Wait Until You Hear Jake Gyllenhaal Sing During Rehearsals For His Broadway Musical Debut

When you think about Jake Gyllenhaal, what do you think? For me, I think a Hollywood star with serious indie cred (“Donnie Darko,” “Lovely and Amazing,” and “Nightcrawler”) who once, bizarrely, dated Taylor Swift.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQPdAouDWJI/?tagged=donniedarko

(Bizarre how, you ask? Well, for me, picturing Taylor Swift having dinner with Jake, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard is like imagining a Disney squirrel hanging out at a gritty tattoo parlor.)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQQIwFtFqki/?tagged=donniedarko

But I digress. Today we are here about the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal is so much more than a brooding indie star. He also is an… amazing singer? Yep, that’s kind of a surprise. But after you watch this video of Gyllenhaal rehearsing for his first role in a Broadway musical, you’ll be a believer. Yes, you heard me—he is going to star in a musical. Sounds strange, right? Until you see him perform… then it all makes sense.

Have you watched it yet? And that is just the rehearsal! Not only does he have a pitch-perfect voice, but he brings a real gravitas and charisma to the role that would probably shock most Broadway fans.

Gyllenhaal is playing the lead role in “Sunday in the Park with George,” a popular Stephen Sondheim musical. The song he is singing in the video above (“Finishing the Hat”) is one of the show’s biggest hits and is a poignant number about the loneliness of artists and the obsession with creating a masterpiece.

“Sunday in the Park with George” was inspired by a painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,” by Georges Seurat. The play explores how an artist (a fictionalized Georges) attempts to create art and imbue meaning into his work, all while ignoring the needs of those around him, most notably that of his lover Dot.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQQlk2rgxCd/?tagged=jakegyllenhaal&hl=en

To attend this incredible revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical (and to see Jake Gyllenhaal’s amazing performance in person), click here to buy tickets. Break a leg, Jake!