He’s about to tour the world with his new arena spectacular but Aussie hunk Hugh Jackman is already preparing for his stint on Broadway next year.
Last week it was announced the 50-year-old would be returning to the theatre scene in a Broadway revival of The Music Man as Harold Hill. Performances will begin next September in New York City.
“The first musical I was ever part of was the phenomenal The Music Man. The year was 1983, and I was at Knox Grammar School in Sydney, Australia,” Jackman said in a statement at the time, according to Deadline. “I was one of the travelling salesmen, and I think I can actually (almost) remember that unforgettable opening number! That was probably the moment when the magic of theatre was born in me.”
In a special clip shared with his Instagram fans, the star of The Greatest Showman proved that he still remembers the lines from his first musical. In the impressive video, the father-of-two performs part of ‘Rock Island’, which fans of the musical will know is the show’s big opening number.
Hugh appears to be holding a program from his high school production of the show in the video.
“From grammar school to the Great White Way … The Music Man,” he wrote.
In the video itself, he performs the rapid-fire speech-song, taking on the role of several salesmen.
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“He’s a music man. He’s a what? He’s a what? He’s a music man and he sells clarinets to the kids in the town with the big trombones and the rat-a-tat drums, big brass bass, big brass bass,” he sings. “And the piccolo, the piccolo with uniforms, too. With a shiny gold braid on the coat and a big red stripe runnin’… Well, I don’t know much about bands but I do know you can’t make a living selling big trombones, no sir.”
Fans were delighted with the clip and shared their excitement with the star online.
One person on Facebook wrote: “You could read a phone book and I would love it.”
Another said: “So, you are not only learning your part, you are learning the entire show? Love the show, love that number. Love you. Can’t wait to see you in it.”
A third simply added: “That’s how you do it.”
It comes just weeks after the actor joined forces with the Australian Girls Choir in Sydney for a breath-taking performance of ‘A Million Dreams’ from The Greatest Showman soundtrack.
The song is one of the most powerful from the hit 2017 film and was recently made popular again when singer Pink released it as a single.
The number was performed at a media call for the star’s upcoming The Man. The Music. The Show arena spectacular.
Hugh will kick off the tour in Europe in May before performing to fans in London. He’ll then jet to the United States and his North American leg will begin in Houston, before heading to New York’s Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl. He’ll then end the tour in his home country of Australia.