Moulin Rouge! will be returning to its theatrical roots (in a sense) with the announcement that the acclaimed film will be coming to the stage as a new musical.
For now everything is still very much in the developmental stages, with a production timeline and venue still to be announced. So what do we know so far?
Well, Global Creatures will be producing the musical, marking their second foray into the work of Baz Luhrmann, with their co-production of Strictly Ballroom The Musical premiering in Australia in 2014. The company were also behind Walking with Dinosaurs and How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular touring shows.
The book will be provided by Tony Award winner John Logan, who’s name you may recognise from his play Red for which he won the Tony. Logan is also the co-writer of the book for the musical The Last Ship and is the author of over a dozen plays. You may however, be more familiar with his work on film and television where he’s been involved in the writing of the last two Bond movies, and created the television series Penny Dreadful.
It’s also been announced that Tony Award nominee and Golden Globe Winner Alex Timbers will be directing. Timbers Broadway credits include Rocky, Peter and the Starcatcher and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Timbers too has found himself involved in television, and is the co-creator and executive producer of the TV show Mozart in the Jungle.
Global Creatures CEO Carmen Pavlovic said, “Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin are so special to Global Creatures and I’m thrilled that we have the opportunity to partner with them once again to bring their ground-breaking work to the stage. Moulin Rouge! is a film begging to be theatricalized. I can think of no better creative collaborators than Alex Timbers and John Logan to realise this new musical.”
Following the announcement Baz Luhrmann, the original film’s director, producer and co-writer gave the new musical production his tick of approval saying, “It’s immensely gratifying to know that a new wave of artists will be leading Moulin Rouge! into its rightful theatrical realm.”
For more information visit the Global Creatures Facebook
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