PROGRAM NOTE David Greene

Moulin Rouge (French) translates to “Red Mill.” A windmill loves a good strong wind. The stronger the wind, the more power it can generate. The creative team behind Moulin Rouge! The Musical used every gust of wind it could harness and turned it into positive energy to create a celebration of “Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love.”

The result of the process, while hugely successful, was not short of challenges. Imagine creating a musical that features 120 years of popular music — including more than 70 songs written by 160 composers whose rights belong to 30 publishers. An international team of producers spent more than 10 years acquiring the rights for the movie, and then carefully negotiated for chart-topper after chart-topper to be woven into this unique storytelling. Not all original song choices were met with a “yes” from the composer or publisher, so each “no” sent the creative team back to the music catalogs to find another song that would not disrupt the direction or coherence of the show.

Ultimately, each obstacle drew the team closer together and provided an opportunity for an even stronger and more creative solution.

Theater is one of the world’s most collaborative art forms. The creation of Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a sparkling example of collaboration at its most “spectacular, spectacular.” The next challenge was the quest to find the perfect creative team to collaborate in taking this musical from concept to the Broadway stage. Perfection is what they found as nearly every lead member of the direction and design team took home a coveted Tony Award for the work you will see today.

Along with Best Musical and a pair of Best Performance awards, the creative team hoisted Tony Awards for Direction, Choreography, Scenic Design, Costume Design, Lighting Design, Sound Design and Orchestrations on Broadway’s biggest night.

Prior to the pandemic, I had a chance to talk costumes and take a tour of the Broadway set of Moulin Rouge! The Musical with two of theater’s most sought-after designers, Catherine Zuber and Derek McLane. For costume designer Catherine Zuber, it was an easy decision to become involved in this feast-forthe-senses production. Her biggest challenge was to create a design that could simultaneously occur in the present, based on the contemporary music choices, and occur in the late 19th century, the time period when the story takes place. The lightning-fast quick changes onstage and backstage coupled with Sonya Tayeh’s high intensity and perpetual motion choreography also posed a challenge as the costumes had to be designed so as not to restrict the performers’ movement.

“The challenge,” Zuber told me, “is that the costumes look attractive and look authentic, but the artists must be able to move freely and remove their clothes within one second. “

When set designer Derek McLane was asked by director Alex Timbers if he was interested in designing for Moulin Rouge! The Musical, he said, “Yes, yes, yes.” He is an expert in 19th-century design and was drawn to the Bohemian and chic nature of this period in Paris. There are nine different types of red fabric on the set, each with its own hue and pattern. The patterns overlap and are filled with delicacy and detail that make them feel both period and contemporary. Working with lighting designer Justin Townsend, McLane tried to figure out how to cram as many lightbulbs as possible into the set so, like the other design elements, every inch of the stage could sparkle and be animated. In fact, there were a few pieces of scenery in the original design that didn’t light up, but McLane said, “They felt lonely, so by the time the show made it to New York, they also lit up.”

I hope you light up at the spectacle within this story, the music and the visual feast you are about to consume.

Enjoy, David Greene Senior VP of Programming