Jackman Brings Boy from Oz to London???

There’s renewed hope that Hugh Jackman may return to the West End with the Australian musical The Boy from Oz (See The Goss, 7 Jun 2002). Jackman – who hails from Sydney originally and became a Hollywood screen star (in the X Men and other films) after being spotted on stage in Trevor Nunn's 1998 production of Oklahoma! at the National – starred in The Boy from Oz on Broadway, where it ran for a year and won him the 2004 Tony Award for best actor in a musical. Next month, he’s back on home ground to star in a new arena staging of the musical which tours for three months to Sydney , Melbourne , Adelaide and Brisbane – and which may subsequently pay a visit to London. The Boy from Oz tells the story of Peter Allen, the flamboyant Australian entertainer who was discovered by Judy Garland, married her daughter Liza Minnelli and wrote the Oscar-winning song “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” for the 1981 film Arthur, in which Minnelli starred with Dudley Moore. The musical was first seen in Sydney in 1998. It features Allen’s own music and has a book by Nick Enright. The Australian production is directed by Kenny Ortega, who also co-choreographs, and is produced by Ben Gannon with Briton Robert Fox, who also produced it on Broadway.

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