Live Goods: Hugh Jackman - One Night Only

Saturday's return to Hollywood was for Hugh Jackman's one man show at the newly rebranded Dolby Theatre (formerly The Kodak Theatre).  Hollywood's nicest and arguably most talented guy has done plenty of stage performances in New York so this first time, one off show to support the MPTF (Motion Picture & Television Fund), on his 45th birthday, was truly a historic event.

Home to the Academy Awards Oscars ceremony, the Dolby Theatre is of course, quite nice.  Which makes the shoddy plumbing a bit of a surprise.  Seriously, during the intermission you could barely wash your hands and the women's restroom was closed on two floors.  Anyways, the show itself was a testament to Jackman's vast skills as an actor, singer, dancer and entertainer.  Accompanied by a full strings and horn section, Hugh regaled the 4,500 audience members (that included heads from Fox and Dreamworks, Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer) with anecdotes and photos of his life coupled with vocal performances and full on musical dance numbers. 



Throughout the show, Jackman was joined by a handful of guests including 30x platinum singer/song writer Richard Marx and a trio from Australia to promote Aborigine rights flown in just for the occasion.  His wife Deborah took the stage to lead the crowd in singing Happy Birthday and each seat had a celebratory cupcake under it.  After the show, Jackman conducted an auction for items like Wolverine props, movie premiere tickets and a personalized Fiat electric car.  All in, the night raised $1.8 million for the MPTF which supports actors during and after their careers.  After all of this, Jackman boarded a plane and headed to China to promote The Wolverine.  I got to sit for 40 minutes trying to get out of Hollywood.  Fucking Hollywood...

I'm guessing this was the last time Hugh hit The Dolby: