I splashed out on AUD$150 tickets to watch The Boy from Oz musical last night with my sister, and boy (pardon the pun) I was so, so, so glad I did. I’d even watch it all over again if I made a living printing money (isn’t this ironic considering my previous post) and this time, I’d buy AUD$500 tickets!
The choreography was amazing and it was all so creative. There was so much spontaneity it even felt like a stand-up comedy show at times. Hugh Jackman was so witty and smart and there were so many intertextual references from entertainment, sport, politics…
I swear, if I ever get to watch it again (and I probably won’t), it won’t just be because of Hugh Jackman. He was just the biggest, loveliest bonus. But oh my lord (he says that a lot throughout), you need to see this man sing and play the piano and dance. I can never look at him as Wolverine again, not that I really liked that pointy hairdo and facial overgrowth to begin with.
Pause for happy sigh.
Most of you probably don’t know what Boy From Oz is about. My sister and I didn’t either, until we actually watched it. Hugh Jackman was performing his Tony award-winning role in Melbourne and damned if I was going to check out the synopsis before buying those tickets. Anyway, it’s about this Australian songwriter Peter Allen. Now go google the synopsis.
I shall refrain from gushing every last detail because it would take too long and I have a feeling it looks much better in the recesses of my memory than it would on a blog, but suffice to say my sister went in completely devoted to Patrick Dempsey (of House) and came out contemplating camping out in Rod Laver Arena in the dire hope of catching Mr. Jackman making his exit. (We gave up that idea soon after. If we lost our way going to the tram stop, the chances of us locating the staff/back entrance probably isn’t going to be very high at all.)
I shall also just say that my sister is completely in love with his massive biceps and we are two of only 10,000 people in Melbourne who caught a glimpse of the Jackman… err, package, last night. It’s not part of the script, by the way.
Pause for flashback of a singing, dancing, piano-playing Hugh Jackman.
But seriously, (because I know all this gushing has just about destroyed my credibility), the show is superb. I would give almost anything to be involved in choreography of that magnitude and creativity. Or a production of that standard. Or anything with Hugh… okay I should stop.
Just go see the show if you get the chance. You can get a sneak peek here. He’s absolutely brilliant in it (look, he did win the Tony okay?) and I wish I was back in that blissful little bubble called a stage musical again.
Isn’t it simply awful how you have to walk out of a wonderful production with that terrible jarring-back-to-reality feeling?
