The Boy From Oz - Was it THAT bad?- Page 1

[Sleeth1]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 4:59am

I recently had the opportunity to pick up the CD for The Boy From Oz. I like Hugh Jackman, and I remember seeing a song from the play in a parade a year or two back. This might be real old hat, but did anyone actually see it? I did a google search on REVIEWS and they were all pretty awful. If you saw it, can you tell me if you liked it? I kind of thought that while it was going on that it was a pretty big deal. Anyone know how long it played?

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 7:17am

........

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 7:22am

It was a terrible show. Melodramatic, depressing, etc.

The redeeming factors were Hugh Jackman and Stephanie Block, who made the whole thing bearable.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 7:32am

It was a Las Vegas revue slapped onto a paper thin book, sort of like what would happen if Eugene ONeill wrote MAMMA MIA. It wasnt terrible, thanks mostly to Jackman, but it wasnt a classic by any stretch. It was another one of those "Well, if you have a hundred bucks and a couple of hours to waste, we'll take it off your hands" kinds of production.

[Bdwy24]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 9:10am

I saw the production twice and loved it. Basically because of Hugh Jackman. Amazing voice and SO charming onstage and c'mon, not bad seeing him kiss a guy, haha. Stephanie J Block, of course, had an amazing voice and Isabel Keating was dead on with her role of Judy Garland. I did not think it was a waste at all!

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 9:19am

And "lots" of people saw it.
It was pretty much sold out the whole run.
Definitely not as "bad" as you might have thought.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 9:20am

No it was not

[mattonstage]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 9:40am

I approached the show as a club act, with Peter Allen telling stories of his life using his music. Using that method, I had a great time. Jackman was the epitome of a leading man. He's got the looks, the voice, the acting. He was amazing. I loved the whole cast, and the numbers were terrific. It's not a great 'book' musical, but as entertainment, you will not be disappointed.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 9:56am

Exactly

[Fan2]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 10:18am

Jo - where are you LOL? I myself saw the show four times and thought it was wonderful. Everyone I know who saw it loved it also. And Hugh was absolutely fabulous in it. And I know there are plenty of "Ozalots" who saw the show many many times - there was one fan who saw the show about 200 times - Hugh liked to joke that she saw the show more than he was in it. Many of these fans traveled to Australia last summer to see Hugh in the arena show of The Boy from Oz - and more than once. That show played in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne for two months in venues seating 10,000-15,000 and I've read they were practically sold out every night.
Updated On: 3/31/07 at 10:18 AM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 10:24am

Here's an excellent post started on July 16, 2006 which pretty says it all about the gem that was THE BOY FROM OZ:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=904297#2339586

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 10:27am

Basically, the show was really The Hugh Jackman Show with Hugh really playing a character named Peter Allen. The show wasn't performed like a regular 'book' show -- he spoke to the audience the entire time. Even in the middle of a 'scene' he would make comments to the audiences, etc. Also, Hugh made each performance different since he ad-libbed and played with the audiences nightly. At every performance he would stop the show when latecomers arrived and address them as to why they were late, etc. The 2nd Act Opener was the Reno Sweeney Night Club scene which he would interrupt in the middle to address the audience, this time to single-out a female (or male) audience member. The moment was always the same but the interaction was always different. At one performance I attended this literally stopped the show for about 15 minutes. At another performance, Elvis Costello was in the audience and Hugh brought him up and had him perform 2 songs with the onstage band as Hugh sang back-up with the 3 onstage backup singers (from the Reno Sweeney Night Club scene). This stopped the show for almost 30 minutes. This sorta stuff is what made the show AND Hugh such a enormous 'theatrical event' that season. I saw the show 3 times and EVERY performance was an event due to all this ad-libbing.

As for the cast recording goes -- it's just a recording of the numbers, so the visual and the 'live' moment are missing UNLESS you saw the show 'live'. All the songs are Peter Allen songs, so they are not character driven in any way UNLESS you saw the show and saw in what context they were done. Most are 'performance' songs so they needed to be seen 'live'.

Also kudos needs to be said about the supporting cast, most notably Isabel Keating's chillingly channeling of Judy Garland. She captured Judy's essence which left you with your mouth open everytime she came on stage. Even her stage exits (that walk) were pure Judy Garland.

The critics hated the show but word-of-mouth is what drove ticket sales: you HAVE to see Hugh Jackman in this show. People kept going back and back to see it simply because of Hugh's 'live' schtick -- it WAS something to experience since EVERY night was almost a totally different show. You never saw the same show twice. Barbara Cook was also a frequent visitor to the show, plus it was likely that you would see a 'celebrity' at the performance you attended, which was also kinda nice.

Now...was the show/play any good? WHO CARES?! Just attending a performance was the thing. It was the backbone to how the evening progressed so we just followed along. We were there to have a great time with Hugh and he gave you more than you ever wanted. AND he never missed a performance!

Whew! That was a mouthful.

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 10:33am

The Boy from Oz was a very entertaining show. Great theatre? Maybe not, but fabulously entertaining, nonetheless. The supporting cast was very talented and it was the kind of show where you could actually 'feel' the audience having a good time. I saw it several times, as did everyone in my family. Peter Allen was a friend of my grandmother and even she enjoyed the show! I grew up on his music and I prefer his version of most of the songs but I still occasionally listen to the cast recording.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 10:35am

We saw it twice

The second time the pastor of my parish, a big rotund type of guy, was sitting in front of me having a great time. needless to say, he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

I kidded him about it

By the way, I love the CD & play it repeatedly. Others such as Cats & Rent, I never touch

Updated On: 3/31/07 at 10:35 AM

[dmsnyc]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 10:47am

A lot of these responses are exactly the way I feel about it. The cast was great and seeing it "live" was a real experience. Hugh Jackman interacting with the audience was phenomenal, Isobel Keating WAS Judy Garland and Stephanie Brock was also very good. If you take it as a club show, and not a book musical, then in my estimation, it was great theater.

[tabbynyc]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 10:56am

I saw the show a few times taking different friends because of Hugh Jackman. His performance was unbelievable!! He had such energy and had so much fun with the audience it was worth the price of a ticket! The story was OK (considering it was based on Peter Allen's life), but the sets were horrible. So cheesy and not much thought put into them.

Remember, it was nominated for a Tony - Best Musical; didn't really have much of a chance, but was still nominated!!

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 11:12am

Despite the book, I found The Boy From Oz to be very entertaining. The cast was perfect, not one weak link.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 11:30am

Some songs seemed like they were just written for that particular point in the show

Judy Garland singing "All I wanted Was The Dream" was a perfect fit

[Sleeth1]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 11:39am

"It was another one of those "Well, if you have a hundred bucks and a couple of hours to waste, we'll take it off your hands" kinds of production".

There are so MANY of those these days! Thanks to everyone who replied. I appreciate your efforts.

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 11:45am

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the entire year's run (396 perfs, including previews), Hugh Jackman never missed a performance

[Fan2]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 11:55am

>>>>>Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the entire year's run (396 perfs, including previews), Hugh Jackman never missed a performance<<<

Except for scheduled vacations, you are correct. And he did it for at least the last six months with a stress fracture in his foot that had to be iced and wrapped every day. I have a friend at work that has that now and she can barely walk and is limping like crazy (although she doesn't have a professional visiting her home every day taking care of it like I'm sure Hugh did after every performance).

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 12:01pm

who went on for him during vacations?

[Fan2]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 12:12pm

>>>who went on for him during vacations?

No one - the show was dark those days. I *think* his only vacations were around Christmas and a few days in February, plus the day of the Tony Awards that he hosted.

[Flaunt It]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 1:14pm

I was thoroughly entertained by it.. many times. It was over the top and so was Peter Allen. I went in not caring if the book was any good.. and it wasn't.. but who cares. Jackman gave it 10x the level of most broadway "stars" today. He radiated showbiz. It was well worth the price of admission. Beyond that.

[Sleeth1]

Posted: 3/31/07 at 1:47pm

"And he did it for at least the last six months with a stress fracture in his foot that had to be iced and wrapped every day".

I could day that. I mean, not for FREE, mind you. But for about a buck an hour (he can AFFORD it,) I'd do that for him. I'm not attracted to him at all. Seriously, not at all.