Jackman Considering Bringing Boy From Oz to London and Back to US

Some tour dates, venues and more casting have been announced for the 2006 Australian arena tour of The Boy From Oz, in which Tony Award-winner Hugh Jackman will once again don gold lamé and Hawaiian shirts to play singer/songwriter Peter Allen in the glitzy show, which might also have a future outside of Australia.

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"I am really excited about taking the show to the next level..It is new territory for me, mate. This is my rock star dream, I suppose," stated Jackman, according to an AAP article in the Sydney Morning Herald. "If this works ... I hope that we could do it in London and maybe back in America."

With tickets going on sale on February 27th, the tour will come to Sydney's Entertainment Centre for 5 shows from August 3rd through 6th, Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena for 5 shows from August 11th through 13th, Adelaide Entertainment Centre for four shows from August 24th through 26th and Brisbane Entertainment Centre for four shows from September 1st through 3rd. In addition, some tour dates in Perth may be added. 

According to press notes, Jackman "will be joined on stage by Australians in seven additional star roles, an ensemble of forty singer/dancers, a thirty piece orchestra, elaborate sets, state of the art lighting, and over 400 dazzling costumes." The production, which is designed to play arena stages, will be produced in by Ben Gannon and Robert Fox.  Tony Ortega (Newsies) will serve as director and choreographer.

Joining Jackman as Peter Allen will be Chrissy Amphlett as Judy Garland, Angela Toohey as Liza Minnelli and Colleen hewett as Peter's mother.

 The Boy From Oz will actually be returning to Australia. It had its world premiere in Sydney in March 1998; it became the most successful new Australian musical ever staged. It then toured Australia for two years, winning numerous awards and grossing in excess of $60 million; Todd McKenney originated the role of Peter Allen in Australia.

The musical, which opened on Broadway on October 16th, 2003, played for 364 performances. A sell-out hit, it would have run longer but for the film commitments of Jackman, who received the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. The Boy from Oz, which featured a score by Allen (with additional music by others), and a book by Martin Sherman (adapted from the original by Nick Enright), was directed by Philip William McKinley and choreographed by Joey McKneely. The show also starred Stephanie J. Block as Liza Minnelli, Isabel Keating as Judy Garland, Beth Fowler as Peter's mother and Jarrod Emick as Peter's lover, Greg Connell.

"The Boy From Oz tells the dazzling, funny and heart-breaking story of the great entertainer Peter Allen, from his humble beginnings growing up in the Australian outback through a meteoric rise to fame as an international star who would go on to sell out week-long engagements at Radio City Music Hall. Singing in country pubs from age 11, Peter Allen survived family tragedy to become a local TV star at age 16. Discovered by Judy Garland, he married her daughter Liza Minnelli and went on to become a beloved performer and an Oscar-winning songwriter," state press notes.

The multi-talented Jackman, who won an Emmy for hosting the 2004 Tony Awards, was nominated for the 1998 Olivier for Best Actor in a Musical for his Curly in the Royal National Theatre's Oklahoma! A musical theatre veteran back in Australia, he played Joe Gillis in the 1996 production of Sunset Boulevard in Melbourne, and Gaston in 1995's Beauty and the Beast. Film credits include the X-Men films, Someone Like You and Van Helsing. A third X-Men film is currently filming, and Jackman will also reprise his role as Wolverine in a spin-off movie of the same name.

For more information on The Boy From Oz: The Arena Tour, visit www.theboyfromoz.com.au.