He lacked polish in San Francisco, but somehow Hugh Jackman brings Anna Wintour and Ted Turner to Toronto

It seems like Toronto is becoming a go-to destination for international VIPs and theatre buffs alike, thanks to Hugh Jackman’s latest on-stage foray in the city. Both media mogul Ted Turner and Vogue editor Anna Wintour were in town to watch Hugh Jackman In Concert at the Princess of Wales theatre, as were other producers and Broadway theatre owners. Needless to say, Jackman’s latest on-stage project is being pegged as Broadway’s potential next big hit. Who would have guessed?

“It’s Great to see Toronto once again as a celebrity destination,” John Karastamatis, marketing director for Mirvish Productions, told the Toronto Star. It seemed at first that Toronto wasn’t a lucky pick to debut the show, since Hugh Jackman in Concert first opened in San Francisco in May to shaky reviews. But having polished and perfected the act, Jackman chose Toronto over Chicago on short notice to debut the final product. Timing also played a role in this Toronto debut, since shooting for Jackman’s upcoming Wolverine movie was pushed back to the fall, while a starring role as Jean Valjean in a cinematic version of Les Miserables has been pushed to January 2012, leaving the summer open for more performances. Whatever the reason, Toronto is happy to host the X-Men star, who shot the initial film in the series based on the comic book in Toronto a decade ago. Now all we need is the premiere showing of X-Men: the musical and we’ll show Broadway who is boss (and, we guess, claim Hugh Jackman as our own).

• Knelman: Hugh Jackman mania draws Broadway players to Toronto [Toronto Star]