It was 9:00 AM on a Friday morning.
I had set the alarm in advance for this time, not so that I can get to class on time but because I wanted to be ready when the tickets for Hugh Jackman’s concert go on sale. I’m quite musical and to be given the chance to go to such an event would’ve been a dream come true. I patiently waited and exactly at 8:59 AM, the tickets went on sale. Alas, I wasn’t the only one waiting and I was put onto the queue. Finally, when I did get the chance, I realised that none of the dates would work and with a huge sigh, I closed my laptop and started getting ready for classes that day.
Now, if this was the end of the story, it would be quite a bad story, wouldn’t it! Thankfully, it wasn’t. A week later, Hugh Jackman posted on his social media that he was going to add ONE additional show. Just one. But it was all I needed. Just like the previous time, I set my alarm and was all set. That weekend, the tickets went on sale and this time, it happened. I got through to the final page and got a seat for a very affordable price. I was so excited! I was going to see Hugh Jackman Live!! Now all I had to do was wait for 5 months for the actual concert.
Fast forward to the 7th of June.
I wanted to be there well in advance and I took the tube accordingly. My luck, there were some issues on the Jubilee Line and the train was delayed by almost 30-40 mins. Finally, I made it to the O2 Arena at 6:35, ran to finish the security checks and was in my seat by 6:55 just in time for the show.
What followed were two and a half hours of pure musical and theatrical excellence. He opened with a video montage of all his roles (from Wolverine to Jean Valjean to P.T.Barnum), while the prelude to ‘The Greatest Show’ was playing in the background. At the end of the video which coincided with the start of the first verse, the crowd went wild because there he was, Hugh Jackman, at the centre with the spotlight on him!
The concert had the perfect setlist. It covered popular numbers from the yesteryears such as Singing In The Rain and Over The Rainbow, to the new songs from the movie ‘The Greatest Showman’, ‘Les Misérables’, etc. We also got to see the legendary song ‘This Is Me’ being performed live by Keala Settle.
The entire performance was quite interactive. The audience could tell he cared deeply about his fans. There was an instance when Hugh got down from the stage to talk to the people nearby. He even danced with one of his fans and accepted a cardboard cut-out of P.T.Barnum that an 11-year old had made for him. There was another instance when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, that an audience member was having a medical emergency. So, he stopped the show halfway until the person was stabilised and safely taken outside before continuing with the show.
All-in-all, the evening was colourful and immensely entertaining, thanks to Hugh Jackman and his triple talents-acting, singing and dancing. The show was organized, choreographed, sung and executed to perfection. Worth every penny!
By the end, there wasn’t a single audience member who didn’t agree with the fact that he truly is the greatest showman!
