Hugh Jackman is back, and we're glad

The title, "Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway," is precise but a little misleading. When Jackman was here the first time, he was an Australian action movie-star hunk who made a smashing Broadway debut -- and won the 2004 Tony -- singing and dancing and channeling gay icon Peter Allen in the otherwise mediocre "The Boy from Oz."

In contrast, his new 10-week engagement, already setting box-office and ticket-price records at the Broadhurst Theatre, is a nightclub act. The singular gotta-dance Hollywood superstar -- on hiatus before bulking up for another Wolverine movie -- works the room with easygoing charm, high-voltage charisma and, after a bit of a strained start Tuesday, blithe showmanship.

He seems to be a genuinely nice guy. He calls us the "best audience in the world." He asks "are there any Aussies here?" and brings one onstage to dance with the cheesecake sextet he almost paternally calls his girls. He gets adoring audiences to sing along with the impressive 18-member orchestra. He shows us a montage of his movie highlights, lovingly presents some haunting musicians from the Outback and, having changed from black pants and jacket to the gold lame outfit he wore as Peter Allen, sits in the lap of a woman in a box seat.

"Oh, gosh, I'm getting hot!" he says, inquiring whether we, too, are getting hot before grinding his hips to the bumps in "Fever."

As Jackman obviously knows, he enjoys a rare crossover appeal to middle-age women, gay men and the action-flick fans. And enjoy it, he does.

The two-hour show, directed by Warren Carlyle with no credited writer, begins with "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' " from the "Oklahoma!" that made Jackman's London reputation but came here without him. He doesn't mention his stage career back home in -- picture this -- "Sunset Boulevard" and "Beauty and the Beast." But he does tell us how, after rugby practice, young Hugh would soak up classic movie musicals.

It is this section that shows off his terrific dancing, his crazy-feet tapping, his ability to hover in the air and devour the expanse of the stage with dazzling insouciance. His tangy -- if occasionally pitch-wobbly -- voice can linger a bit monotonously in heady nasality these days.But when the nightclub routines stop and he sings a ravishing "Soliloquy" from "Carousel," he reminds us of the theater artist we really want back.

WHAT "Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway"

WHERE Broadhurst Theatre, 235 W. 44th St.

INFO $68.50-$176.50; 212-239-6200; hughjackmanonbroadway.com

BOTTOM LINE Charming, high-voltage nightclub act