EXCLUSIVE:Moulin Rouge!
Luhrmann tells me that its so gratifying that breaking even is such a big deal in the theater.
As an antipodean, hes especially gratified withMoulin Rouge!s hit status in Australia.
Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Bill Damaschke, Alex Timbers and Carmen Pavlovic with the creative team.Matthew Murphy; Michelle Grace Hunder; Baz Bamigboye/Deadline
We hit recoupment on Broadway whenever we did, a long time now, Pavlovic confirms.
But undermining that reticence is grit.
The reason I went to them as opposed to many, many other offers and opportunities, Luhrmann says.
From left: Catherine Martin, Baz Luhrmann, Carmen Pavlovic andAlex Timbers(Photo: Matthew Murphy)
is that Carmen and her partner Gerry had this show on, which was the dinosaur showWalking with Dinosaurs.
And at first it ran into some difficulty, but they really stood by it until it worked.
And I thought, Thats great.
Also helped that they both are Australian.
So that was great.
Importantly, Luhrmann knew that directing the theater version was off the table.
I thought, Gee, Alex is just like me but 20 years ago or a generation earlier.
I think thats the credit, as well as having some underlying rights.
Luhrmann says that he happily accepted what Timbers and his creative spun from his creation.
The good news story is that they did things Im sure I wouldnt have done.
And I think thats the rub, he says.
Is that a good idea?
So I went like, You know what?
Im here not to impose my creative point of view.
Im here to support artists that weve engaged.
And I was Alex at some point, he adds wistfully.
Luhrmann admits though that he intervened when they were really messy in the third act.
Its about the biggest contribution I made.
bring them toys and go to opening nights and Great, marvelous, keep going.
Thats kind of me.
But leaving now, the children need a horse.
You just cant get a ticket; its going to run for five years, he says, elated.
It wasnt always so.
world premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, the initial reaction at the first press screening was lukewarm.
It didnt sizzle until its red carpet gala later that evening.
I never go into these things going, Gee,I expect everyone to love it, he shrugs.
And Nicole was amazing in that moment actually.
Just play some music.
Actually, I was present when Kidman uttered those words.
And I happened to be in Sydney with my family when the movie was shooting there.
We kept bumping into Kidman, McGregor and Broadbent.
Moulin Rouge!gave Luhrmann a foothold in America, where it did well.
But the film went gangbusters internationally.
There was this argument that it was too theatrical.
This was 20-odd years ago, he says laughing.
And, look,Moulin Rouge!
The Musicaland re-look at the music.
So that was my battle.
Pavolvic had her own theater of war to contend with.
Then in March 2020, as they were full on planning its Tony Award campaign, theaters shut.
Plans to launch the U.S. tour in November 2020 were in abeyance until the following June.
Dates for the West End came and went.
Over in Oz, the drama offstage was so intense that nerves were jangling.
I mean, it is for any show, but for the Australian market, its really a lot.
A show like this could help the city of Melbourne to recover, they reasoned.
And that sort of became our story onstage and offstage.
They really didnt have a choice, she tells me.
People in the office were in tears and declared to her office, Were going ahead with the show.
She remembers warning that its going to be hard and we might lose everything.
I just said, Weve just got to try.
Thats the tenacity Luhrmann recognized in Global Creatures from the get-go.
Its a quality that would be tested to the limit in coming days, weeks and months.
In June 2021, rehearsals began in Sydney in readiness to open in Melbourne.
The sets were being loaded into the citys Regent Theatre.
They could see Covid cases climbing everywhere.
The Delta outbreak was running rampant.
An urgent call came in.
Look, the borders will close and you cant wait a week to get down here.
If you dont get down here, the caller told them.
Border applications went in instantly.
The company gathered at 5 oclock on a Monday afternoon to be updated.
Four hours later, a hundred people were rung.
We grabbed a kid each, Pavlovic says, raising an eyebrow.
They both have two children.
The ones that remained stayed with their daddies.
The CEO has a memory of walking to the theater on her allotted day and police barricades were everywhere.
Permits were demanded at every turn.
And then these riots started.
We were walking from the theater back to the hotel through riots and police choppers everywhere, she says.
The two women got two desks for our kids and tried to homeschool them.
Right, you two, go and start your online lessons.
And five minutes later wed hear the pool table.
And for a lot of them, the borders had closed.
When, finally, they did cross over, they were banged up for a fortnight.
The costumes were fitted over Zoom.
I love those costume makers sitting in their hotel rooms and finishing them off.
Its just incredible, Pavlovic marvels.
The virus was far from done.
Rehearsals shut down, and the creatives left and went back to New York.
The first preview was months later on November 12, 2021 the same day as the often-delayed London production.
Because you could come into the call with your list of all the things you needed to do.
And we made all the best choices.
Everyone had been completely confident about the U.S. national tour launching in Chicago months into the future.
Another wave of Omicron dashed that.
Rehearsals were pushed another month, and the Windy City engagement was cut shorter.
And it was smart to do that, but people were disappointed, he adds.
And so, you make the best decisions you’re free to.
We all held hands, and then we pivoted frequently.
The tours been on the road now since last year.
Both Damaschke and Pavlovic used the words passion and commitment as the watchwords that guided them.
Its underneath everything, Damaschke adds.
At one point during the pandemic, Pavlovic settled wages for Global Creatures staff out of her own pocket.
We continue to face other cost increases, Pavlovic laments.
Such as the price of airfares and freight that went up and never came down.
Fabric for costumes, plus timber and steel costs also have skyrocketed.
Covid remains the uninvited guest.
Even in July 2023, we continue to lose performances periodically, most recently in London and Germany.
Pavlovic takes pride in the crack team she and Damaschke assembled.
Rocking back in her chair, the creative executive allows herself a smile.
It also was a great show in its own right.
And to do that from Australia, hits and misses along the way.
He saw his homeland as a lucky country but was doubtful whether it deserved it.
By the way, so far 1 million people have seenMoulin Rouge!in Australia.
Pretty good for nation with a population of 25 million.
By that measure alone,Moulin Rouge!
The Musicaldeserves its good luck.
