Your Morning Upper: Wolverine at the Tonys
TNG theatre guy Chris shares this video de jour.
Mornings suck. So every morning, TNG brings you a fun video to help ease the pain.
Here’s the hook: Hugh Jackman riding a camel, lounging on a piano and humping the air in tight gold pants. Have you clicked the play button yet? Last weekend’s Oscars were a reminder that Wolverine is a great song and dance man. Like many of the best screen actors around, Jackman has his roots in theatre. In 2004, he won the Tony for his role as Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz, the bio-musical about the gay Australian singer/songwriter who worked with Judy Garland and eventually married her daughter, Liza Minnelli. In this clip, Jackman sings and swivels in the finale from Act I, “Not the Boy Next Door." Whether you like the song or not, hang in there until he pulls Sarah Jessica Parker up on stage. SJP, we thought your hubby told you never to sit in the front row at the Tonys…
7 comments:
Yes, Peter Allen was a Big Huge Gay...but I wish portrayals of gay men like him were more complex, nuanced and real, based less on affected flamboyance and more on who he actually was, what he thought and did and why; those "offstage moments".
Jackman basically acts like a woman in this number. That makes me cringe...for Peter Allen, myself and all Gay men.
Anonymous - I totally see your point. Jackman does not present a fully developed character in this song. That said, this was a clip from an awards show, not in context of the piece itself. The piece, Boy From Oz does explore the deeper and "real" parts of Allen's character, including his marriage. There are also differences between Allen when on stage as a performer and Allen, the off-stage individual.
All that said, I do see what you mean. Jackman's Allen, in this clip, is flamboyant and campy which are two things that I think can be a lot of fun.
"All that said, I do see what you mean. Jackman's Allen, in this clip, is flamboyant and campy which are two things that I think can be a lot of fun."
And is an accurate representation of Peter Allen's performance style. If this were a fictional piece about a gay singer and this was the chosen portrayal, then yes, Anonymous, I think you'd have a beef, but to suggest that Hugh Jackman shouldn't use Peter Allen's own mannerisms to portray Peter Allen is like suggesting that the boys in Jersey Boys sing in basso profundo. You can't produce a biographical piece without playing true to the source.
re: Jack
Yes, I agree with all of the above. However, what I said was "I wish portrayals of gay men like him were more complex". Watching this number everyone has their stereotypical preconceptions (i.e. misperceptions) about The Gays comfortingly reassured, confirmed and unchallenged.
I'm just saying that out of a whole show that reputedly showed "the deeper and "real" parts of Allen's character, including his marriage" they could have used a different number or part of the show that demonstrated something more interesting other than a minstrel show.
I mean we'll never see a Broadway musical about Esera Tualo or Barney Frank.
Hell, Milk and Brokeback were movies. You'd think if they can make a Broadway musical about Eva Peron and Fiorello LaGuardia they could do something about Harvey Milk but his story doesn't have any boas, line dancing or "fabulousness"...and straight people like their Gays gushing and prancing.
I do agree, Anon. They could have, but this was the Tony Awards and they wanted a splashy number at this point. Hugh Jackman riding a camel on stage was the splash they wanted. The Tonys have presented many "real" moments from shows that contain deep messages - George Hearn singing "I Am What I Am" from La Cage aux Folles comes to mind right away.
As a side note, Brokeback is in the works as an opera.
Post a Comment