Hugh Jackman's Wife Claims Responsibility For 'Viva Laughlin' Bombing
When one's creatively adventurous casino musical murder mystery bombs so spectacularly that everyone involved is still picking the bloody sequins from the costumes of cabaret dancers killed in the low-rated blast out of their hair several days later, one can either go into hiding, hoping the media will stop calling to find out What Went Wrong, or one can hold one's head high to proclaim (in song, preferably), "Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" We're not sure which route Hugh Jackman eventually plans to take, but his wife has chosen the latter option:
"We are obviously very disappointed, but you have to take risks in this business," Deborra-Lee Furness said Wednesday in Sydney.
"Viva Laughlin" was the first project for Jackman's Australian production company, Seed, which he owns with Furness. "Doing a drama that is a musical is going to be a huge risk," Furness said. "If I'm going to fail, I want to fail spectacularly, and it seems like we did."
Furness described her 39-year-old husband, who had a minor role in the show, as "fabulous."
"He did it for fun," she said.
Undeterred by Laughlin's failure, Furness went on to announce their production company's next bold foray into network television: a still-untitled, silent telenovela set at a bowling alley in Palm Springs, in which Jackman will occasionally guest star as a mysterious pinsetter who communicates only through dance, noting, "It's going to be amazing. Next time, we're only going to make it through the first premiere night act break before CBS pulls the plug."