Photo: Broadway.com
It’s been a long three years since actor/singer/dancer/entertainer Hugh Jackman last graced a Broadway stage for a production (his fantastic one-man cabaret Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway) but the drought of seeing his name on a theatre marquee is finally coming to an end.
It was announced late last week that the Tony winning, Oscar nominated actor would star in the upcoming Jez Butterworth production, The River.
Directed by acclaimed British theatre and film director Ian Rickson, the play tells the story of a man and a woman set in in a wooden cabin on the cliffs above a river. The play is a follow-up to Butterworth’s Tony-nominated Jerusalem, and the first play he’s penned since that hit.
The River first premiered at London’s Royal Court Theatre at the end of October 2012. The Rickson helmed production starring Dominic West, Laura Donnelly and Miranda Raison was a critical and commercial success. Donnelly will be reprising her role in the Broadway production. Cush Jumbo will join her and Jackman.
The River will play for a limited engagement at the Circle in the Square Theatre from October 31 through January 25, with opening night on November 16. If you can’t wait till then to see Jackman up on a Broadway stage, you’re in luck as he will be hosting the Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall June 8. The Awards will be broadcast live on CBS from 8pm.