Moulin Rouge has set sail aimed for Broadway, with a development lab set for fall, according to an Equity casting notice.
The audition calls for females aged 20-30 who are strong singers and dancers with pop/rock/soul voices, to play various roles including “patrons and performers at the Moulin Rouge & the denizens of Montmartre”.
The new musical is based off the award-winning Baz Luhrmann (The Get Down) film from 2001. The film was nominated for eight academy awards and won two for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction—Sets, and won three of six-nominated Oscars for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical (Nicole Kidman), and Best Original Score – Motion Picture.
A Tony award-nominee Alex Timbers (Jersey Boys, Oh, Hello) directed developmental lab is scheduled for October 30-December 15 in New York City. A choreography lab will be held earlier, scheduled for August 21-September 1.
Tony-winning John Logan (Red) is behind the book for Moulin Rouge, with Justin Levine as the music supervisor and casting by Jim Carnahan and Stephen Kopel. Global Creatures is producing the musical.
The film is set at the glamorous Moulin Rouge (Red Mill), a Parisian nightclub in the 1900’s. There, a poet (Ewan McGregor) meets and becomes infatuated with the club’s most renown star and courtesan (Nicole Kidman).
In the movie, pre-existing pop songs are used, though it has not been announced if this will remain the same for the stage version or if there will be an original score.
Casting has also not been announced, although there were auditions for the role of Satine, the club’s star, in February. The roles of Christian, Lautrec, Zigler, and Argentinian have already been cast.
“I first encountered Alex Timbers through the remarkable and inventive production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and the brilliance of Here Lies Love,” Luhrmann said in a statement following the announcement of Timber and Logan signing on to create the musical. “I immediately recognized the young director’s creative spirit and felt we shared similar sensibilities and instincts. So I’m tremendously happy to celebrate that Moulin Rouge! will be under his direction and that the book will be the creation of the gifted Tony Award-winning playwright John Logan whose writing I also admire deeply. It’s immensely gratifying to know that a new wave of artists will be leading Moulin Rouge! into its rightful theatrical realm.”
No other news has been announced for the creation of the musical.
