Movies

Hugh Jackman brings jokes, drama and John Denver to opening night at the Hollywood Bowl

BBG News

With a black acoustic guitar that harmonized with his black tuxedo ensemble, Hugh Jackman confidently walked onto the Hollywood Bowl stage, setting the expectations of the audience clear.

As the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra ignited the pulsating, self-empowerment groove of “Crunchy Granola Suite,” I couldn’t help but nod my head and think, “A hint of Neil Diamond’s magic was in the air.

As a passionate scholar of entertainment history, an Australian singer-actor began his performance on Saturday evening, mirroring Diamond’s iconic show half a century prior at the Greek Theatre – an event immortalized on the timeless “Hot August Night” album.

However, Diamond was merely one of the extravagant performers that Jackman aimed to mimic during his headlining act on the Bowl’s 2025 opening night. Later in the show, the 56-year-old crooned a medley of Peter Allen’s songs, an Australian composer and New York socialite whom Jackman played on Broadway in 2003 in “The Boy From Oz.” Moreover, P.T. Barnum, whose career as a spectacle creator served as the basis for the 2017 hit film “The Greatest Showman,” which featured Jackman as Barnum and produced a soundtrack that achieved quadruple-platinum status, also influenced him.

With around 17,000 people here, Jackman addressed those who haven’t watched ‘The Greatest Showman’, possibly questioning his confidence right now: ‘This man seems incredibly self-assured,’ he said, catching his breath slightly after performing the film’s hit song, which has garnered over 625 million streams on Spotify.

Music

Fans of musical theater eagerly anticipate the second part of the popular Broadway version; meanwhile, the actress who played Elphaba announces a new album featuring gentle, introspective soul tunes.

Despite the popularity of “Showman”, it’s uncommon these days to encounter a blend of stage and screen charisma similar to Jackman in contemporary male pop music performers. Interestingly, the magic behind “Wicked” becoming a cultural sensation was largely crafted by women such as Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Chappell Roan, and Laufey. What sets Jackman apart is that he’s widely recognized as the flamboyantly bearded Wolverine from the Marvel films to many.

Prior to Jackman’s show on Saturday, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, led by Thomas Wilkins, performed a short concert featuring pieces from John Ottman’s soundtrack for “X2: X-Men United”.

Benson Boone’s climb, accompanied by his mustache and backflips, hints at a possibility that traditions once handed down to Jackman by Diamond and others might be continued by newcomers. However, this assumes that Jackman is willing to pass on the mantle, which wasn’t suggested during his energetic and acrobatic 90-minute performance at the Bowl. But of course, we can’t definitively say that he’s seeking successors without knowing his intentions.

Apart from songs like those in “The Greatest Showman” and a homage to Frank Sinatra’s style, he performed another Diamond song – “Sweet Caroline,” fittingly, as this number is set to appear in an upcoming film where he portrays a Diamond impersonator. Additionally, he sang a few numbers from “Les Misérables”, having sung these roles in the 2012 movie adaptation that garnered him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. With an Emmy, Grammy, and two Tonys already under his belt, he is just one Oscar away from achieving EGOT status (an acronym for winning awards in the four major American entertainment categories: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony).

As a devoted cinema enthusiast, I can rephrase those lines like this:

For “You Will Be Found” from “Dear Evan Hansen”, I took my seat behind an impressive piano and played along for a while; on the other hand, for the fast-talking “Ya Got Trouble” from “The Music Man” – the very first show I ever performed in high school – I stepped out into the crowd, navigating among the Bowl’s boxes and engaging with audience members as I sang.

When he got back on stage, he mentioned all the friends he had just run into. “Hey Melissa Etheridge and Linda, hello Jess Platt. Hi Steph, hi David, hi Sophia, hi Orlando – there were so many friends to greet. It was tough trying to say hello while still carrying on with the dialogue.” He was out of breath again, this time more noticeably. “It’s 53 degrees outside and I’m sweating,” he added.

In the heart of the show, I took center stage with a reimagined rendition of “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” originally by John Denver, to honor my roots as an Aussie lad. We had a delightful mix of light-hearted humor, poking fun at shark encounters, cuddly koalas, and the lively Margot Robbie. There were also some political jabs, like jesting about our leaders not being centenarians – a joke I’m quickly distancing myself from. Another wit was a rhyme that compared life in Australia to be “really quite fun” and added, “I never have to fret: Does that guy have a gun?

In the heart of it all, “A Million Dreams” from “Showman” stood out, as the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra collaborated with 18 young musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestra LA. The tune, though somewhat overused and filled with common cliches in its lyrics and melody, was brought to life by Jackman’s genuine enthusiasm that made even the cheesiest of ideals seem authentic.

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2025-06-09 03:31

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