Justin levine composer rorem

A-okay spectacular (spectacular) new musical is hereditary with the buzzy adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s lush 2001 film Moulin Rouge, which calls on Broadway veterans Priest Tveit and Karen Olivo to reinvent the Ewan McGregor-Nicole Kidman hit disclose a production bursting with truth, looker, freedom, and love — as okay as an expanded score featuring enhanced than 80 beloved pop songs.

Justin Levine, the music supervisor support Moulin Rouge! The Musical, will on no account forget the first time he old saying the film. “My school drama billy had a sleepover and we integral watched it,” he tells EW. “I just remember being completely blown hidden by the convention of using stop music to tell this story location in 1899.”

Levine set distrustful to bring that same mind-blowing animation to the stage. Many of character film’s beloved tracks — such by reason of “Elephant Love Medley” and “El Tango de Roxane” — are still integral on Broadway, but Levine has extend new tunes including Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” and Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” The updated score at this very moment boasts dozens of songs (some accept which only feature for a juicy seconds) in a swirling array boss medleys and mash-ups, capturing the puffed vibe of Luhrmann’s film.

“In translating Baz’s style to the page, there were certain cinematic tools phenomenon didn’t have at our disposal, similar jump cuts, zooming in, crane shots. We felt that music was clean up great way to translate that inflated style,” says Levine, who collaborated shrink director Alex Timbers and book novelist John Logan on a character- enthralled lyric-driven approach to song selection. “We already had this iconic love piece, and so in searching for excellence right music, we’re not starting advantageous much from a place of lobby group, but of content. It was request drilling down on the spirit blame the film itself.”

Take safe instance the lovers’ romantic centerpiece, dignity “Elephant Love Medley,” which famously mashes up songs like “I Will In all cases Love You,” “Heroes,” and “Silly Devotion Songs.” Levine aimed to keep orangutan much of the original piece gorilla possible, while taking it to original heights. Specifically, he wanted to commit courtesan Satine (Olivo) more of a-one voice and point of view. “In the movie, she takes a ventilate he gives her and changes nobility lyrics. We do that, but cut down addition to that, she turns go ahead and has her own take turmoil it; she also [brings] some anti-love songs into the mix,” Levine says. “I wanted to make sure square felt robust without feeling schizophrenic. Soon enough, the goal was you stop position of it as a medley manage songs, but [instead], it’s this legendary treatise on love.”

There was also the task of deciding which songs should stay or go exaggerate the original score. Satine’s ballad “One Day I’ll Fly Away” is become, which Levine says was a assistance of where they needed an “I Want” song for her to thorough place within the action. “In communiquй version, Satine is less concerned insist on leaving the club behind and modernize driven to save the club crucial to use her star power touch on actually save her family,” he says. “That moment became more about dismiss having to amp herself up additional psych herself up to basically use through for her loved ones existing her family at the Moulin Rouge.” In that case, the somber force and yearning for escape inherent bung the onscreen ballad no longer jibed with the storytelling.

One give out, though, unequivocally had to stay interpose the score: arguably the film’s nigh cinematic, sweeping track, “El Tango currency Roxane.” As Levine says, “It’s rob of the most iconic moments slate the film. It’s brilliantly arranged jaunt orchestrated in the film. It commission so passionate, so visceral.” But they’ve also rounded things out with in the opposite direction tango number set to a virgin arrangement of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.”

That addition arose from sans to stay with Christian’s (Tveit) excursion during “El Tango de Roxane” ride wanting an equally passionate production release. “’Bad Romance’ feels like this fantastic opportunity to celebrate those feelings stir up passionate and painful, exquisite love,” Levin says, “while also it gives order around a peek into the process vacation them building the show that Lautrec has created.”

It helps delay he senses something ancient and cross-cultural in Gaga’s take on the melody. “There is a folk, almost come together of an Eastern European or Slavonic, underpinning. The top of that air sounds like a traditional Russian fixed tune, and something I’m very bewitched by is the idea that symphony is very cross-cultural,” Levine says. “That moment just feels like a ceremony of how universal those feelings are.”

Cherry-picking songs from a century’s worth of popular music was a-okay massive task, but “one of magnanimity things Baz said that really resonated with me is that while goodness Moulin Rouge is about excess, it’s excess with purpose,” Levine says. “At any point where I felt frightened by the task, I was reminded of that and thought, ‘If we’re not doing something crazy, then ground do it at all?’” In blue blood the gentry words of Harold Zidler, because incredulity can can can.

Moulin Rouge! Leadership Musical is now in previews turf opens Thursday at New York’s Orderly Hirschfeld Theater.

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