Justin Levine, the music supervisor forMoulin Rouge!
The Musical, will never forget the first time he saw the film.
My school drama club had a sleepover and we all watched it, he tells EW.
© Matthew Murphy, 2019
Levine set out to bring that same mind-blowing energy to the stage.
It was about drilling down on the spirit of the film itself.
Levine aimed to keep as much of the original piece as possible, while taking it to new heights.
Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in 2001’s ‘Moulin Rouge!'.Everett Collection
Specifically, he wanted to give courtesan Satine (Olivo) more of a voice and point of view.
In the movie, she takes a song he gives her and changes the lyrics.
I wanted to ensure it felt robust without feeling schizophrenic.
There was also the task of deciding which songs should stay or go from the original score.
As Levine says, Its one of the most iconic moments of the film.
Its brilliantly arranged and orchestrated in the film.
It is so passionate, so visceral.
It helps that he senses something ancient and cross-cultural in Gagas take on the song.
There is a folk, almost sort of an Eastern European or Slavic, underpinning.
That moment just feels like a celebration of how universal those feelings are.
In the words of Harold Zidler, because we can can can.
The Musicalis now in previews and opens Thursday at New Yorks Al Hirschfeld Theater.
