Moulin Rouge! - Glee connection?

[A Canadian in NYC]

Posted: 12/9/19 at 5:57am

Saw the show last night and am wondering if someone with the production had a Glee connection or was it just coincidence that Christian was from Lima Ohio?
It seemed really weird to me - of all places to pick.
Sorry if this has been answered before - I havent been following all the ML threads
For what its worth I loved the show. Danny was out. Kevyn Morrow was fantastic but I was disappointed not seeing Danny.

[Justin D]

Posted: 12/9/19 at 7:36am

whenever i listen to the cast recording it always reminds me of Glee with all the mashups

[A Canadian in NYC]

Posted: 12/9/19 at 8:19am

Justin D said: "whenever i listen to the cast recording it always reminds me of Glee with all the mashups"

It did to me as well. That’s why i was surprised when he said he was from Lima.  I was wondering if maybe Adam Anders was involved. Or someone from the creative team. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 8:21am

Um, guys, Baz Luhrman released the film of MOULIN ROUGE! in 2001, some 8 years before GLEE came on our TVs. If anything, one might speculate that Ryan Murphy got the idea from Luhrman.

But medleys were common long before they were called "mash-ups". They were a staple on variety TV (including THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW in the 1950s, THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW in the 1960s, and SONNY AND CHER in the 1970s) long before Luhrman or Murphy were making films or TV shows.

Also, Lima, Ohio, was famous because of the "wrong" pronunciation. I have no idea where in Ohio it is, but I know it's there because it isn't pronounced "LEE-muh" like the capital of Peru.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 8:35am

@Gaveston:

In the film, Christian is British. So the idea to make him an American from Ohio was a change specifically for the musical.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 9:24am

Yup, in the original film Christian is from London.

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 10:17am

Didn't Glee do a particularly painful version of Come What May with Chris Colfer as Satine?

[Justin D]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 12:38pm

^^ probably

 

as for the mashups, yes the term is new, and people have been combining songs forever, but in the movie its only really done once (elephant song) and in the show almost every song is a mashup

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 11:45pm

JBroadway said: "@Gaveston:

In the film, Christian is British. So the idea to make him an American from Ohio was a change specifically for the musical."

Thanks. I assumed as much. (Haven't seen the show, but I've seen the film and Ewen McGregor isn't from Ohio.)

I was specifically responding to the GLEE reference. I just threw in the fact that Lima, Ohio has been famous all my 65 years. It didn't require GLEE to become famous.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 12/10/19 at 11:47pm

Justin D said: "^^ probably



as for the mashups, yes the term is new, and people have been combining songs forever, but in the movie its only really done once (elephant song) and in the show almost every song is a mashup"

But isn't that true of most jukebox musicals nowadays? Maybe it is the influence of GLEE on writers and younger audiences, but even AIN'T MISBEHAVIN' did a number of medleys back in the 1970s.

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/11/19 at 8:03am

People tend to confuse medley and mashup: a medley contains multiple melodies or songs, while a mashup deconstructs elements of the various pieces, fitting pieces of the melody, the backing music and the structure of them together in a way that creates a single unified whole rather than "this song and then that song."