Hugh Jackman is a phenomenon: the very rare "Matinee Idol." He's a rocket, a flare, a slinky -- joy fills the theater. The women kvell, and the men grin broadly at everything he does. His voice is thrilling, with almost a Willie Nelson resonance and nasality; his lean, springy body flashes and bounces around the stage; he even twists like Jim Carrey. And he does standup interaction with the audience between his episodes in the life of cabaret performer/songwriter, Peter Allen, who knew Judy Garland and married her daughter, Liza.
With the look-alike/sound-alike Isabel Keating as Judy and the excellent Stephanie J. Block as Liza, with the amazing Mitchel David Federan as the young Peter, and a super singing/dancing chorus, director Philip Wm. McKinley gives us a first-class Broadway musical comedy, with fun choreography by Joey McKneely, in a fine set by Robin Wagner, polished off with a Las-Vegas finale costumed with outrageous flair by William Ivey Long. A good time was had by all.
