As rumors swirled that Justin Timberlake would be filling in Hugh Jackman‘s dancing shoes as Harold Hill in The Music Man on Broadway, Warren Carlyle left us on our toes while chatting at the Tony Awards on June 12! The Tony nominated choreographer for The Music Man revival starring Hugh and Sutton Foster revealed he would “love to dance with Justin Timberlake,” adding “that’s all I’m going to say,” in an EXCLUSIVE interview with HollywoodLife! When asked if the former *NSYNC star could handle Broadway, Warren replied, “Oh yeah. Oh yeah.”
It sounds like there may be some truth to those rumors. Hugh is in contract to remain in the musical for a year, but after that, Justin Timberlake could definitely be an option as his replacement. Now, who would replace Sutton as Marian?
In an interview with Hoda Kotb on The Today Show, Hugh added to the rumors that he was grooming the “Cry Me A River” singer for the role of the Professor. “I’ll open for Justin Timberlake any day. That’d be awesome. JT, c’mon, I’m happy,” he joked. The Wolverine star added that he would be happy to fill in for JT on his tour, suggesting they simply swap roles!
“I’ll just step in, JT, don’t worry. If you’re (touring) stadiums, don’t worry, I’m there. Actually could you take me with you on the stadium (tour)? That’d be great,” the actor laughed. In the end, Hugh added, “We’ll see. Actually he’d be great in the part, he’s a great actor JT.”
Page Six originally broke the news that Justin was in talks to replace Hugh in 2023 as Professor Harold Hill in the lead role of the Meredith Wilson revival. However, at the time, a source close to Timberlake’s team said the chatter was false. Still, from what Warren hinted at, things may very well be moving along with Justin to make his Broadway debut!