“Where Are The Hits, Alex?”

Alex Timbers and Baz Luhrmann discuss what it’s like bringing Moulin Rouge! to Broadway.

- Jackson McHenry

NORMALLY such a strong reinterpretation of the work you’ve done happens after you’re dead,” Baz Luhrmann says, reclining on a couch as if engaging in a fabulous therapy session. We’re in a dusty lounge in midtown’s 3 West Club, discussing the stage adaptation of his 2001 film Moulin Rouge!—which is set in Montmartre in 1900 yet includes a tango version of “Roxanne” and the hit-filled cluster bomb that is the “Elephant Love Medley.” Luhrmann isn’t directing the stage version; he has handed it off to Alex Timbers, who memorably (and maximally) mixed history and modern music for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and the Imelda Marcos musical, Here Lies Love. (He also directed the Rocky and Beetlejuice adaptations.) In Moulin Rouge!’s Boston run, Timbers added samples from Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and Sia’s “Chandelier,” among others. Expect more. “A lot of artists grew up loving this movie,” says Timbers, always respectful to Luhrmann and sticking to his talking points.

Why not direct this yourself, Baz?

BAZ LUHRMANN: I came to a place where I realized I didn’t want to do theatrical versions of my movies. I can’t be that 35-year-old trying to crack the code of a movie musical again, which is why I was so thrilled about finding Alex. He feels like a younger cousin of mine in terms of theatrical language and storytelling.

ALEX TIMBERS: Baz and I met at a dinner party, and I think we ended up talking about Ken Russell movies?

BL: Probably. We might have had a couple of wines.