The Music Man : In Performance!

[jo]

There is also a link to the original Harold Hill character sketch --

songbook.historyit.com/detail-page.php?id=2302


Six pages-long -- but the last one is most important - -

because I think this is what gave Hugh Jackman the inspiration in portraying the character

[jo]

[jo]

Someone on BWW shared this seating chart for Jan 2, 2022 before it was decided to cancel all shows till Hugh is able to
return ( set as of now for Jan 6).

A regular pumpkin patch - with the Orange seats indicating available for purchase. Before the recent virus surge, this was practically a SOLD-OUT show.

[jo]

Compare with Jan 6, 2022 chart, when Hugh is expected back --

[mamaleh]

As it was with THE BOY FROM OZ: No Hugh, no show.

Ellen

[jo]

BWW --

jo
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Broadway Legend
joined:5/15/03
THE MUSIC MAN Previews
#412
Posted: 12/30/21 at 10:25pm
SweetLips22 said: "I am only judging from brief clips and photos but in all of them Hugh is grinning like a cheshire? cat and giving a performance like 'gee but it's good to be here' . Shipoopi? looks as interesting as a hall dance night.

Hugh would have been brilliant in the movie Chicago and even guest appearances in it on Broadway but nah!, not for HH the way he seem to be playing him. I would like someone a little more shop worn and knocked around by life on the road. There would have been a 'Marian' in every town for him but something about her breaks through to find that softness that resides in all of us no matter how we try to hide it. Whether that arc is there I do not know but that's how I would like to see my HH."



To each his own

However, someone on the other theatre "chat" board unearthed documented old character notes on Marian ( which indicated she was the the child of the old man who bequeathed the library to her) and also notes on the character of Harold Hill.

Six pages on the Hill notes --


songbook.historyit.com/detail-page.php?id=2302

On Page six of the Hill notes --




"Spellbinder? Oh yes indeed. Look at Hal Hill as he is in 1913. 35 years old, 5'11" - 160 lbs., hazel eyes -
warm and deep, brown hair, rangy, straight, well-postured,
good-looking, lean, normally tidy, exceedingly well-proportioned

Pleasant, interested, generously cheerful to anyone and everyone.
Hal Hill, metropolite, carnivalian, lyceumist, tab artist,
vaudevillian - and recently out of his deeply-buried frustrations,
he has begun to add an almost hypnotic quality to the reactions
he is able to invoke from the spirit-hungry
small town middle-westerners

. They don't know that
his magic depends largely on their own open-eyed
wonder, under which spell he can make them accept almost any suggestion he
offers. And they also don't know that there wouldn't be any
magic at all if it wasn't for the red silk lining of his cost ..."



This could have been the basis of the new Zaks/Jackman interpretation of the character ? Hugh Jackman is a consummate actor with great range - it is doubtful that he would have simply acted out the role on a whim?

mamaleh2
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Swing
joined:12/23/21
THE MUSIC MAN Previews
#414
Posted: 12/31/21 at 1:56am
I don’t know about house right, but I sat house left on the aisle, and the view was pretty near perfect.

Judging from the unearthed Willson character notes Jo refers to above, I’d say that Zaks’s direction regarding Harold Hill is pretty spot on. This Harold Hill is more of an overly enthusiastic, playful glad hander who oozes charm and likability, all the better to insinuate himself among and dupe the citizenry. Jackman certainly does not smile, as someone put it, like a Cheshire cat all the time—only when he’s consciously using charm to achieve his ends. It’s obvious (to the audience) that his affability is not sincere. When he’s alone with Marcellus the mask is dropped and you see the cynical con man beneath.

During the tap-filled finale, no one onstage is acting a role anymore. Everyone sports a broad smile, radiating joy and receiving it back from an appreciative and enthusiastic audience.

[jo]

It looks they are expanding the cast due to the incidence of covid-related illness

http://instagram.com/p/CYIJCFwLmNS

[jo]

www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6882941202220511232

What Does the Speed of Light Look Like in 2022?

It’s always a bad idea to swing without a net. Unless, of course, you’re not a mortal and the standard rules of prudent public speaking preparation aren’t applicable.

Australian virtuoso Hugh Jackman, leading The Music Man on Broadway, rose to the moment to eloquently recognize his fellow cast members last week. He spoke simply and from the heart. He captivated everyone who heard him for several reasons.

First, the moment demanded it. Something amazing happened and it was his job to recognize it.

Second, everyone was expecting it. The audience anticipated – and got – excellence from him because they had gotten it from him so many times in the past. He is a supremely talented performer with vast showmanship, impeccable timing, and a highly refined barometer for his audience, both those sitting in front of the curtain and those working behind it.

So, it never hurts to be the brightest star in the constellation. Let’s not kid ourselves, comparing Jackman to other speakers doesn’t really teach us much. But in this instance, the third aspect, his intimate knowledge, was far more important in moving the audience than his charisma. He’s been performing on big stages for 30 years, from Oz to the West End to Broadway. So, he lives and breathes the theater and his love and reverence for it is palpable. He is deeply familiar with the entire system of a production, knows everyone’s role, and appreciates the value of each integrated gear that must turn to bring up the curtain. Don’t miss the fact that he thanked every swing, the people prepared to step into roles if needed, by name. That level of familiarity is uncommon from the top of the ticket. Generosity.

His talk obviously channeled emotions that are integral to his identity as a performer. One suspects that Jackman values respect and recognition for his theater work to a far greater degree than his box office successes. In any case, he has the demonstrated expertise to be considered an authority on the subject.
It helps to know the territory.

If your subject matter is woven into your DNA, you don’t need a formal speech, talking points. You’re good to go. That’s why Jackman was able to praise, so masterfully, the unsung, yet integral, team members who put the magic into an evening. You’ll notice that he chose the perfect level of tone, intimacy, and instruction to bring everyone along. He also described his entire team in the terms that would most resonate with them. In baseball lingo, he hit for the cycle, which Australians rarely do.
● ● ●
I've criticized the misguided notion that business leaders should, in more formal settings, abandon prepared remarks.
However, it’s a free country and people will do as they please.
Some are blessed with the knowledge and the capacity to be amazing talking about certain subjects without formal preparations.
I say: If you think you can keep up with Jackman, go for it!


Hugh Jackman Thanks Swings/Understudies
Hugh Jackman Thanks Swings/Understudies
www.youtube.com/

[jo]

Hugh seems to be looking good -- hope he is recovering well.

Jo

[jo]

NYPost puts the swings/understudies on the spotlight, in an article led by the unprecedented curtain call Hugh Jackman eloquent praise for how they are keeping Broadway's lights shining bright.

nypost.com/2022/01/03/meet-the-understudies-and-fill-ins-who-are-saving-broadway/

Standby to star: Meet the understudies and swings saving Broadway
By Johnny Oleksinski
January 3, 2022 6:22pm Updated


The music man wowed the world recently when he took a moment to recognize a special music woman.

During the curtain call of “The Music Man” on Broadway, star Hugh Jackman brought Kathy Voytko, standby for his absent co-star Sutton Foster, to the front of the stage at the Winter Garden Theatre and sang her praises. Foster was out with a positive COVID-19 test result, and Voytko stepped in for the librarian lead at the very last minute.

“Kathy, when she turned up for work at 12 o’clock, could have played any of eight roles,” Jackman said at the preview performance. “And at 1 o’clock, she had her very first rehearsal as Marian Paroo.”

He added in a clip that exploded online: “The swings [who cover several ensemble roles, or ‘tracks’], the understudies, they are the bedrock of Broadway.”

That’s always been true of the grueling year-round stage business, but never more so than right now. This past month on Broadway, little slips of paper denoting cast replacements are falling out of Playbills like confetti in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.


Understudies, standbys and emergency last-minute fill-ins are the glue keeping Broadway from falling apart during the Omicron surge — performances of “The Music Man” are paused through Wednesday after Jackman tested positive for COVID-19 last week — and with frequent testing required at Midtown plays and musicals.

Stories like Voytko’s are echoing around Shubert Alley every day. For instance, last Thursday at “The Lion King,” one of the actors who plays Young Simba stepped up to assume the role of Young Nala with a script in hand (although he didn’t need to use it).

Swings are tackling roles they never thought they would play, actors who departed shows years ago are being brought back into the fray and cast members from other stagings are being flown to New York at a moment’s notice.

Here are some of the hardworking actors keeping Broadway alive this winter.

More...

[jo]

Some questioned why Hugh and Sutton may be doing tap dance when it would not be period-authentic.

It is not in the show proper but at curtain call!

(Besides, who wouldn't want to see tapdance queen Sutton Foster and tapdance ingenue Hugh Jackman show off their wares )

http://instagram.com/p/CYLCgkVt54R

Keep swiping - there are 2 filmed parts


Jo

[jo]

What a supportive colleague Hugh Jackman is!

www.npr.org/2022/01/03/1069323496/with-covid-outbreaks-broadways-understudies-take-center-stage


Excerpts --

Hugh Jackman praises "the bedrock of Broadway"
At a recent performance of The Music Man, star Hugh Jackman stopped the applause at the final curtain call to praise the understudies in his show, particularly actress Kathy Voytko, who stepped in for co-star Sutton Foster at the last minute.


"It humbles me," he said, as phones throughout the Winter Garden theater recorded his speech. "The courage, the brilliance, the dedication, the talent, the swings, the understudies. They are the bedrock of Broadway." The audience erupted in applause and cheers.

"I mean, these are unprecedented times," says Kathy Voytko. "Every Broadway show is actually going through something similar to this." Voytko is one of The Music Man's swings, which means she covers eight roles — including Marian the Librarian, the female lead. When she got the call to go on, she had only about four hours onstage to rehearse her part.

She recalls: "Hugh said to me, right when I got to rehearsal, 'Forget about perfection. Let's just go have fun and tell the story.' And that actually took the pressure off, too. And that's what we did, and we actually had a ball." And she adds, laughing: "Except for the blood pounding in my ears and the flop sweat, I actually had a good time."

Jo

[jo]

Jan 3, 2022 23:57:28 GMT -5 jo said:

What a supportive colleague Hugh Jackman is!

www.npr.org/2022/01/03/1069323496/with-covid-outbreaks-broadways-understudies-take-center-stage


Excerpts --

Hugh Jackman praises "the bedrock of Broadway"
At a recent performance of The Music Man, star Hugh Jackman stopped the applause at the final curtain call to praise the understudies in his show, particularly actress Kathy Voytko, who stepped in for co-star Sutton Foster at the last minute.


"It humbles me," he said, as phones throughout the Winter Garden theater recorded his speech. "The courage, the brilliance, the dedication, the talent, the swings, the understudies. They are the bedrock of Broadway." The audience erupted in applause and cheers.

"I mean, these are unprecedented times," says Kathy Voytko. "Every Broadway show is actually going through something similar to this." Voytko is one of The Music Man's swings, which means she covers eight roles — including Marian the Librarian, the female lead. When she got the call to go on, she had only about four hours onstage to rehearse her part.

She recalls: "Hugh said to me, right when I got to rehearsal, 'Forget about perfection. Let's just go have fun and tell the story.' And that actually took the pressure off, too. And that's what we did, and we actually had a ball." And she adds, laughing: "Except for the blood pounding in my ears and the flop sweat, I actually had a good time."

Jo

Hugh has shown his regard and support of newbie colleagues -- notably

*He raised the spirit of newfound friend and newbie film colleague Keala Settle in The Greatest Showman
*He deals especially well with child actors, especially Dafne Keen in Logan and Dakota Goyo in Real Steel.
*His friendship with newly-emerging actor Ryan Reynolds who started working with Hugh in Origins:Wolverine and whom he supported very well in his 1st Deadpool movie has continued to this day.
*He was also very supportive of Anne Hathaway's career ( featuring her in the 2009 Oscars opening number) & her casting as Fantine in Les Miserables.

Jo

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CYPDCnbF-7T

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

'Winthrop"

http://instagram.com/p/CYZdGSvpjka

[jo]

"Amaryllis"

http://instagram.com/p/CYZT0eFo8Qo

[jo]

BWW --

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Swing
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THE MUSIC MAN Previews
Posted: 1/6/22 at 11:03pm

I was there tonight! So much entrance applause for Hugh. Must have been a minute and a half. The show is in great shape. A few minor snafus that Hugh played off great (his hat wouldn’t seem to land on the cane) Sutton was fantastic! All around great show. During curtain call it was clear the cast was excited to be performing again.

[jo]

Keep swiping for the curtain call applause for Sutton & Hugh!

http://instagram.com/p/CYaoROJgzus

[jo]

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CYag1geqkZa

[jo]

http://instagram.com/p/CYaiwbwJ0ac

[jo]