I went to see Moulin Rouge (stage play)
Ooh lala, quiet the racy set of costumes.
My girlfriend now wants me to see the movie, which she has seen. She will only say that the play has updated the music as far as differences between the two versions go.
My question(s) is; have you seen both the movie and the play and if so, which was better?
I’m not against seeing the movie, but a stage play lands differently, better I think, than a movie snd I’m curious about what I should possibly expect
I think the movie is the greatest movie ever made!
Well, at least, for its genre.
I didn’t even know there was a play. Some of the scenes must be so tamed down for the stage, it would have to be visually a completely different tone. The movie is all quick cuts, fast paced, plus the whole dancing on the clouds while a benevolent cherub moon smiles down.
Though I could see the final scene with a procession down the actual theater aisles, so that would be good.
But the bottom line, see the film! You’ll be like a virgin, watching for the very first time.
I’m not much for musicals but my fiance’ dragged me to the movie when it came out (2001?)
I thought it was fantastic.
Saw the stage show a couple years ago with my now wife and wasn’t as impressed. It was fun but didn’t wow me the way the movie did. The movie was also in the theatre with a large screen and good sound system. I don’t know how much of that would carry to home if you don’t have a nice setup.
My partner and I both LOVED the movie when it first came out. I watched it so many times and sang many of the songs. It used to be one of my favorite movies. If you’ve never seen it, you should watch it just so you can say you have – it used to be a cultural touchstone, way back when.
But also, we tried to watch it again just a month ago, and, well… we both thought it didn’t age very well. I fell asleep through the second half. It just seemed kinda antiquated and disjointed, compared to, say, Chicago or Les Mis (movie versions).
I’d love to see the musical for comparison… let us know what you think if you do watch it
I do not know the stage show myself, so I can’t answer the OP’s question directly. But I can comment on the movie. It is a Baz Luhrmann film. As such it has his trademark style of dramatic, hyperkinetic editing, and hyperreal visuals.
The acting and choreography is rather much like a stage play, and it winks at the fourth wall a lot even outside the editing style. The music is fun, a jukebox musical that shoves in very anachronistic songs, primarily songs about love that were well known when the film was made.
I very much like the singing myself. Some music major friends seemed to think that some of it should have used more vibrato, but I think the belting is fine. I can tell that some of them aren’t professional singers, but I don’t think the usual audience members could. And the music is competently done, which has not always been the case with these movies which use the actual actors singing. It’s no Phantom or Les Mis or Cats.
I haven’t actually seen Luhrmann’s Great Gatsby, but the stuff I saw in trailers and such seemed to be of a similar style, so that may help you get the idea if you are familiar.
When the movie came out I went and saw it very soon after. I went to a daytime session and when it finished I went and bought a ticket to the next session and watched it again. I had never done that before and have never done it since.
Yup, Jose Ferrer was astonishingly good as the tortured artist Henri de Toulouse Lautrec. He got an Oscar nomination for it.
Ok, watched the movies today.
Turns out there is a 1959 Moulin Rouge. That movie focuses on Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and his life and connection to the Moulin Rouge and the part of Parisian society of the time.
The Moulin Rouge stage play and movie are basically the exact same with minor differences of costuming and a few of the less major plot point songs. The biggest difference that comes to mind is that in the play, it is Christian who has the gun and it features as a prop in the play they are writing and rehearsing.
I thought both shows were equally good, but with different strengths and weaknesses. I didn’t like some of the editing and rapid cuts in the movie. Also it felt like there was a lot of good stuff that got cut for whatever reason, timing, pacing etc. Nicole Kidman did a better job than I thought she would.
The stage play had less elaborate sets, of course, and perhaps a smaller cast, but also had a vibrancy, or vitality, an immediacy that the movie didn’t have. For me, that just barely edged out the movie, but it was a close thing.