In Moulin Rouge!, the romantic writer Christian is a newcomer to Paris in 1899. He meets a group of bohemian artists who are trying to write a song. They’re struggling until Christian wows them by singing “The hills are alive / With the sound of music!” It’s a moment that inspires knowing laughter in the audience, and it’s also a way for the creators of the Tony Award–winning Broadway musical to pay tribute to the art form of theater.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical is based on the 2001 Baz Luhrrmann film, which combined a period setting with modern pop songs and cinema references. “The movie is a mashup of different movie references; you’ve got Marlene Dietrich, you’ve got Marilyn Monroe,” says the show’s director, Alex Timbers. “And so we wanted to do the same thing in terms of [the stage show] being a kind of a remix of musical-theater references.”
The winner of 10 Tony Awards is a romantic melodrama set in Paris, where penniless writer Christian falls in love with a courtesan at the Moulin Rouge named Satine. But Satine is conflicted between her love for Christian and her desire for economic security, embodied by the devilish Duke. The story of is “a mashup of Romeo and Juliet, La Bohème, La Traviata, and Orpheus and Eurydice. All those stories have been put in a blender,” says Timbers.
Timbers admits the theater references in Moulin Rouge! The Musical are “oblique as opposed to direct in the way that the pop song references are,” but discerning theater fans might recognize some of them.
For example, the opening number, when the cast sings “Lady Marmalade,” does not exist in the film. It was inspired by “Willkommen” from Cabaret. It is when the Moulin Rouge owner, Harold Zidler, introduces the audience to the legendary spot, in a similar way that the Emcee in Cabaret takes the audience inside the seedy world of the Kit Kat Club. Timbers also says the opener was inspired by “Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof, when the different denizens of the community are introduced.
“On the Left Bank, there’s the aristocrats. On the Right Bank, there are the bohemians,” says Timbers. “And then there are the dancers. It’s just to introduce you to all the different classes and walks of life that will come into conflict during the show.”
Another highlight is the Act 2 opener, a tango-inspired take on Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” (combined with other songs about forbidden desire, such as “Tainted Love” and “Toxic”) called “Backstage Romance.” Timbers says the sequence was inspired by “Too Darn Hot” from the musical Kiss Me, Kate, which he says is his “favorite Act 2 opener ever.” Like “Too Darn Hot,” “Backstage Romance” takes place behind the curtain as the actors and dancers are taking a break from putting a show together and sparks are flying.
“We’re starting Act 2 with something that’s not Christian and Satine, that’s a little more left-of-center, on these secondary characters and their relationship,” says Timbers.
Another way Moulin Rouge! The Musical pays tribute to musical theater is how it turns pop songs into bona fide production numbers that also tell a story. There are more than 70 songs within the musical, spanning over 160 years of music. It includes songs that were featured in the film and new medleys created for the show. Music director Justin Levine helped choose the songs. For him, it wasn’t about finding the most recognizable melodies. Instead, in true musical-theater fashion, he picked the songs that would fit the characters’ emotions and the needs of the story. That’s also why he doesn’t consider Moulin Rouge! The Musical a jukebox musical.
“Typically, a jukebox musical is one where you select the music first or the music is the driving factor in how the story unfolds,” explains Levine. By contrast, in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, the team first outlined the story, “then it was my job to source the music and build the score that would serve that story.” Levine used to play at a piano bar that took requests, so he had to have hundreds of songs available in his brain, which is now a repository of music.
In choosing the songs, Levine thought up lyrics that would match what the characters were feeling in a particular moment. For example, there’s a medley of love songs sung between Satine and Christian called “Elephant Love Medley.” Christian is trying to convince Satine to give in to her feelings for him, while Satine is hesitant. And so the medley becomes an argument, with Christian singing lines such as, “Open up your eyes, then you’ll realize / Here I stand with my everlasting love,” and Satine responding with, “What’s love got to do, got to do with it? / Who needs a heart, when a heart can be broken?” In that genre-spanning medley, Levine managed to squeeze 20 songs into five minutes.
“While on the surface, it can feel like it’s a name-that-tune moment, it’s actually a very meticulously crafted argument between those two characters,” says Levine. “In fact, when I rehearse that song with Christian and Satine, wherever I am, we usually have them read the lyrics as if it’s a scene.”
That’s also why many of the songs in the show are mashups and medleys. While a musical-theater song can portray character growth and motivations, a pop song is usually just about one feeling or one concept. “You hear the song ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,’ you’re not going to learn much more than that,” says Levine. “As a result, a mashup gives you this opportunity to do what often a great song in a musical does, which is create an argument or a shift in perspective.”
For example, when Satine has broken Christian’s heart, he begins by singing Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” to show how tortured he’s feeling, and then he transitions to anger via Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”
But fans of the show may notice that there is one “bespoke musical-theater number” in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. It’s called “The Pitch,” and Levine actually wrote original music and lyrics, and combined them with melodies from classic French songs such as “La Vie en Rose” and “Habanera.” In that moment in the show, when the characters are trying to convince the Duke to fund their stage play, there wasn’t a pop song that could fit the needs of the scene.
“Because it’s an exceptionally unique moment within the show, it felt like it called for that,” says Levine, who also got to show off his songwriting chops. “I was really excited to get to write a song for the show and to write lyrics for the show.”
Moulin Rouge! The Musical has been a hit on Broadway, and it has now also played Australia and London. And when we spoke, Levine and Timbers were preparing productions in Germany and South Korea. To them, the fact that the show has been positively received worldwide speaks to how universal it is. It combines a recognizable story of star-crossed lovers with familiar songs, and blends them into something original: a maximalist musical that’s a feast for the eyes and ears.
“There’s a universality. It taps into something that we recognize and are attracted to,” says Timbers. “There was a woman I met from Japan, and she saw it 12 times in a row. This is a story that people resonate with in a really strong way.”
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How We Use Your Personal Information
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Information Collected By/Shared With Third Parties
Other than as provided in this Privacy Policy, we do not share your personal information with third parties.
Advertising. We partner with advertising companies who may use information from cookies and the tracking tags they place on our website to provide you with targeted advertisements about goods and services that may be of interest to you based on your use of our website and to track the effectiveness of ads served to you. These advertising company partners may anonymously track your Internet usage across other websites in their networks beyond our website. Any information that these advertising companies collect via cookies and tracking tags is generally not personally identifiable (unless, for example, you provide personal information to them through an ad or email message). You are welcome to browse the site in private/incognito mode, which means cookies will not be activated and previous cookies will not be tracked. If you need help with this, contact us at [email protected]. If you would like more information about the use of cookies and tracking tags and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, see the Network Advertising Initiatives consumer Web site at http://www.networkadvertising.org/consumer/.
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When necessary. We may also release personal information when we believe, in good faith, that such release is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of Ourselves, Our clients, Our users, or others. We may disclose personal information about you to law enforcement, other government officials, or other third parties, as We, in our sole discretion, believe necessary or appropriate, in connection with an investigation of fraud, intellectual property infringement, or other activity that is illegal or may expose Us to legal liability.
Public Forums
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Co-Branded Pages
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Transactions With Third Party E-commerce Partners, Vendors and Advertisers
When you provide personal information to one of Our Site’s third party e-commerce partners, vendors or advertisers (i.e. Ticketmaster.com, Telecharge.com), this transaction will occur in connection with the site of the e-commerce partner, vendor or advertiser, not on the Site, and, as such, the personal information you provide is collected pursuant to and controlled by the privacy policy of such e-commerce partner, vendor or advertiser. Broadway Direct is not responsible for such parties’ privacy policies and We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the applicable privacy policy of the e-commerce site with which you transact business or to contact the operator of such site for more information.
Delivery of Advertising and Other Content
In addition to ads and content that We may serve you directly, We use third-party advertising companies and marketing services companies to serve ads and other content when you visit Broadway Direct and elsewhere on the internet and in other media. Both We and these companies may use information about your visits to Broadway Direct and elsewhere to serve ads and other content to you. In the course of doing so, a unique third-party cookie may be placed or recognized on your browser by such companies. In addition, We and these companies may use Web beacons to help manage Our online advertising and content. These Web beacons enable Us and the third-party companies to recognize a browser’s cookie when a browser visits this Site and to learn which banner ads bring users to our website and to serve you ads that you may find of interest elsewhere on the internet and in other media. Both Broadway Direct and these companies may use information obtained from your visits to Broadway Direct or other websites, and information received from you offline in order to provide advertisements about goods and services and other content of interest to you across the internet and in other media. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used in this manner by Our third party advertising companies, please visit http://www.networkadvertising.org/optout_nonppii.asp and/or www.aboutads.info/choices. European users may opt out of receiving targeted advertising by visiting http://www.youronlinechoices.eu/. In addition, we may provide PII and Anonymous Information to marketing services companies. This may include information we received from you offline or online. These companies may combine information we provide (including PII and Anonymous Information) with personal and anonymous information they may have about you, using cookies they place or that We place on their behalf, as described in the section regarding “Cookies and Tracking Tags”. We require these companies to delete the PII we provide them. These companies may use the resulting non-personal information and such cookies for their own marketing purposes, and they may provide the same to their customers for their customer’s marketing purposes. Some of Our emails may contain tags that allow Us and Our advertisers and other partners to determine the types of content that may be of interest to you. Those tags may contain PII and may be shared with others to the same extent indicated in the section regarding “Cookies and Tracking Tags”. Those tags may not be deleted but you can opt out of receiving the emails.
Use of This Site by Children
The Site is not directed to individuals under the age of thirteen (13), and We request that such individuals do not provide personal information through the Site. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided Us with PII without the parent or guardian’s consent by, for example, misrepresenting his or her age, that parent or guardian should contact us at [email protected]. If Broadway Direct determines that it has collected personal information of children under the age of 13, Broadway Direct will immediately delete such information and any accounts believed to be held by children under 13. In addition, we may not collect or process information from a citizen of an EU member state under the age of sixteen (16) without such person’s parental consent. If you are a citizen of an EU member state under the age of 16, please tell your parents that you are using the Site and have your parents email Us at [email protected] so that We may delete any information We may have collected about you.
California Visitors
California Civil Code § 1798.83 permits California residents to request information about whether we have disclosed personal information to any third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes. California residents have the right to request in writing: (a) a list of the categories of Personal Information, such as name, email address and mailing address and the type of services provided to the customer that a business has disclosed to third parties (including affiliates that are separate legal entities) during the immediately preceding calendar year for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes and (b) the names and addresses of all such third parties. To make a request, please contact Us at the following email address: [email protected].
EU Visitors
If you are located within the European Union, you should be aware that your personal information will be transferred to the United States, the laws of which may be deemed by the European Union to have inadequate data protection. If you are located in a country outside the United States and voluntarily submit personal information to Us, you thereby consent to the general use of such information as provided in this privacy policy and to the transfer of that information to, and/or storage of that information in, the United States. We transfer Personal Information from the European Economic Area and Switzerland to the USA and other countries, some of which have not been determined by the European Commission to have an adequate level of data protection. Personal Information of EU residents will be transferred in compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).
Rights of EU Data Subjects
If you are a resident of the European Union, under the GDPR, European Union residents, as data subjects, have the following rights:
Right to access – This right allows individuals to obtain confirmation as to whether or not personal information concerning him or her is being processed and provide access to such personal information. It also allows individuals to request details of the processing of his or her personal information, including, without limitation, categories of recipients to whom the personal information have been or will be disclosed and purposes of processing.
Right to rectify – This right allows individuals to rectify any inaccurate personal information about him or her.
Right to restrict processing – This right allows individuals to block or suppress processing of personal data under certain circumstances.
Right to be forgotten – This right is also known as the “right to erasure”. It is an individual’s right to have personal data erased or to prevent processing in specific circumstances.
Right of data portability – This right allows individuals to move, copy or transfer personal data from one place to another in a secure manner without interrupting the integrity and usability of the information.
Right to object to processing – This right allows individuals to object to certain types of processing, including direct marketing, profiling and providing for purposes of scientific or historical research and statistics.
An EU resident has the right to access his or her personal data that We hold and to ask that their personal data be corrected or erased and to port their data. An EU resident may also have the right to object to, or request that We restrict certain processing or to withdraw consent previously provided. If you would like to exercise your rights under the GDPR, please contact us at [email protected]. If you are an EU resident and have a concern about our processing of your personal data that we are not able to resolve, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority where you reside. For contact details of your relevant local Data Protection Authority, please see http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/item-detail.cfm?item_id=612080
Security of Your Personal Information
Broadway Direct employs reasonable security measures consistent with standard industry practice, for personal information collected through this Site, including physical, electronic and operational measures to maintain security and prevent unauthorized access. While Broadway Direct takes all appropriate steps to safeguard personal information under Our control, unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or method of storing data can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As such, We cannot guarantee that personal information supplied by users will not be accessed on Our servers, or intercepted while being transmitted to Us over the Internet. We assume no liability for any damages you may suffer as a result of interception, alteration or misuse of information during such transfers.
Retention
We will retain your information for as long as your account or inquiry is active and for a reasonable time thereafter in accordance with Our standard procedures or as necessary to comply with Our legal obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce Our agreements. Even if We delete some or all of your Personal Information, We may continue to retain and use aggregate or anonymous data previously collected and/or anonymize or aggregate your Personal Information. Please note that We will not be liable for disclosures of your data due to errors or unauthorized acts of third parties.
Choice/Opt Out
This Site provides users the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from Us, at any time, by email at [email protected], or by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email communication. The Site gives users the following options for removing their information from our database, to not receive future communications or to no longer receive our service, at any time.
Users can send mail to the following postal address: Broadway Direct 1501 Broadway 14th floor New York, NY 10036
Users can call the following telephone number: (800) 223-6715.
Users can opt-out of receiving future newsletter emails from Us by selecting the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of our email. However, We are not responsible for removing your information from the lists of any third party who has previously been provided with your information or is collecting your information through their cookies. You have the right to withdraw your consent for Our processing for your personal information by contacting us at [email protected].
Correct/Update
This website gives users the following options for changing and modifying information previously provided, at any time.
Users can send mail to the following postal address: Broadway Direct 1501 Broadway 14th floor New York, NY 10036
Users can call the following telephone number: (800) 223-6715
Successors
In the event that We are, or any component of our operations is, merged with, or is acquired by, another entity, then any such successor or acquiring entity may become the successor to Our obligations with respect to the personal information that you have provided to Us, which would be necessary for the entity to effectively continue our business. By using this website, you consent to any transfer and use of such personal information by an entity assuming control of Our operations as a result of a merger, purchase of assets, or liquidation in bankruptcy or insolvency.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this website, or your dealings with this website, you can send an email to [email protected]. Our data protection officer can also be contacted at [email protected].