Alex Timbers and Baz Luhrmann discuss what it’s like bringing Moulin Rouge! to Broadway.
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.
Denne historien er fra June 24 - July 7, 2019-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra June 24 - July 7, 2019-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Enchanting and Exhausting
Wicked makes a charming but bloated film.
Nicole Kidman Lets Loose
She's having a grand old time playing wealthy matriarchs on the verge of blowing their lives up.
How Mike Myers Makes His Own Reality
Directing him in Austin Powers taught me what it means to be really, truly funny.
The Art of Surrender
Four decades into his career, Willem Dafoe is more curious about his craft than ever.
The Big Macher Restaurant Is Back
ON A WARM NIGHT in October, a red carpet ran down a length of East 26th Street.
Showing Its Age
Borgo displays a confidence that can he only from experience.
Keeping It Simple on Lower Fifth
Jack Ceglic and Manuel Fernandez-Casteleiro's apartment is full of stories but not distractions.
REASON TO LOVE NEW YORK
THERE'S NOT MUCH in New York that has staying power. Every other day, a new scandal outscandals whatever we were just scandalized by; every few years, a hotter, scarier downtown set emerges; the yoga studio up the block from your apartment that used to be a coffee shop has now become a hybrid drug front and yarn store.
Disunion: Ingrid Rojas Contreras
A Rift in the Family My in-laws gave me a book by a eugenicist. Our relationship is over.
Gwen Whiting
Two years after a mass recall and a bacterial outbreak, the founder of the Laundress is on cleanup duty.
