The curtain will come down at Crown Theatre Perth on Friday 21 April on a completely sold out Perth season for the ten-time Tony Award® winning musical produced by Carmen Pavlovic and Gerry Ryan OAM for Australian theatrical company, Global Creatures.
The Australian premiere season commenced in Melbourne in November 2021, and since lifting its curtain around Australia has welcomed nearly one million Australian theatregoers with sold out seasons in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. The Brisbane season opens in May 2023 and will be a sell-out season as well.
“Despite a delayed opening because of the pandemic in 2021, we still achieved a sold-out season in Melbourne,” said Producer Carmen Pavlovic. “Sydney’s season was also incredibly successful, and so special because it was the city where Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin filmed MOULIN ROUGE! in 2001, and it was where our partnership to bring their film to the stage began, in 2009.”
“Perth has continued this outstanding welcome, and Brisbane will be next. We owe our success to the audiences across the country who welcomed us with their arms wide and hearts open. Our run in Australia hasn’t been without its Covid related challenges.”
“However, our Australian cast, crew, theatre partners and production suppliers, have all demonstrated their incredible energy, dedication and hard work as we navigated a substantially smaller workforce because of the pandemic.”
“This makes the success of the Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane seasons so rewarding given the challenges that not only our production, but other shows have experienced, over the last few years,” said Ms Pavlovic.
Almost 120 direct jobs were created to bring the show to life in Australia, including the 36 performers who take to the stage eight times a week, the equally talented and hardworking creatives, local and touring backstage crew who make the show run smoothly, and the countless suppliers and agencies that are employed by the production.
Most of the set was built in Australia, including 20 people who took over two months to build the giant red windmill, to the 30 truck drivers tasked with moving the show from state to state as it travels around Australia; a journey that shifts 793 individual costume pieces plus wigs, set, props and musical instruments each time.
The costumes were all hand-made in Sydney by a team of over 50 people, including Satine’s quintessential sparkling gown which is decorated with over 3,500 hand-placed Preciosa crystals.
The return Melbourne season in August 2023 marks a full-circle moment for the production, which premiered to stellar reviews at the Regent Theatre in 2021.
Melbourne was the first international city to host the 10-time Tony Award winning show after its dazzling Broadway debut, with the season also coinciding with the 20th anniversary year of Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film.
“A love affair with theatre itself, sensual and passionate and ridiculously entertaining” – The Guardian
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Crown Theatre Perth, Great Eastern Highway, Burswood
Season continues to 21 April 2023
Bookings: www.ticketmaster.com.au
Lyric Theatre – QPAC, Cultural Precinct, South Bank (Brisbane)
Season: 16 May – 27 July 2023
Bookings: www.qpac.com.au
Regent Theatre, 191 Collins Street, Melbourne
Season: 20 August – 12 November 2023
Bookings: www.ticketek.com.au
For more information, visit: www.moulinrougemusical.com for details.
Image: Simon Burke as Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge! The Musical (supplied)