Hugh Jackman opened the 2025 Hollywood Bowl season not just with a song, but with a story — one that had haunted him for three decades. In front of a packed crowd and a full orchestra, the Tony and Emmy winner recalled a fateful audition from 30 years ago, when a young Jackman boldly attempted 'Stars' from Les Misérables — and cracked spectacularly on the final note.
"The worst crack you could imagine," he admitted from the stage, dressed in a classic tuxedo with the disarming charm of Wolverine moonlighting as a lounge singer. "Whatever excitement was in the room just disappeared." One member of the audition panel, unimpressed, even advised him to throw the song away and "never sing it again." On this night, he did exactly the opposite — and nailed it.
The performance marked more than just a vocal victory. Jackman delivered a 90-minute set that mixed hits from The Greatest Showman and The Boy From Oz with playful covers, including a cheeky Aussie rewrite of John Denver’s 'Thank God I’m a Country Boy,' featuring koalas, shark attacks, and Margot Robbie references. He also poked fun at encore traditions, declaring he’d skip the 'walk-off-and-pretend-we’re-done' charade.
Backed by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and youth musicians from YOLA, Jackman closed the night under fireworks — a full-circle triumph for the actor who once walked out of an audition red-faced, and now walks onto the biggest stages in the world to thunderous applause.
