I'm guessing a lot of fans are setting themselves up for a big let-down. Baz Lurman's "Moulin Rouge" is a movie that thrives on cinematic techniques: Fast edits, ramping film speeds, and scratch & grain -tpye effects throughout. It's riddled with composite shots. This amazing artistic style he branded it with is part of this particular story's fabric.
To remove all of this, and leave it "land locked" on a stage would severely alter what an audience would see. (Yes, I saw his "La Boheme.") I'm not saying it wouldn't and couldn't be successful, but Baz would have to invent it all over again to make it work in a theatre. (Think Julie Taymor's creative approach to "Lion King" --- tell the story a whole different, fresh way, although I'm not suggesting he use puppets!)
There's another high hurdle to get over... the song licensing. It's one thing to do that for a film (which was an enormous nightmare, I understand). But to try to license all those different songs for a stage show is even more daunting. They gave up on "Funny Girl" for Broadway and ended up writing an entirely original score (not their original plan). It wasn't until they made the movie version that they were able to afford licensing Fanny Brice's original songs and put them in as originally conceived by the creative team. And licensing has gotten tougher and more expensive since then, not easier. The jukebox shows running now are all from a single artist or team's catalogue. "Moulin Rouge" has everything AND the kitchen sink in it (from a song standpoint).
I just think the creatives and producers will have to come a long way before we see "Moulin Rouge" on a Braodway stage. (Unless, of course, they hack it together quickly and badly, just to get it on its feet. I would prefer they wait and get it right.)
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
Updated On: 8/8/05 at 11:24 AM
