony award-winning musical did not translate well on the big screen under Stephen Chbosky's direction. Maybe Hugh Jackman can remake that movie for us in a few years.
With the 53-year-old actor having out his praises for Dear Evan Hansen, make sure to get your tickets now so you can see this hit Broadway musical on stage for the last time. You can also see Hugh Jackman’s musical talents soar in Les Misérables with your Netflix subscription, and The Greatest Showman with your Disney+ subscription.
