Saturday, July 10, 2004

Jaynee and I just got home a little while ago. We had a fun time and we’re both tired.

We both enjoyed The Boy From Oz very much, mostly because of Hugh Jackman - he is the show and is completely deserving of his Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical this year. He’s fantastic. There were some elements of the show that I didn’t like and there were a few yawner places, but when Jackman was on the stage (which was 95% of the time) he was just mesmerizing. And it wasn’t merely because he’s extremely good looking, although that didn’t hurt. It was that he was so into the character of Peter Allen and he owned the stage.

We agree, too, that the best parts were when he interacted with audience members. He did it early when some folks came in late to the show. He caught a lady as she was being seated and, while in character, teased her and had a little fun. When he learned that it was her birthday he has us all sing the Happy Birthday song to her. After the intermission, he did a similar thing with some other folks. He was naturally funny and great with them. With that couple, he actually had a stage hand bring out a Polaroid camera and took their picture, which he handed to them.

Also noteworthy were the ladies who played Judy Garland and Liza Minelli. The woman who played Garland was tiny and did a great job of mimicking Garland’s slightest hand movement. Her singing was spot on. The Liza chick nailed Liza’s way of speaking, but her singing was wholly her own style. Both were very good.

All in all, it was a very good show and if you have a chance to get to New York to see it, give it a try (if you can get tickets). Know that there’s some mild profanity and it’s got heavy gay themed scenes, but the musical numbers are the reason you’re going to see the show anyway.