After A Steady Rain, Hugh Jackman Looks to Shakespeare on Stage

Although he hasn’t started performances in the new drama A Steady Rain yet, Hollywood hunk Hugh Jackman already has his eye on another stage project: Shakespeare! In an interview in the September issue of Vogue, Jackman is said to be ready to fulfill a longtime dream by starring in a yet-to-be-chosen Shakespeare classic for director Trevor Nunn.

In the feature (in which the actor was handsomely photographed celeb shutterbug Annie Leibovitz at the Cherry Lane Theatre), Jackman reminisces about his early career on the stage, making a debut at age eight in Camelot (“I was probably the most squeaky-voiced King Arthur of all time”) and auditioning for a professional production of Beauty and the Beast in Australia by singing “Stars” from Les Miserables. (“My voice cracked on the last note, which really made me feel terrific.”)

Of returning to Broadway opposite Daniel Craig in Keith Huff’s thriller A Steady Rain after his Tony-winning turn in the splashy musical The Boy from Oz, Jackman says, “I loved the idea of returning to the basicis—the spoken word, two actors and the audience.”

According to Vogue, “A Steady Rain depicts a few dark days in the life of two Chicago cops: Denny (Jackman), an aging bad boy with a racist streak, a violent temper, and a seriously strained marriage, and his partner, Joey (Craig), a recovering alcoholic with a poetic soul who may not be quite as true a friend as he appears. One night, they make a very bad call—they return a young boy to a guardian who turns out to be a serial killer—and things go downhill from there.”

“Denny is very unpredictable, very explosive—and it ain’t all Mr. Nice Guy, that’s for sure,” Jackman says.

Jackman is also attached to an upcoming musical about the life of celebrity magician Harry Houdini.

A Steady Rain starts previews at the Schoenfeld Theatre on September 10, 2009.