The Film Experience™ was created by Nathaniel R. All material herein is written by our team. (This site is not for profit but for an expression of love for cinema & adjacent artforms.)
Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo in "Moulin Rouge: The Musical"
Here's a twist we didn't see coming: the long delayed Tony Awards will be on Paramount+ streaming service this September 26th at 7 PM EST followed by a starry Broadway-celebrating concert on CBS (the usual home of the Tony Awards) at 9 PM EST (both shows are two hours long). That's great timing since the shows begin to return on September 2nd (as previously discussed).
All of the awards but three will be handed out on the Paramount portion of the evening...
The controversial "Slave Play," featuring multiple interracial couples and sexual power dynamics, transferred from Off-Broadway and was huge at the Tony nominations
We're not sure what possessed the Broadway League to announced Tony nominations in mid October (and some probable virtual ceremony in December), just after announcing that Broadway will not return before next summer (thereby missing another Tony season -- the theater season runs June to May). It's especially baffling because earlier it was understood that because the shutdown happened in March while so many of the shows that were expected heavyhitters were still in previews (like revivals of Company and West Side Story) so they never got a chance to be seen by Tony voters. Curious. As are the unusual nominations. But for those who miss Broadway (or just news of it from afar) here is the list that was announced this afternoon...
Stage Door is our intermittent theater review column, which might seem odd for a movie site, but we're headquartered in NYC so...
by Nathaniel R
Do you remember the sensation of watching Moulin Rouge! (2001) for the first time? I remember exactly where I was (the much-missed Zeigfeld theater in NYC) and exactly how it felt as it washed, no, exploded all over me. Twas a dizzying overwhelming sensory experience from the moment the red curtain appeared. Moulin Rouge! (the movie) eventually calms down… or you acclimate to it (I’ve never known definitively which). The moment I gave in fully, convinced it was something emotionally special and not just a flurry of exciting images, was Ewan McGregor’s spontaneous inspirational belting of “The hills are alive… with the sound of music”. The moment the movie belonged to me, and I to it, was the entrance of the Sparkling Diamond herself, Satine (Nicole Kidman) descending on a trapeze to sing “Diamond’s are a Girl’s Best Friend”.
These moments are dutifully recreated for the new Broadway incarnation. The experience is not quite the same. Some cinematic bliss cannot be easily transferred to a different medium. Nevertheless there’s still green fairy dust sprinkled on this musical. It just takes a bit longer to lift off...
Chris here. Plenty of folks may be ho-hum about this year's Tony nominations and the past season in general, but the good news is that we have major Broadway events just ahead - namely the long awaited stage adaptation of Baz Luhrman's masterpiece Moulin Rouge!
Lucky folks in Boston will get to see its pre-Broadway tryout next month, but theatre lovers elsewhere just got the first sampling of what awaits us on stage.
An opulent music video of star Aaron Tveit singing the musical's signature ballad "Come What May" has arrived. While I'm not a much of a fan of Tveit's voice (sorry!), the video does quite a bit to assuage any doubts that the stage would be cheapening Luhrman's decadence and luxouriousness. Guys, the smoke and paper/rose set dressing and plushy simplicity is simply gorgeous!
Now all that awaits is a glimpse of Karen Olivo filling the very large shoes of Nicole Kidman as grand courtesan Satine - but we're fine with the wait if it makes her arrival half as iconic as Kidman's emergence onscreen. Theatre fans know what an event Olivo's eventual Broadway return will be (for the unawares: post West Side Story Tony win, Olivo left the profession and since has returned via regional theatre and the Chicago production of Hamilton). For now, we await the sparkling diamond. What do you think of Tveit's take?
• The Cut "I'm rooting for the Lannisters" fun piece on Game of Thrones (which I still read about on occasion even though I haven't watched since season 2) • /Film Guillermo del Toro's official tequila looks like it's from one of his movies • Vulture every Charlize Theron performance ranked. Interesting list though I quibble with the order (as they seem to equate the quality of the movies with the quality of her performance and Theron is precisely the star she is because she is often able to be good even in terrible pictures). Also Young Adult should be #1
• Playbill all star cast lined up for Steve Martin's next Broadway show (after his musical Bright Star), this one's a comedy called Meteor Shower • Browbeat the internet goes wild for old Russ Tamblyn dancing clip from 1956 • Tracking Board Nicole Kidman is in talks to headline a crime thriller called Destroyer directed by Karyn Kusama. Kusama is promising that though it's a genre film it's also "a beautiful character study of an incredible female" • Variety we were wondering when Ruth Negga would start lining up big roles after Loving. She'll star opposite Brad Pitt in the sci-fi movie Ad Astra • Awards DailyThis is Us has lost one of its Emmy nominations, costume design. • The Wrap this piece about Marvel's plans for Spider-Man got a lot of internet pass-around but it really doesn't tell you much other than they're going to make Spidey a thing in all the crossover movies
Two pieces about criticism/discussion of racial politics in movies/theaters right now
• American Theater a thoughtful piece on the counterproductive assault on Broadway's Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. (We haven't yet heard if the show is actually closing following it's poorly handled casting changes but it might... but the producers were apparently considering it) • Birth Movies Death a very navel gazing piece about being an ally and trying to navigate pop culture criticism in the current political climate and intersectional age
Exit Video Handsome talented Aaron Tveit is taking on the classic role of Bobby in another production of Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece (one of them, at least) Company. This one starts in a couple of days in Massachusetts so go if you live near there and report back. Here he is rehearsing...
Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 8:30PM 
Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo in "Moulin Rouge: The Musical"
