Concert Review: Hugh Jackman – The Man. The Music. The Show.

 

  • HUGH JACKMAN – THE MAN, THE MUSIC.  THE SHOW.
  • The United Center – Chicago, Illinois
  • October 11, 2019

Most people know Hugh Jackman as the claw sprouting X-man known as Wolverine.  And if that’s all they know him as, shame on them.  True fans know him as the Oscar-nominated, Tony Award winning actor whose been singing and dancing for years.  And it was those fans that were in attendance at the United Center in Chicago as Jackman continues his very successful tour.

The show kicked off with a rousing performance of “The Greatest Show,” followed by “Come Alive,” both from the very popular film “The Greatest Showman.”  While performing, Jackman noticed a fan holding up a sign stating it was her birthday.  He very graciously bent down to give her a hug as well as take a selfie with her.  He then noted that it was technically his birthday already in Australia (he turned 51 on October 12).  While addressing the audience he noticed a young boy down below in the floor audience who was dressed up like Jackman in “The Greatest Showman.”  He climbed off the stage to say hello to the boy and received a huge hug from the boy.  Returning to the stage, he explained how his first stage musical was “Beauty and the Beast,” then proceeded to perform the song “Gaston.”

He shared some information about his wife of 23 years and then sat down at the piano to play (and sing) “All the Way.”  After a medley saluting New York City he told a story about how he had worked on “The Greatest Showman” for eight years before it was made.  He also noted how there had been multiple workshops for the film and that Keala Settle had participated in all of them.  He then introduced Ms. Settle, who pretty much brought the house down with a rousing rendition of “This is Me.”  After performing a song from her upcoming album, Jackman returned to the stage and closed the first act with a few numbers from “Les Miserables,” accompanied by an enthusiastic group of singers and dancers.

The second act opened with a clip of Jackman receiving the Tony Award for his portrayal of songwriter and performer Peter Allen in “The Boy from Oz.”  Jackman took to the stage AS Peter Allen and sang a few of the songs Allen had written/co-written in his career.    The amazing dancing continued as he performed a song – “A Million Dreams” – which included sign language which was part of the choreography.  Between numbers, Jackman continually told great stories and would occasionally wander into the audience to greet concert goers.  At one point, he addressed the audience as honestly as I’ve ever head a performer, thanking all in attendance for not only supporting him but for taking the tine and spending the money to do so.  This is a man who not only appreciates his fans but goes out of his way to let him know so.

A couple of Aboriginal songs, complete with Didgeradoos helped close the show, along with Jackman doing a moving version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”  All in all, it was an amazing night with an amazing talent!

Mr. Jackman’s tour is continuing throughout North America.  To see if he’s coming to your town, click HERE!

SET LIST

The Greatest Show, Come Alive, Gaston, All the Way, New York, New York/On Broadway/Empire State of Mind, This is Me, Harder, Valjean’s Soliloquy/I Dreamed a Dream/One Day More, Not the Boy Next Door, Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)/Don’t Cry Out Loud/ I Honestly Love You/ Quiet Please, There’s a Lady on Stage/ I Go to Rio, Tenterfield Saddler, A Million Dreams, Luck Be a Lady/ Singin’ in he Rain/ I Got Rhythm/Steppin’ Out With My Baby/ Sing Sing Sing, 42nd Street/Thunderstruck, Art Song, Inhibition, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, From Now On, Once Before I Go

 

 

 

 

 

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Rila Fukushima and Tao Okamoto talks about working with Hugh Jackman in “The Wolverine”

Rila Fukushima and Tao Okamoto have a couple things in common. Both are very successful models. And both made their future film debut this past year opposite Hugh Jackman in the highly popular film, “The Wolverine.”

As the film makes its debut this week on DVD and Blu-ray, they both spoke with me about their new success, not being intimidated and what a nice person that guy Logan really is.

Mike Smith: You both are very successful fashion models. Before the opportunity to appear in “The Wolverine” came along had either of you aspired to being an actress?
Rila Fukushima: To be honest I never wanted to become an actress but when I was approached I decided to do it because I was going to be Hugh Jackman’s love interest! (laughs).
Tao Okamoto: I’ve always had an interest in getting into acting but I’d never done any feature films. Doing “The Wolverine” was a magical experience.

MS: Were there any nerves, considering the popularity of the “Wolverine” films, on making this film your debut project?
TO: “The Wolverine” is all about fear (laughs) I was very lucky to get the role.
RF: Luckily I didn’t have a lot of time to realize it was a big deal. The audition process took about four months and before I knew it we were shooting. I’m glad I didn’t have the time to realize it was such a big movie. When I finally saw the finished film it hit me that this was a pretty big deal. (laughs).

MS: Being new to the business was Hugh Jackman supportive of you on set?
RF: Absolutely. I think he still remembers his first experiences on a big movie so he could understand how hard it was. He also taught me the “language”…I had no idea what “on camera” was or what “off camera” was. He was very, very supportive.
TO: Everyone was very supportive. From James Mangold, our director, to Hugh. They both gave me a lot of information about my character. And Hugh is so funny! He’s a superstar but he’s also a really, really nice person. He would be on the set when he was supposed to be sleeping. He would film eleven hours a day and spend three hours before he was supposed to shoot working out. He would spend time with his family and take care of his children. I think he really only slept three hours a day! (laughs) But then again, he’s Wolverine…he doesn’t have to sleep.

MS: You both have some pretty intense action scenes in the film. Did either of you have any prior martial arts experience or training?
TO: A little bit. For the movie I took about three weeks of training in sword fighting. I love to exercise and had been taking taekwondo for about two years before I was cast.
RF: We trained for about a month before we started shooting. I learned Karate, how to throw a knife and self defense.

MS: What do you have coming up?
RF: I’m working on a new project but I can’t tell you until its finished (laughs).
TO: I’m shooting a drama for Japanese television right now and hopefully I can return to an American film in the near future.

 

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Bryan Fuller & Hugh Dancy talk about new TV series “Hannibal”

Hannibal Lecter. The one man you never want to see at the dinner table. Named the #1 Villain in film history by the American Film Institute. Since first appearing in author Thomas Harris’ novel, “Red Dragon,” the cannibal with the PhD has appeared in five feature films, including the Oscar winning Best Picture, “Silence of the Lambs.” Now, thanks to Executive Producer Bryan Fuller, Dr. Lecter makes his television debut in the new original series, “Hannibal.” The show features Mads Mikkelsen as the good doctor, Hugh Dancy as FBI agent Will Graham and Laurence Fishburne as Graham’s superior, Jack Crawford. The show debuts tonight (April 4) at 10:00 pm EST on NBC.

To get the word out about the show, Executive Producer Bryan Fuller and co-star Hugh Dancy sat down with Media Mikes to talk about the new show, fans of the films and exactly how much is TOO much?

Media Mikes: In going deeper into Hannibal Lecter, how much new territory did you feel there was to explore given what’s already been written?
Bryan Fuller: Well given what’s already been written, I thought there was a lot that existed that hadn’t been explored yet. So I was really excited at the opportunity to really explore things that didn’t make it to any of the movies. They’ve made a handful of films and because of the limited real estate that you have in doing a movie that we’re doing a television series that gets you 13 hours a season, we were able to get into much more specifics with the character, particularly Will Graham’s character who Hugh Dancy plays so magnificently and wonderfully neurotically. He was traditionally played as a stoic leading man. And what we get because of the really complex psychology of the character that’s in the literature, we get to explore that in a way that nobody has before. So that was very exciting.

MM: Hugh, since Will was already established in the books, what was the biggest challenge for you to make him unique to you?
Hugh Dancy: Well I think the challenge laid is just in the fact that Thomas Harris created, and then Bryan interpreted, such a complicated character. I wasn’t worried about the fact that he already existed on the page. If anything I think that’s helpful to have a blueprint for your performance written by a great writer. You have something to turn to. And I certainly went to the first place after I met with Bryan and we spoke, the first place I went to is back to the novel and really tried to use that as a launch pad.

MM: Bryan, can you talk a little bit about the casting and finding the perfect cast? Why you felt that Hugh was perfect for Will and especially why Mads was perfect for Hannibal?
BF: One of the reasons that Hugh was so ideal for the role is that Will Graham, who is kind of burdened by his own neuroses and personality disorders, could come off as unlikable unless you have an actor who kind of invites you into his vulnerability with those neuroses and with those personality disorders that actually gives you permission to care for them as opposed to being pushed away. And Will Graham is a character who pushes people away and has barriers that he throws up as social defenses. So we needed somebody who had a vulnerability that kind of transcends any sort of barriers that he throws up and takes you into the world and allows you to care for him even though he is so buttoned up and damaged. That was the main reason. And Hugh was unanimous. When we all sat down and we talked about who was our Will Graham. Hugh Dancy’s name came up and it was very easy for all of us to say like “oh yeah, he’s the one. Let’s meet with him and see if we can hook him.”

MM: As far as being visually graphic, is there anything that NBC has told you that you can’t do?
BF: Oh yeah. There’s lots. What’s been really great about working with NBC on this project is that they recognize that they are doing a horror show and the show is called “Hannibal Lecter.” And they have, you know, put us on at 10 o’clock for a reason – so we can maximize what we can show to honor the genre and also provide fans of the genre certain ingredients that they are expecting to see. But there’s absolutely places where they won’t allow us to go. And that’s too far and you need to come back from that. It’s always a push/pull because it’s like “ooh, can we do this” and we show it to them and they’re like “ooh, not that one.” So it’s definitely collaboration and they’re taking it very seriously. They’re aware that they are presenting a horror show and they have to honor that audience. But we’re not necessarily – I would love to be going a lot further. But NBC keeps on reminding me where the line is. And that’s the responsibility as a broadcast network. But they have been very, very supportive in terms of what we can do and going as far as we can without being X rated.

MM: Can you give an example or two? What are some of the things that they said no to?
BF: Arterial spray. There are some episodes where going back through I was like “ooh, you know, I hope we get to release the DVD version of the “Unsuitable for Broadcast Television” collection of the show.” So eye gouging, seeing people’s intestines being removed from their bodies in great, you know, noodly clumps. Those types of things they tend to say, ummm… no.” Which they should because I think, as an artist in the role of executive producing the show, I want to please the core audience more than anyone and it’s NBC’s responsibility that we don’t go so far that we alienate members of the audience who are willing to stick through some of the horror elements but we can’t, you know, drop a bucket of blood on them and expect them to have a good time.

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