John Logan is an award-winning screenwriter and playwright who brought Baz Luhrmann’s magical movie Moulin Rouge! to the stage. John Byrne talks to him as the show wends it way to Dublin.
It’s a funny oul’ world, showbiz. It’s also a collaborative world. Without a script, there would be no story. Without a story, there would be no stars. They may inhabit the almost surreptitious world behind the curtain and camera, but without the writers, there would be nothing.
Well, until AI takes over.
In the meantime, take John Logan for an excellent example of what us humans can do. This 64-year-old Irish-American playwright, screenwriter, and producer can walk pretty much anywhere outside his own gaff and not be recognised. Yet his CV is showbiz gold.
In the film industry he’s renowned for his work as a screenwriter for films such as Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000), Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004) and Hugo (2011), Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Sam Mendes' James Bond films Skyfall (2012), and Spectre (2015).
Yep. Not one, but two Bond films!
His stage work preceded movies and has continued, with much success on Broadway and the West End. He’s also been nominated for three Academy Awards and has won a Tony Award and a Golden Globe. His next project for public consumption is the biopic of Michael Jackson, no less.
But of more pressing concern is Moulin Rouge! The Musical.
Since its debut in 2018, this stage show based on the marvelous Baz Luhrmann’s movie Moulin Rouge! has been a Broadway triumph and a West End perennial since it landed in London three years later.
The multi-award-winning show is now on a world tour – look, why not? - and hits our own Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin just in time for Christmas, as it runs from November 200 until January 11.
In case you’ve been living a music and movie-free existence since the turn of the millennium, Moulin Rouge! arrived in 2001 and director Baz Luhrmann’s audacious jukebox musical starred Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor and was considered an instant classic. Because it was brilliant, beautiful and breathtaking.
Set in Paris during the Belle Epoque, it follows Christian, a young composer, who falls in love with Satine, a courtesan and the star of the Moulin Rouge cabaret.
Bringing something as spectacular – and cinematic – to the stage was always going to be a challenging task. Some thought impossible.
But John Logan undertook to write the book – the parochial term used for the script, the narrative structure that keeps the score from being nothing more than a disjointed medley of songs. It’s the drama at the heart of every musical.
Alongside John Logan, Moulin Rouge! The Musical is directed by Alex Timbers, choreography by Sonya Tayeh and music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Justin Levine.
Tony Award winners all. No wonder the musical has proved to be a tremendous, unmissable success.
Ahead of the show's arrival in Dublin, I caught up with John - no relation to Eurovision winner Johnny Logan - on a Zoom call. He's pretty much the most upbeat and laidback person I've ever met laptop-to-laptop.
John Byrne: Hi John!
John Logan: Hi John!
What was your initial feeling about getting involved in something like this? Not just the fact that the film was a huge success – but the considerable task of transforming something truly spectacular to the stage . . .
Everyone who worked on Moulin Rouge! did it because we loved the movie. And when Alex Timber, the director, first called me, back in 2016, I think the first words out of my mouth were ‘That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard for a Broadway musical.’
Because you could just see how Baz Luhrmann’s love of spectacle and excitement - and that panache – could translate to the stage.
It’s intimidating that so many people love the movie. But we took our time. We went down some wrong alleys and explored a lot of different ways to tell it. Because, as you know, there’s such a difference between movies and plays.
And Baz’s movie in particular, exists on kinetic, cinematic energy. It’s such a cinematic movie, with flashbacks, with closeups and montages – none of which work on stage. So we had to find our own vocabulary for telling the story.
You’ve certainly managed the translation with a smart combination of layers on the stage and lighting that brings the audience right in . . .
When Alex and I first started talking about it, we wanted the audience to feel like they were in the Moulin Rouge. So Derek McLean did the sets and Justin Townsend did the lighting, and Cathy Zubru did the costumes, and made that come to life.
And one of the great joys of working on it for many years was watching that evolve so it’s immersive - I like to think it’s immersive for the audience. They walk in, from whatever their lives are, and suddenly the magic of the Moulin Rouge is just enveloping them.
Intimidating, maybe – but are you the kind of guy who relishes a challenge?
I do relish a challenge. I face the blinking cursor every day, so I’m up for a challenge. We loved that movie so much and we wanted to treat it respectfully, but also do it in our vocabulary. But the most important person was Baz Luhrman. He was so supportive all the way along.
The songs are so effective, and many in the stage show are not featured in the movie. As the writer, what way does that work? Do you suggest songs as a starting point or is it more a collaborative effort?
That was, to me, the most exciting weekend of Moulin Rouge! And I’ve been working on it since 2016. It was Alex Timbers, the director, Justin Levine, the musical supervisor, and myself.
We locked ourselves in a hotel room in New York for two days, with music. And I had note cards with the plot and we slotted in songs. We tried different songs in different places. Some things we didn’t get the rights to, but we got rights to almost everything.
So, all the way along we kept experimenting with different songs until we got to our final play list. It was always exciting.
It must be great fun, matching songs and creating mash-ups, which is such a central feature of Moulin Rouge! The Musical?
It is, and I cannot give more praise to Justin Levine, the musical supervisor, because of the encyclopedic knowledge he has of music, from the turn of the century to today. He was able to put together the Elephant Love medley that ends the first act, for example.
There are 36 songs in it and making those work as a piece of dialogue so you saw the relationship developing, was one of the most exciting things to see come to life.
Justin and I worked on it and tried different snippets to see does this add up. And then when you see the performers do it, you see it’s just a piece of magic for the audience.
Quite often when films are transferred to the stage, things have to be changed. What’s different – or the same – with Moulin Rouge! The Musical?
There were certain things . . . we made a list of things that we had to have. Certain elements of the movie that are iconic. Things we had to respect. In the socond half, things get very different. We had to be more inventive in the things we were doing.
Your CV is hugely impressive. Between stage and film you’ve enjoyed a quite remarkable career. There must be times when you pinch yourself or wonder, how did I get here?
Sure I do. When I started out, I was just a kid who loved movies and theatre, plays and putting on plays. The reason I think I’ve been successful – I work hard – but I think it’s also that I’m Irish.
My parents came from Belfast. And so I was raised with literature and poetry, and Shakespeare, from when I was very young. And that is something that has stayed with me.
My father was a naval architect, who worked at Harland & Wolff shipyards. He went there at 16. So there was a work ethic that was always a part of my life. I trace right back to Ireland, which is why I’m so excited we will be coming to Dublin.
I’ll be there for the opening night at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, where I have seen countless things over the years. My husband’s family all live in Dublin, so they’re all coming.
It’s going to be a great homecoming for me to go back. I haven’t been back in a couple of years – and to see Moulin Rouge! With this great international company.
So you're familar with Dublin?
I spent three years doing [TV series] Penny Dreadful, in Ardmore Studios. I spent three years living in Merrion Square . . . That’s why, when I saw the schedule, and saw the show was coming to Dublin, I got in touch and said: My gosh, I want to go to the opening. I want to meet the cast. I want to be there.
It’s like going to my second home. And the Bord Gáis is a beautiful venue – but it’s also modern, which is incredibly useful for a show such as Moulin Rouge! I’m giddy to go there!
Moulin Rouge! The Musical runs at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre from November 2025 to January 11 and tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster
