Hugh Jackman brings jokes, drama and John Denver to opening night at the Hollywood Bowl

Strumming a achromatic acoustic guitar to lucifer his achromatic tuxedo pants and jacket, Hugh Jackman strolled onto the signifier of the Hollywood Bowl and fto the assemblage cognize precisely what it was successful for.

“Little spot of Neil Diamond,” helium said arsenic the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra revved up the go-go self-improvement jive of “Crunchy Granola Suite.”

A dedicated pupil of showbiz history, the Australian vocalist and histrion was starting his performance Saturday nighttime conscionable arsenic Diamond did fractional a period agone astatine the Greek Theatre gig famously captured connected his classical “Hot August Night” LP.

Yet Diamond was conscionable 1 of the flamboyant showmen Jackman aspired to emulate arsenic helium headlined the opening nighttime of the Bowl’s 2025 season. Later successful the concert, the 56-year-old sang a medley of tunes by Peter Allen, the Australian songwriter and Manhattan bon vivant whom Jackman portrayed connected Broadway successful 2003 successful “The Boy From Oz.” And past determination was P.T. Barnum, whose vocation arsenic a shaper of spectacle inspired the 2017 blockbuster “The Greatest Showman,” which starred Jackman arsenic Barnum and spawned a surprise-hit soundtrack that went quadruple-platinum.

“There’s 17,000 of you, and if immoderate of you did not spot ‘The Greatest Showman,’ you mightiness beryllium reasoning close now: This feline is super-confident,” Jackman told the crowd, panting ever truthful somewhat aft helium sang the movie’s rubric song, which has much than 625 cardinal streams connected Spotify.

The occurrence of “Showman” notwithstanding, Jackman’s marque of stage-and-screen razzle-dazzle feels reasonably uncommon successful popular euphony these days among antheral performers. (The theater-kid infinitesimal that helped marque “Wicked” a improvement was astir exclusively engineered — and has astir exclusively benefited — women specified arsenic Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Chappell Roan and Laufey.) What makes Jackman’s jazz-handing adjacent much singular is that to galore he’s champion known arsenic the extravagantly mutton-chopped Wolverine quality from the Marvel movies.

Before Jackman’s show connected Saturday, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Wilkins, played a little acceptable of orchestral euphony that included selections from John Ottman’s people for “X2: X-Men United.”

The ascent of Benson Boone, with his mustache and his backflips, suggests that Jackman whitethorn yet find inheritors to transportation connected the contented helium himself was bequeathed by Diamond and the rest. But of people that assumes that Jackman is looking to walk the baton, which was not astatine each the content you got from his spirited and diversion 90-minute amusement astatine the Bowl.

In summation to worldly from “The Greatest Showman” and a swinging tribute to Frank Sinatra, helium did a 2nd Diamond tune — “Sweet Caroline,” naturally, which helium said figures into an upcoming movie successful which helium plays a Diamond impersonator — and a mates of Jean Valjean’s numbers from “Les Misérables,” which Jackman sang successful the 2012 movie adaptation that earned him an Academy Award information for pb actor. (With an Emmy, a Grammy and 2 Tonys to his name, he’s an Oscar triumph distant from EGOT status.)

Hugh Jackman with members of the L.A. Phil’s Youth Orchestra Los Angeles connected Saturday night.

(Timothy Norris)

For “You Will Be Found,” from “Dear Evan Hansen,” helium sat down down a expansive soft and accompanied himself for a bit; for the motor-mouthed “Ya Got Trouble,” from “The Music Man” — the archetypal amusement helium ever did arsenic a precocious schoolhouse kid, helium pointed retired — helium came retired into the crowd, weaving among the Bowl’s boxes and interacting with assemblage members arsenic helium sang.

“I conscionable saw a batch of friends arsenic I went through,” helium said erstwhile helium returned to the stage. “Hello, Melissa Etheridge and Linda. Hello, Jess Platt. Hi, Steph, hi, David, hi, Sophia, hi, Orlando — truthful galore friends. Very hard to accidental hullo to friends and inactive bash that dialogue.” He was panting again, this clip much showily. “It’s similar 53 degrees and I’m sweating.”

The show’s comedic centerpiece was a mentation of John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” that Jackman remade to observe his roots arsenic an “Aussie boy.” There were good-natured jokes astir shark attacks and koalas and Margot Robbie, arsenic good arsenic a fewer pointed governmental gibes, 1 astir however “our leaders aren’t 100 years old” — “I’m moving connected from that gag fast,” helium added — and different that rhymed “Life down nether is truly rather fun” with “I ne'er person to worry: Does that feline person a gun?”

The affectional centerpiece, meanwhile, was “Showman’s” “A Million Dreams,” for which the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra was joined by 18 members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestra Los Angeles. The opus itself is beauteous cringe, with a lyric bogged down by cliches and a melody you’ve heard a zillion times before. But Jackman sold its corny idealism with a huckster’s sincerity you couldn’t assistance but buy.