WELCOME TO THE MOULIN ROUGE.
IN THE PLAZA BALLROOM, UNDER THE GLOW OF MELBOURNE’S REGENT THEATRE, GUESTS WERE TRANSPORTED STRAIGHT TO THE STREETS OF PARIS WHERE BAZ LUHRMANN'S MOULIN ROUGE INSPIRED AN EVENING OF THEATRE.
GUESTS WERE WELCOMED INTO THE PRE-FUNCTION SPACE, WHICH WAS MADE TO FEEL LIKE A VIBRANT PARISIAN STREET SCENE. DANCERS IN TOP HATS AND TAILS GRACEFULLY DREW BACK THE SHEERS, REVEALING THE MAIN DINING ROOM.
GUESTS FLOWED THROUGH TO LONG TABLES AND A 7 METRE CATWALK STAGE. THE REGENT THEATRE HAS LONG BEEN HOME TO SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST ICONIC MUSICALS, FROM ‘WICKED’ AND ‘LOVE NEVER DIES’ TO ‘ANNIE’ AND ‘THE WIZARD OF OZ.’ WITH MOULIN ROUGE HAVING RECENTLY GRACED ITS STAGE IN 2024, THE VENUE’S RICH THEATRICAL HISTORY INSPIRED THE CHOICE TO CRAFT A MUSICAL-THEMED EVENING SPREAD ACROSS 2 ACTS.
ACT 1 TRANSPORTED GUESTS INTO THE HEART OF MONTMARTRE.
THE ROOM FADED TO BLACK AS THE FIRST NOTES OF ‘NATURE BOY’ FILLED THE SPACE, SETTING A MOOD OF INTRIGUE AND ROMANCE.
FROM THERE, THE CURTAIN REVEALED THE SULTRY ‘LADY MARMALADE’, BEFORE THE GLAMOROUS SPARKLE OF ‘DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND’ LIT UP THE ROOM.
THIS ACT REACHED ITS FINALE WITH A DARK, INTENSE AND EMOTIONALLY CHARGED REINTERPRETATION OF ‘LE TANGO DE ROXANNE’, LEAVING GUESTS HOOKED AND EAGER FOR WHAT WAS TO COME.
ACT 2 BEGAN ON A SOFTER, MORE TENDER NOTE WITH THE LOVE BALLAD ‘YOUR SONG’, DRAWING GUESTS INTO THE EMOTIONAL HEART OF THE EVENING.
THAT QUIET GAVE WAY TO THE UNSTOPPABLE HIGH ENERGY OF THE ICONIC ‘CAN CAN’, A KICK ROUTINE PERFORMED BY A CAST OF 23 DANCERS. ACT 2 CLOSED WITH THE SWEEPING ROMANCE OF ‘COME WHAT MAY’, PERFORMED BY LEAD VOCALISTS DES FLANAGAN AND CASSIE MCIVER WHICH CAST A SENSE OF EMOTION, AND THE ENDURING POWER OF LOVE THROUGHOUT THE ROOM.
WHAT MAKES MOULIN ROUGE SO COMPELLING ARE ITS POWERFUL THEMES;
LOVE, JEALOUSY, BETRAYAL, LUST, FREEDOM, POWER, REBELLION, AND THE JOY OF SELF-EXPRESSION. ALL THEMES THAT COURSED THROUGHOUT THE EVENING.
ABOVE ALL ELSE, LOVE SHONE THROUGH, A QUIET YET UNDENIABLE FORCE IN EVERY STORY TOLD. SUBTLE, POWERFUL, AND IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE.
ALL OF THESE THEMES WERE AMPLIFIED THROUGH THE EVENING’S PERFORMANCE AND DIRECTION, RESULTING IN A BOLD, HYPER-STYLISED, AND THEATRICAL RE-INTERPRETATION OF MOULIN ROUGE.
OUR CLIENT WISHES TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS, YET THEIR TRUST HAS BEEN CENTRAL IN SUPPORTING UP AND COMING TALENT AND ENABLING US TO BRING VISIONS LIKE THIS TO LIFE. WE WANT TO THANK THEM FOR THEIR CONTINUED BACKING OF THE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES.
FOOTAGE
CREDITS
VENUE: THE PLAZA BALLROOM
ENTERTAINMENT CURATION: AMY VAUGHAN CREATIVE
CHOREOGRAPHER: MARKO PANZIC
PRODUCTION: THE MARINER GROUP
VOCALISTS: DES FLANAGAN AND CASSIE MCIVER
LEAD DANCERS: GEORGIA ALAGONA, MIA FENELON, LIZZIE KELLY, JORDAN ELISE, NED ZAINA, CARTER RICKARD, ALFIE DELIA AND JAKE KEEN.
CHORUS DANCERS: PATRICK STUDIO’S AUSTRALIA, PATRICK MANAGEMENT
COSTUMING: JOELIE YOUNGER
VIDEOGRAPHY: THICK BLACK FRAMES
PHOTOGRAPHY: TOMMY CREATIVE
MUSIC PRODUCTION: ANDREW FURZE
STAGE MANAGEMENT: LACHIE OWENS
& DONT FORGET: PETER HILTON LENNON ON THE CURTAIN.