'X-Men' descend on Broadway

NEW YORK, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Sunday night's Broadway opening of Harold Pinter's play, "The Caretaker," is set to be something of an "X-Men" reunion, as well.

Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen and James Marsden are all expected to cheer on "X-Men" co-star Patrick Stewart at the opening night of the Roundabout Theatre Company's new Broadway production of the three-man drama.

An actor who appears as comfortable making blockbusters like the "X-Men" and "Star Trek" movies as he is performing Ibsen and Pinter on stage, Stewart recently told reporters in New York he takes all acting equally serious and sees the amount of text he needs to memorize for a role as the only major difference between the two media.

"The moment you don't (take your work seriously,) give it up," Stewart instructed. "The fact that at the center of 'X-Men 2: United,' there are these two characters: the leader of the Brotherhood, the leader of the X-Men, and it is as important, as serious a piece of work as Strindberg or Ibsen. You don't short-change the work because it happens to be a comic-book franchise for a studio."

Stewart is currently sharing the Great White Way with Jackman, star of the dazzling new musical, "The Boy from Oz," but it's not the first time he has worked in a stone's throw away from an "X-Men" co-star. Last spring, Stewart headlined a West End production of Henrik Ibsen's "The Master Builder" while McKellen starred in August Strindberg's "Dance of Death."