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'Oz'cars: Jackman, Luhrman Plan Musical Number
Sunday , January 25, 2009
By Roger Friedman
'Oz'cars: Jackman, Luhrman Plan Musical
Number
The plans for the 2009 Academy Awards show are oh so hush hush. The producers
won’t even tell us who’s presenting until they arrive on the show. Imagine
reclusive stars like Lassie, Doris Day,
J.D. Salinger and Justin with
Britney and Jessica Biel!
Well, the line up will probably be more serious than that, but here’s a
little scoop about the potential opening number. Seems “Australia†and “Moulin
Rouge†director Baz Luhrmann, was telling friends about his
role in all this at the Australia Week festivities here in New York this past
week.
You want to know why Oscar host Hugh Jackman has been seen
all over town lately? Well, he has asked Luhrmann and Catherine
Martin -- the director’s wife -- to choreograph and produce a big
opening musical number for him for the Oscars.
This should be something on the level of Busby Berkley and
somehow make reference to all this year’s big films. You can almost envision
Jackman -- a song and dance man trapped in a Wolverine -- in top hat and tails,
doing his Fred Astaire thing to Bruce
Vilanche’s rhymes about "The Reader," "Slumdog Millionaire," "Ben
Button," "Frost/Nixon" and "Milk." Maybe throw "The Dark Knight," "Doubt" and a
couple of others in just for fun.
Sounds like Oscar producer for the night Bill Condon is
trying to come up with some eye catching, popular stuff to make viewers keep
their recently digitized TVs tuned to ABC. If anyone can do it, he can, that’s
for sure. Here’s an idea Bill: intersperse an Oscar-centric episode of “Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire†with all the nominees playing for charity.
Regis can host, and you can torture the players who get the
wrong answers! So when no one remembers the names of the 1984 supporting actress
nominees, they get a little electric shock!
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