Baby, it's Hugh

Australian dreamboat and all-around wonderful entertainer Hugh Jackman is about to take the Bay Area by storm. And if he doesn't, he'll be back to settle our hash in his full Wolverine drag.This week, Jackman opens a brand-new song-and-dance extravaganza at the Curran Theatre, courtesy of SHN. It'll be like what we've seen him do on the Tony Awards and Academy Awards telecasts, which is to say, he'll charm everyone for miles around and leave us wanting more.I had 15 minutes on the phone with Jackman, which became a feature in today's San Francisco Chronicle. Read the story here.Because I had so little time with him, there wasn't a lot of material from the interview that didn't make it into the final article, but there were a couple of things.While on Broadway starring in The Boy from Oz playing gay Australian entertainer Peter Allen, Jackman was called upon to kiss co-star Jerrod Emick. Some of Jackman's sci-fi/action movie fans weren't quite prepared for that. Jackson recalls one fateful night on stage: "I'm about to kiss Jerrod, who's playing my boyfriend, and someone in the audience shouts out, 'Don't do it, Wolverine!' That turned into the longest kiss in history because I was laughing so much I couldn't let go. It would have been too obvious I was laughing. But the whole audience cracked up as well."On various awards shows, Jackman and Anne Hathaway have been adorable together. Jackman says they have talked about doing a movie musical. "I thought I was busy in film. She's really busy in film. We talk about musicals all the time and would really like to do one together."Years ago, in Australia, Jackman turned down the role of bad-guy Javert in stage prdouction of Les Miserables there. Now that Jackman has expressed interest in doing the movie of Les Miz, he says, "I'd be more interested in being Jean Valjean." The hero, of course.The last time Jackman was on Broadway, he was in the play A Steady Rain opposite Daniel Craig (aka James Bond). I asked Jackman if he tried to convince Craig to do a musical. "Daniel Craig in a musical -- no, that's the audacity of hope. I don't think that'll happen. He's a brilliant performer, one of the funniest guys I know. But I don't think he'll be doing high kicks any time soon."[bonus video: Hugh Jackman sings "One Night Only" on the 2004 Tony Awards and high kicks with the Rockettes!]FOR MORE INFORMATIONHugh Jackman in Performance at the Curran Theatre continues through May 15 at the Curran Theatre, 445 Geary St., San Francisco. Tickets are $40-$250. Call 888-746-1799 or visit www.shnsf.com.