Those Aussies are at it again. No sooner did Carmen Pavlovic, the CEO of Global Creatures, announce that the company had acquired the rights to “Moulin Rouge!”, Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 rock extravaganza, than it was followed up with another movie-to-stage transfer: “Muriel’s Wedding,” the 1994 independent film about a mendacious busybody intent on getting a ring on it. This brings to four the number of musicals, including “Strictly Ballroom” and “King Kong,” which the Australian entertainment company, best known for arena spectacles like “How to Train Your Dragon” and “Walking with Dinosaurs,” is moving towards Broadway.“Muriel’s Wedding” is being adapted by PJ Hogan, its writer and director, with an assist from songwriters Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall supplementing the ABBA hits so memorably used in the film. The show has great potential—the producers must hope that it is another “Mamma Mia!”-- as does “Moulin Rouge!” the book for which is being written by John Logan (“Red”, “The Last Ship”) and being steered to Broadway by Alex Timbers (“Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”, “Here Lies Love”).While Timbers and Logan are charged with developing “Moulin Rouge!” Pavlovic told an Australian newspaper that Luhrmann and Catherine Martin--his wife who won who won Oscars for her designs for the movie--will also be involved. The couple “will be part of the creative imagining of the show and are in the mix as inspiration and support to the team,” said Pavlovic. “At the same time Alex and John are tasked with the re-imagining of the work so that it has its own identity for the stage. I love the idea of blending the integrity of the film with a fresh perspective.”The film of “Moulin Rouge!” which starred Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman as star-crossed lovers in Montmartre at the turn of the last century, grossed $179 million worldwide and was nominated for eight Oscars. “Muriel’s Wedding” took in only $15 million. But the complex role of the much-abused Muriel made Toni Collette a star and it could be a good vehicle for Jessie Mueller, the Tony-Award winner of “Beautiful” and current star of “Waitress.”“Muriel’s Wedding” will be a collaboration between Global Creatures and the Sydney Theatre Company, the prestigious rep which until recently was led by writer-director Andrew Upton, the spouse of Cate Blanchett who has starred in several of its productions. Those include “The Maids,” “Uncle Vanya,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” and “Hedda Gabler,” which were previously presented at City Center and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This season, Blanchett makes her Broadway debut in the STC’s production of “The Present,” Upton’s adaptation of an Anton Chekhov drama, “Platonov.” (The show begins previews on December 17 and opens on January 8, 2017, for a 13-week limited engagement.)Pavlovic said at the announcement of “Muriel’s Wedding” that she couldn’t imagine a better partner in developing a new musical than the Sydney Theatre Company: “STC is an industry leader in creating new work and together our two organizations can bring significant creative resources to bear.”When we’ll see the results of that collaboration, as well as that of “Moulin Rouge!” may be a couple of seasons off. It is likely that “Strictly Ballroom” and “King Kong,” will make it to Broadway sooner. “Ballroom” opened in Sydney in 2014 and has since been touring. The show, directed by Luhrmann, is set to make its North American premiere in Toronto next Spring. “King Kong,” based on the 1933 film classic, opened in Sydney in 2013, and has had a much rockier time. Its original book writer Craig Lucas (“An American in Paris”) was recently replaced by Marsha Norman (“The Color Purple”) and Jason Robert Brown was brought in to add songs to a score created by several different songwriters. A replacement for the original director Daniel Kramer has yet to be announced.Pavlovic is probably hoping that both “Muriel’s Wedding” and “Moulin Rouge!” will have smoother paths to their respective Broadway premieres.
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