'Moulin Rouge! The Musical''s Carmen Pavlovic and Alex Timbers on five years of the West End's sparkling diamond

Moulin Rouge! The Musical is celebrating five spectacular years in London. We spoke to its producer Carmen Pavlovic and director Alex Timbers, as well as the incredible stars playing the musical's Harold Zidler and Moulin Rouge dancers.

Summary

• Moulin Rouge! The Musical is celebrating five years in the West End
• The hit musical features more than 70 songs by artists including Adele, Sia and Rolling Stones
• Producer Carmen Pavlovic and director Alex Timbers spoke to London Theatre Magazine about the experience of bringing Baz Luhrmann’s movie-musical to the stage

It was back in 2001 that Baz Luhrmann’s movie-musical Moulin Rouge! exploded onto cinema screens. This exhilarating postmodern mash-up of fin de siècle Paris and contemporary culture starred Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman and featured a banging soundtrack boasting the likes of David Bowie, Elton John, and Madonna. With its heightened theatricality and nightclub setting, it seemed like a natural to transfer to the stage.

But it wasn’t quite that simple, reveals producer Carmen Pavlovic, who first explored the idea with Luhrmann and his wife Catherine Martin (also the movie’s Oscar-winning costume and producer designer) in 2009. “We all wanted to do it: Baz and Catherine have a background in theatre,” says Pavlovic. “But the rights were so complicated. It took seven years to assemble them, and another three years of development, so it was a 10-year process altogether.”

The reason those rights were so fiendish, she explains, is that the stage show features a whopping 75 songs, “representing the work of 160 composers and 30 publishers. Then there are the film rights holders, and the Moulin Rouge club itself in Paris.” But it was well worth the battle: the musical has proved a massive success, running everywhere from New York and Sydney to Oslo and Shanghai. With the show recently finishing its Broadway stint, Pavlovic notes that the West End production – which is celebrating its fifth anniversary – “is now our longest-running production in the world. We’re very proud of it.”

Pavlovic is very aware of the significance of Luhrmann selecting her Australian company, Global Creatures, to develop the project. “When the movie was being shot here, Baz was wonderful at bringing everyone in the country on that journey. There was a strong sense of ownership and participation. I really connected with him over the fact that our companies are Australian-based but highly ambitious about being players on the world stage, and championing Australian talent. It’s been a great honour.”

As for the show’s director, Alex Timbers was the ideal choice since his experimental theatre company Les Freres Corbusier specialised in, as he puts it, “smashing together historical subject matter in irreverent ways”. But being asked to take on this beloved property was, he admits, both “a really exciting opportunity and very intimidating”.

Timbers points out that Luhrmann has an extremely distinctive filming style. “Our first challenge was finding a theatrical language to convey that same velocity and propulsive energy. A lot of that came from Sonya Tayeh’s incredible choreography, and Justin Townsend’s lighting, which zips you from one side of the stage to the other.”

Another major priority was the audience experience. As Pavlovic explains: “We wanted this to be as immersive and surprising for people as when they first saw the film. One way we could do that was allowing them to feel like they’d actually stepped into the club, so we talked about collapsing the line between where the set ends and where the venue begins.”

Timbers shared that vision. “I imagined walking into all this plush red and gold and being handed a glass of champagne – that’s your dream as a fan,” he says. “We wanted to dive into the deluxe maximalism.” One change from the movie, he adds, is that instead of beginning with Christian at his typewriter, the theatrical audience is immediately thrust into the club: “A luxurious, intoxicating space exploding with colour. We’re reflecting the operatic nature of the story through our scenery and costumes, using those period elements, but juxtaposing them with modern lighting and music and sound, so it feels hip and energetic.”

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, though, balances its jaw-dropping spectacle with a genuinely heartfelt love story between budding songwriter Christian and the club’s star, Satine. “It’s so powerful in the movie – it really stayed with me,” says Timbers. “When we were developing our version, we thought about endowing both characters with more agency so they had these decision points to express in song. We also further developed the Duke [a wealthy investor in the club] as a real option for Satine, making the love triangle feel more interesting and giving her a tougher choice to make.”

Pavlovic observes that the farcical comedy which works so well in the film “could come off as pantomime on stage, so actually we looked for opportunities to ground the piece more in terms of storytelling and characterisation, to play against the heightened design components. I do think it’s a show that’s not just a great night out, but one people take to their hearts. I met a couple in New York who had been to the Broadway show over a hundred times!” Timbers points to the big ideas of the show “like daring greatly, being inspired by one true transformative love, and finding hope in the face of tragedy: they’re really universal themes.”

Bringing Moulin Rouge! to the stage was also an exciting opportunity to incorporate new songs. “We wanted to take advantage of the two decades of music that had occurred since the movie’s premiere, and think about what else has become meaningful to audiences, while still having that timeless quality,” says Timbers. His favourite additions include Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, Sia’s “Chandelier”, and a Rolling Stones medley for the Duke. “Baz had wanted to get the Stones into the movie and that was one of the only things he wasn’t able to achieve. So it felt like unfinished business.”

The show’s challenges weren’t quite finished though. The Broadway production opened in 2019 and was suspended just a year later due to the pandemic. “It was a really sad moment,” remembers Pavlovic. The team then experienced an unforgettable postponed Tony Awards in 2021. “It was a crazy weekend,” says Pavlovic. “On the Thursday night we had an invited audience of first responders, on the Friday we officially reopened to the public after an 18-month shutdown, and then on the Sunday we won 10 Tony Awards. The level of emotion was so extreme – which is perhaps apt for Moulin Rouge!.”

Just as dramatic was the show’s London premiere, which was delayed by the omicron variant, but ultimately had a triumphant opening in January 2022. “Given that the story is about a group of artists fighting to save their community, it really became a rallying cry for us,” says Pavlovic. “It was wonderful to get to reopen all these territories and offer that joyful experience. People were ready to live again and celebrate. Now the West End is stronger than ever.”

Timbers loves that they got to stage the show in London’s Soho, “which just feels very cool given the nature of our setting. So many of my favourite experiences of going to see musicals are in the West End, so to be part of this world is thrilling. I really want to thank London audiences for embracing it. Reaching five years feels extraordinary.” Pavlovic can’t wait to celebrate the milestone with the “fantastic” current West End cast, which includes Karis Anderson, Alistair Brammer, James Doherty, Richard-Lloyd King, and Daniel Fraser, as well as a glamorous company of Moulin Rouge performers. “There’s no words for what an incredible journey this has been,” says Pavlovic. “It’s the thrill of a lifetime.”

Meet the cast: Harold Zidler and the dancers of the Moulin Rouge

Lindsey Tierney: Nini

Why is Moulin Rouge! The Musical the biggest party in the West End?

It's the biggest party in the West End because it has a thousand songs in it that all blend together seamlessly. It's got a real party vibe, and the Can-Can seats and the intimacy of the piece give it that extra edge and makes you really feel like you're part of it.

Nick Len: Baby Doll

Why does this story work so well on stage?

You basically feel like you're watching the grandness of the film on stage and you're living in the Moulin Rouge. You really feel like you're in France, right in with all the can-can dancers, and you feel all the energy.

Athena Collins: La Chocolat

Why does the love story resonate so much with people?

Everyone, at some point in their life, has had a love that has taken them on a whirlwind journey. And whether it's lasted, whether it hasn't, it's something that sticks with you because in the moment it was this crazy whirlwind, and you never forget it.

Billie-Kay: Arabia

How does the stage version level up from the movie?

You actually step into the Moulin Rouge, and it's like the audience are there. We actually get to play with them quite a lot, which is a rarity in the show. We bring the wall down, especially in the opening when Zidler comes out and it's, "Welcome to the Moulin Rouge" — we actually do pick out audience members, and that's really fun. Not only that, you've got the elephant, the windmill, everything else. You actually feel like you're stepping into the whole realm of the show rather than just watching as an audience member. You feel like you're a member at the nightclub.

James ‘Paddy’ Doherty: Harold Zidler

Why does this story work so well on stage?

It's a great big party, but it's also a really beautiful love story. Sometimes that surprises people. They come ready for a party and they've had a few glasses — and quite right, too — but as it goes on, toward the end, it breaks their heart. You look out and you see people with tears in their eyes, and it's what you want, isn't it?

Book Moulin Rouge! The Musical tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Additional reporting by Olivia Rook, editing by Gillian Russo.

This article first appeared in the November 2026 issue of London Theatre Magazine.

Photo credit: Carmen Pavlovic and Alex Timbers, Karis Anderson in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, London Theatre Magazine's November cover shoot. (Photos by Matt Crockett, studio photography by Michael Wharley)