Lacey as Scott Hastings and Phoebe Panaretos as Fran performing in Strictly Ballroom. Picture: Steve Tanner Source: News Limited
BAZ Luhrmann hopes there will be dancing in the streets during the Melbourne season of his stage show Strictly Ballroom the Musical.
The star director and his costume-designer wife Catherine Martin have arrived in Melbourne ahead of the show’s glitzy opening night at Her Majesty’s Theatre on Saturday.
MORE: 20 things you didn’t know about Strictly Ballroom
“There will negative reviews and positive reviews, but the one thing that’s undeniable is that in Sydney, people danced in the aisles at the end of the show. It’s got that spirit to it,” he said.
“Melbourne is a theatre town. I want to see that energy of dancing in the aisles continue out in the street, so we’ll have to identity the Strictly Ballroom bar.”
Strictly Ballroom The Musical directed by Baz Luhrmann at Her Majesty's Theatre. Picture: Steve Tanner Source: News Limited
Luhrmann — creator of blockbusters such as Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet and The Great Gatsby — has made changes to the musical since its world premiere season in Sydney last year.
It now has a new opening number written by Eddie Perfect — “it’s a bit of a sing-a-long” — and has been moulded to take on a new life in a new space.
“Shows are living, breathing organisms. That’s what so thrilling about the theatre,” Luhrmann said. “With a movie, it’s locked in, but theatre lives and it finds its growth from the audience. It’s the audience that tells it what to do.”
Thomas Lacey as Scott Hastings leaps high in the air during a big dance number. Picture: Steve Tanner Source: News Limited
Luhrmann’s original Strictly Ballroom stage show, which lead to his hit 1992 film, was made during his university days on a $50 budget.
As well as his personal connection to the story, Luhrmann said he wanted to remake the show for the main stage to ensure he continued working in Australia.
“Even though we live in New York and Sydney and our kids go to school in both places, it’s been very important to CM and I that our children have their Australian roots,” he said.
Cast in costume performing scenes from Strictly Ballroom. Picture: Steve Tanner Source: News Limited
“We’ve chosen certain projects to make sure we are here for certain periods of time. The other thing was, if I don’t do it when we’re dead and gone someone else will, so why not get in and get on with it.”
Starring Phoebe Panaretos and Thomas Lacey in the lead roles of Fran and Scott, the musical tells the universal story of a ballroom dancing champion who defies the rules to follow his heart.
After the show’s Melbourne opening, Luhrmann and Martin will return to New York to continue working on a new television series about NYC in the ’70s and ’80s.
sally.bennett@news.com.au
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