I dont know if this has ever been mentioned before but I just saw this the other day.
You probably know, that the stage musical The Boy from Oz, was first staged in Australia, and the star of the Australian version is a popular Australian entertainer called Todd McKenny.
The other night on TV there was This is Your Life on Todd McKenny, actually filmed and shown here quite a few years ago, and the subject of "The Boy from Oz" came up.
Todd, was in line to play the part in America, until the producers decided they wanted someone well know in America to play the part. Todd, as you can imagine, was very disappointed not to get his chance for overseas recognition. But when he was talking about it on the show, he said, that before Hugh Jackman went for the audition, he phoned Todd, and said, that he would NOT audition if it meant losing the friendship or respect of Todd. Todd's reply was that if anyone could do the part justice to Peter Allen,Hugh was the one, and gave him his blessing......the rest is history.
I was very touched by the respect and integrity of both Hugh and Todd....both wonderful proud Australians.
Todd went on to do other stage shows here in Australia, and is a judge on our version of Dancing with the Stars. He is openly gay, and very popular with Australian audiences.
