I was skeptical when I read that tickets to Hugh Jackman’s shows at Radio City weren’t selling like hotcakes.
But listen: the Ticketmaster maps of Radio City for Hugh’s shows are dotted blue oceans. You can sit anywhere, not for much money. On StubHub there are tickets going for as low as $26.
This is Hugh Jackman, lovable star of “The Music Man.” Wolverine, the great Marvel anti-hero. “Deadpool and Wolverine” made a trillion dollars.
But after the first two shows in April, things have gone south. At the first show his buddy Ryan Reynolds came and introduced him. There was a smattering of celebrities. It all looked very buzzy.
What happened next is a publicist’s nightmare. Hugh left his wife, Debora Lee Furness, after 36 years. He dumped her despite their years of PDA. Hugh, who a lot of people thought was gay, was outta there.
Next came the Blake Lively mess, with Hugh — like Taylor Swift — getting pulled into the drama of “It Ends with Us.” There were lawsuits with Justin Baldoni and miles of video on tabloid shows. The back and forth became fodder for all wags. And there was Hugh, an innocent bystander.
Finally came the news that Hugh had been hooking up with “Music Man” co-star Sutton Foster for a while. He left the wife for her. Foster who has a halo on Broadway was suddenly in the middle of a scandal. Hugh, always the hero, now looked like a villain as Furness started coming out with the story.
That is not a good time to book more than a dozen shows headlining Radio City. The results are pretty awful. One reason might be lack of publicity. It feels like Hugh depended solely on good will to sell tickets. Jackman has 15 more shows to sell with three this weekend.
But it’s more than likely that his affair and divorce are a turn off to his largely female audience. Women don’t want to be reminded this could happen to them.
Below is a typical seat map.
