The last time Hugh Jackman hit the New York stages three years ago, he led a big-budget, eagerly anticipated Broadway revival of “The Music Man” that turned out to be a bloated and boring letdown. His newest theatrical venture is a bit different.
Jackman has partnered with the prolific mega-producer Sonia Friedman to launch “Together,” a new company intended to create small, intimate, and accessible shows built through collaborative ensemble work, with shared credit and equal pay.
For the company’s debut, it is presenting two shows in repertory at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre: Hannah Moscovitch’s “Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes” with Jackman and Ella Beatty, and a new version of August Strindberg’s “Creditors,” a psychological chess match of seduction and revenge, with Liev Schreiber and Maggie Siff.
As directed by Ian Rickson, “Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes” is indeed a spare production, with just a few chairs and props (including a lawnmower, which Jackman wheels across the stage at one point).
However, it is an absorbing two-hander drama about a famous middle-aged male college professor and author, and a star-struck and sad 19-year-old female student, which balances middle-aged straight male fantasy and #MeToo accountability in a relatively amiable and accepting manner, with a surprise twist at the very end. One might consider this to be a response to David Mamet’s “Oleanna,” a much more divisive professor-student two-hander.
Jackman narrates the play for the audience and even chats them up and charms them. Notably, he addresses latecomers, as he did more than two decades ago in his New York stage debut in “The Boy from Oz.” Ella Beatty, who just appeared Off-Broadway in “Ghosts” at Lincoln Center Theater, delivers a vulnerable performance that emphasizes her character’s cryptic nature.
‘Good Night, and Good Luck’ to be broadcast live on CNN
The smash hit Broadway adaptation of the 2005 film “Good Night, and Good Luck,” which stars George Clooney as the legendary broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow, will be broadcast live on CNN during its penultimate performance on Saturday, June 7, at 7 p.m. This will mark the first time a Broadway play has been televised live.
“CNN is the perfect place to bring this story of courage to so many more people than we could have ever hoped. Live TV,” Clooney said in a statement.
“Good Night, and Good Luck” follows the real-life events surrounding Murrow’s historic takedown of Senator Joseph McCarthy during the height of the Red Scare, when reputations were ruined on suspicion alone and dissent was painted as disloyalty. In 2025, as individuals, journalists, and corporations wrestle with whether to speak out or remain strategically silent, its resonance is unavoidable.
Charles Strouse dies at 96
Charles Strouse, the gifted composer of numerous Broadway musicals ranging from the smash hits “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Annie” to many mega-flops including “Dance a Little Closer,” “Bring Back Birdie,” “Nick & Nora,” and “Rags,” died last week at age 96. Lee Adams, Strouse’s longtime lyricist, is still alive at age 100.
A few months ago, Strouse made an appearance at a press rehearsal of the national tour of “Annie” when it played the Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Years ago, I interviewed Strouse in person at his home on Central Park West in connection with the release of his excellent memoir “Put On a Happy Face,” which coincided with his 80th birthday.
