True confession: I’m addicted to BBC’s popping new sci-fi series, Torchwood. I love the time travel conceit (“there’s a rift in the universe” has become one of my favorite exclamations); the slobbering monsters evoking creatures from some black lagoon; the sarcastic humor and best of all, the unapologetic, ambidextrous sexuality its creators weave into the general action with finesse—and unbridled hotness. Take that, American television!
John Barrowman, his dimpled chin and sparkling blue eyes pixilated with Bondian purpose, plays Captain Jack Harkness. One week he’s smooching a naval officer in dress whites, the next he’s flinging fists and swapping spit with an ex-lover who’s returned from the past to wreak havoc (haven’t we all dated one of those?). In another life Barrowman happens to be a musical theater star—just caught his performance on a DVD of Putting It Together, a Sondheim revue that had a brief run on Broadway in 1999. It’s a mixed bag, one of those Cameron Mackintosh bright ideas that don’t quite jell, but not Barrowman. When he sings “Marry Me a Little,” the heartbreaking gem cut from the original production of Company (but re-instated for every subsequent revival), he’s absolutely towering. Worth a look.
