Review: Hugh Jackman Spreads Light at Radio City

When Hugh Jackman quips on the opening night of his new concert series From New York, With Love that he’s always wondering if he’ll be in bed by 10:30 when he goes out these days, you might worry that one of Broadway’s most energetic leading men is finally slowing down. Don’t be fooled. Over the next 105 minutes at Radio City Music Hall, Jackman proceeds to sing, dance, play guitar and piano, jump rope, crack jokes, shed tears, share deeply personal stories, and convert the cavernous 6,000-seat venue into the world’s most joyful living room. His new residency is a reminder of why we fell in love with entertainment in the first place.

The evening of January 24, 2025 begins with a pleasant surprise. Instead of bursting onto stage with one of his signature showstoppers, Jackman emerges from underneath the stage, guitar in hand, to Neil Diamond’s “Crunchy Granola Suite.” Behind him, a galaxy of stars intensifies with a dawn-like glow — a metaphor, perhaps, for what Jackman does best: taking something familiar and helping us see it in a new light. The song choice teases his upcoming role alongside Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue, where they’ll play a Neil Diamond tribute band. Even in this opening moment, Jackman is teaching us how to watch his show — everything here is personal, everything has a story, and everything is an opportunity to celebrate someone else’s work.

Jackman subsequently turns “The Greatest Show” into a celebration of ensemble work. His four dancers create striking silhouettes, their movements echoing the circus choreography of The Greatest Showman. The backup singers are also given moments to truly shine. This generosity of spirit infuses every aspect of the show. Prefacing “Ya Got Trouble,” he shares how he’s come full circle from playing Salesman #2 in his high school production of The Music Man to starring in the 2022 Broadway revival,  meditating on the strange, wonderful journey of finding your place in the world. When he sits at the piano for “You Will Be Found” from Dear Evan Hansen, it’s not to show off another talent, but to create an intimate space for sharing the story of his 51-year friendship with Gus Worland, and the latter’s work preventing suicide through the Gotcha4Life Foundation. As the backdrop shifts from black and white to rainbow, Jackman gently reminds us that none of us has to face life’s challenges alone.

The show’s most technically demanding moments serve larger emotional truths. Take the back-to-back Les Misérables numbers. Jackman’s interpretation of “Stars“ trades the movie version’s religious solemnity for Javert‘s moral certainty, suggesting that even our most deeply held beliefs deserve questioning. When he follows it with “Valjean’s Soliloquy,” from a man redeemed by an act of unexpected kindness, you realize Jackman isn’t just showing off his range — it’s an exploration of the complexities of human nature, a call for understanding grace.

The lighter moments are equally revealing. During “Thank God I’m a Country Boy,” Jackman playfully rewrites the lyrics to poke fun at his suburban “Aussie Boy” roots. When he attempts a jump rope routine to “Bye Bye Bye” with his trainer Beth Lewis and slips mid-sequence, his genuine laughter reminds us that perfection isn’t nearly as entertaining as authenticity. In a particularly touching moment, he fulfills Lewis’s lifelong dream of performing with the Radio City Rockettes by bringing two of them onstage for a high-kick routine.

Even Ryan Reynolds’ surprise appearance becomes something more than just a celebrity cameo. Their famous friendly rivalry gets its comedic due, but then Reynolds shifts gears to share how Jackman’s “courtesy, gentleness and curiosity” influenced him when he was just starting out on the set of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. What could have been a saccharine movement feels earned because we’ve spent the evening watching exactly those qualities in action.

Some of the show’s most profound moments come during its exploration of Peter Allen’s songbook. Jackman, who played Allen in The Boy from Oz, brings both reverence and relevance to numbers like “Best That You Can Do” and “I Honestly Love You,” with a mix of sweeping passion and vulnerability. In “Quiet Please, There’s a Lady On Stage,” Allen’s tribute to his mother-in-law Judy Garland, Jackman finds something universal about the ephemeral nature of performance and the courage it takes to bare your soul night after night.

The show’s finale, “Once Before I Go,” a song Allen wrote for his dying partner, again feels like “hands … reaching out.” As entertainment increasingly chases viral trends, Jackman and his team have thoughtfully curated something that feels gloriously out of time — a show that celebrates both the grandeur of old-school showmanship and human connection. Jackman reminds us of the simple joy of gathering together, sharing stories, and believing, if only for a few hours, in the awe-inspiring power of art served with an open heart.

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Hugh Jackman's From New York, With Love continues on select dates from April through October at Radio City Music Hall. Find dates and tickets on their website here.

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