B roadway favorites Karen Olivo and Aaron Tveit may have top billing at Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical , but they are not the only stars of the highly-anticipated show; that credit goes to the many elements of the production design, which is in and of itself a character in this high-concept, immersive experience. An adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 marvel of a movie musical, Moulin Rouge! , starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, the story centers on Christian, an impoverished, aspiring American singer-songwriter who vies for the affection of Parisian beauty Satine, the headliner of the famed cabaret night club Moulin Rouge. The jukebox musical features more than seventy hits spanning decades, all of which are accompanied by unforgettable, innovative visual artistry. Director Alex Timbers, the luminary behind such iconographic treats as Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson , Peter and the Starcatcher and Beetlejuice , is at the helm of Rouge , which stunned audiences at its out- of-town tryout last year in Boston. Over the past six years he has been crafting a show that envelops audiences the moment they enter the theater, which has been transformed in its entirety into the “actual” Moulin Rouge. “I thought a lot about the scenic envelope for the show,” he recalls of the concept for the audience’s entrance. “From the first conversation I had with Baz, it felt important that you’re in this club.” Timbers says that he has always been interested in world creation and the idea of “the audience and actors being in a room together, without the footlights separating you.” When audiences arrive at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre they will find a pre- show in progress, featuring actors already performing in a show-within-a-show. “You’re entering the club in motion a little bit,” he adds. “This is about mood and atmosphere. It’s going to be really exotic and transporting.” For Timbers, it is also crucial for audiences to have a role in the show. “If you’re in a club scene, are they the actual audience at the Moulin Rouge?” he says of the questions he asked himself while creating the show, “versus, in this intimate book scene, are they people voyeuristically listening in? It’s a delicious proposition for the director because you get to do those big shifts where you’re
looking in on the action and then you’re right there and part of the action. Those can instantaneously switch.” Derek McLane’s scenic design was instrumental in breaking the fourth wall as well. He says they “break the proscenium frequently with passerelles and ramps out in the theatre that people come out to during the course of the show.”
piece of design. That was both challenging and exciting, figuring out how to honor the spirit of the movie and its design, and also make it something new.” To accomplish this, McLane wanted to convey a strong sense of 1899 in the Montmartre district of Paris, the show’s setting. Coincidentally, his childhood in
Over the past six years he has been crafting a show that envelops audiences the moment they enter the theater, which has been transformed in its entirety into the “actual” Moulin Rouge.
CATHERINE ZUBER
ALEX TIMBERS PHOTO BY JOAN MARCUS
DEREKMCLANE PHOTO BYMATTHEWMURPHY
They have even built their own opera boxes very close to the proscenium to be used during the action of the play. McLane felt that it was his duty to honor the beauty of the film, whichwasmemorably designed by Catherine Martin. (In 2002 she won two Academy Awards for her art direction and costume design for the film.) “I’m very aware that the production design for the movie is one of the most famous and memorable production designs of all time,” he says, recalling how he was “blown away” by the film. “I knew that the show couldn’t be a copy of the movie–it needs to be its own thing and to feel like a contemporary
India helped inform some of his designs. “There was a lot happening architecturally and a real interest in scientific innovation amongst artists and bohemians,” he says of WESTONMAGAZINEGROUP.COM 59
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