One good Hugh deserves another. Or at least that’s where this writer’s logic merrily tripped along during the research (it was a dirty job, but someone had to do it) for the update on our first “favorite Hugh”: Mr. Dancy. You can’t blame a girl for greedily clicking on a link when Mr. Jackman’s—ummm—visage popped up just as frequently.
All right, all right; let’s just face it. Hugh Jackman (soon to be seen in “Real Steel”) is a glorious freak of nature in the bulges-and-biceps department. But beneath that superhero bod and the killer glower, there are the roots Hugh Jackman has never forgotten: the dues paid with his soaring vocal prowess on the musical theater scene of his native Australia. In Melbourne, he played some of the stage’s most iconic characters: Gaston in Disney’s Beauty & the Beast, as well as Joe Gillis in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard.
Television and movie roles were sprinkled between the productions, but it was a huge musical show that delivered his “big break” and exposure to international audiences. Cast as Curly in the Royal National Theater’s run of Oklahoma, Jackman would take home a prestigious Olivier Award for his work in the play—a prize he calls a career highlight to this day—just before Bryan Singer came calling with the script for X-Men in hand. 
Through the years, Jackman has seized on opportunities to pay homage to his musical passion, wowing audiences with with his roof-raiser of a voice and impeccable performance timing. He stole the show with three turns as host of the Tony Awards, and even upstaged 2011’s host, Neil Patrick Harris, in a riotous “dueling duet” that went viral on YouTube. His brilliant starring role as Peter Allen in the jukebox musical, The Boy From Oz, added a Tony and a Drama Desk award to his mantle.
Looks like those subtle hints have been working, too: the actor has stated, in numerous arenas, that he’s looking forward to bringing the role of Jean Valjean, the tormented protagonist of Boulbil & Schönberg’s Les Miserables, to life in a screen adaptation that seems green-lighted for now, to be helmed by Tom Hooper. The actor’s IMDB profile has yet to list the film, even in pre-production, so in the interest of helping Hugh fill the time while they find a decent Javert for him, we pose the possibility of Hugh lending his presence to a few more Broadway icons…
What about Wicked’s dashing Fiero?
Or the jaunty Bert from Mary Poppins?
Or even a dancing missionary in Book of Mormon?
Don your inner casting director and sound off on the musical role, classic or new, you’d most like to see Hugh take on next. With the man’s penchant for switching it up and keeping it fresh, he may just agree with you!