Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig drama sets Broadway record

Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig drama sets Broadway record

Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig have drawn record ticket sales for their new Broadway drama "A Steady Rain", its producers said on Tuesday.

The producers said that the play about two Chicago policeman broke the record for the highest weekly box office gross for a non-musical production on Broadway, taking in $1.17 million in the week ending September 20.

"A Steady Rain", written by Keith Huff, was a hit in Chicago before being brought to Broadway. Here in the drama, Jackman and Craig portray two Windy City cops, Denny and Joey, offering different accounts of a harrowing event that changed their lives.

Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York post critic, said that Jackman was "vastly appealing" but miscast as a self-destructive troublemaker.

Vincentelli wrote in her column, "Craig, his upper lip swallowed whole by a police-issue mustache, fares better and single-handedly lifts up the show. Craig and Jackman were clearly eager to appear on stage together. Too bad they picked a clunky squad car for a vehicle".

Ben Brantley, New York Times critic, wrote in his column that the play "is probably best regarded as a small, wobbly pedestal on which two gods of the screen may stand in order to be worshiped".

Hugh Jackman, who starred in Hollywood hit movies like "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", has starred on stage before. He won a Broadway's top honor, Tony, for his portrayal of singer/songwriter Peter Allen in "The Boy from Oz" in 2004.

Daniel Craig, who made his Broadway debut, has a strong record on the London stage.