Hugh Jackman Confirmed to Star as Harold Hill in The Music Man on Broadway
(© David Gordon)
Two-time Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award winner Hugh Jackman will return to Broadway as Professor Harold Hill in Meredith Willson's beloved classic The Music Man. The production, directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks, with choreography by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle, will begin performances on September 9, 2020, and officially open on October 22, 2020, at a Shubert theater to be announced.
The official news confirms recent speculation based on a post on Jackman's personal Instagram account.
The Music Man premiered on Broadway on December 19, 1957, and went on to win five Tony Awards, including the prize for Best Musical. It ran for 1,375 performances. The original cast album held the No. 1 position on the Billboard charts and stayed on the album charts for 245 weeks. The recording won the first ever Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Album. In 1962, the show was adapted into a hugely successful movie. The Smithsonian Institution ranks The Music Man as one of the "great glories" of American popular culture.
In a statement, Hugh Jackman said, "The first musical I was ever a part of was the phenomenal The Music Man. The year was 1983, and I was at Knox Grammar School in Sydney, Australia. I was one of the traveling salesmen, and I think I can actually (almost) remember that unforgettable opening number! That was probably the moment when the magic of theater was born in me." He added, "The idea of bringing The Music Man back to Broadway has been lurking in the back of my brain for a long time, maybe even for 35 years, and when Scott Rudin called me with that very idea, I was floored. To finally be doing this is a huge thrill."
The Music Man reunites the creative team of the recent Tony Award-winning revival of Hello, Dolly! starring Bette Midler, including (in addition to Rudin, Zaks, and Carlyle), four-time Tony Award winner Santo Loquasto (set and costume design), six-time Tony Award winner Natasha Katz (lighting design), Tony Award winner Scott Lehrer (sound design), and David Chase (dance arrangements). Patrick Vaccariello and Tony Award winner Jonathan Tunick join the team as The Music Man's musical director and orchestrator, respectively.
