Hugh Jackman ’Excited’ to Make Musical Magic on Broadway in Houdini

Given his Tony-winning success in The Boy from Oz and sold-out run in A Steady Rain, Hugh Jackman tops every Broadway producer’s wish list. So, is he headed back to the Great White Way soon in a musical biography of Harry Houdini? “We’re going to do a workshop of that in January [2011], so we’re off and running,” he told Broadway.com on opening night of Driving Miss Daisy. “We have some amazing people on board: [writer] Aaron Sorkin, [composer] Danny Elfman, [director] Jack O’Brien. It’s going to be a really, really interesting group, so I’m excited.”

A Houdini musical has been in the works for a couple of years, and Jackman’s involvement may help speed up the process. But the star says it’s just one of several stage projects in development. “I’m working on two or three things, because I don’t want to be away from the stage for too long,” he said. “New musicals take a long time to get into shape, so I have a feeling it may be something else first [on Broadway]. But if [Houdini] is ready, I’ll do that. I’m practicing my magic tricks right now.”

Jackman had less to say about a planned feature film version of Carousel in which he would reportedly star as Billy Bigelow opposite Anne Hathaway as Julie Jordan. “We love it, I love it, and we’re working on it,” he said. “Now we just have to convince people to pay for it!” Pony up, Hollywood: We want to hear Jackman’s “Soliloquy” ASAP!