Jackman hits highs in ‘Broadway’ run
Hugh Jackman has left Broadway with a lot of broken hearts – and records.
The hunky Australian actor’s one-man Broadway concert show closed on Sunday afternoon at the Broadhurst Theatre after having earned $2,057,354 in its final week, the highest weekly gross recorded by the Shubert Organization, which owns the Broadhurst and 16 other Broadway theaters.
Backed by an 18-piece orchestra and six leggy dancers, a charming Jackman belted out about two dozen musical theater songs in “Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway.”
Over its 10-week run, Jackman earned a whopping $14,638,428, producers said. He now owns 10 of the 11 top grossing weeks at the Broadhurst.
Jackman, best known for being the hairy Wolverine in “The X-Men” franchise, routinely sold out the 1,176-seat theater and usually posted weekly grosses of $1.5 million, often higher than rival musicals such as “Jersey Boys,” “Mama Mia!” “How to Succeed in Business,” “Anything Goes” and “Follies.”
During the run, Jackman raised a record $1,789,580 for the charity Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
Next year, he plans to star in a version of the musical “Les Miserables.”
Queen of Soul engaged
Aretha Franklin is engaged to longtime friend William “Willie” Wilkerson.
The Grammy-winning singer told the Associated Press in a statement Monday that she and Wilkerson are considering a summer wedding, perhaps in Miami Beach, Fla. The Queen of Soul wants to follow the ceremony with a reception on a private yacht.
The 69-year-old jokes: “No, I’m not pregnant.”
Franklin and Wilkerson became engaged over the holidays.
She is considering Vera Wang, Valentino and Donna Karan to design her dress.
Franklin has been married twice before.
The birthday bunch
Record producer Sir George Martin is 86. Actor Robert Loggia is 82. Actor Dabney Coleman is 80. Singer-songwriter-producer Van Dyke Parks is 69. Musician Stephen Stills is 67. Rock musician John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) is 66. Actress Victoria Principal is 62. Actor-director Mel Gibson is 56. Actress Shannon Sturges is 44. Jazz musician James Carter is 43. Contemporary Christian singer Nichole Nordeman is 40. Actor Jason Marsden is 37. Actress Danica McKellar is 37. Actor Nicholas Gonzalez is 36. Singer Kimberley Locke (“American Idol”) is 34. Rhythm-and-blues singer Lloyd is 26. Pop-rock musician Nash Overstreet (Hot Chelle Rae) is 26. Actor Alex D. Linz is 23.