Now of course we still have ‘film award’ nights, we are just mindful of not replicating the golden Oscar, and I suspect with the recent legla efforts surrounding the notion of the Moulin Rouge, we’ll all continue to stage fabulous Moulin Rouge inspired events… we’ll just call them… oh I don’t know – the ‘French Cancan’, perhaps ‘Paris: City of Lights’ or as the Hear and Say Centre event organizer has done -simply rebranding a ‘Moulin Rouge’ event into a “le Windmill de Rouge”

Okay I get that there is always something to be gained from unexpected publicity but it seems to be a tad… petulant… to state it is NOT ‘Moulin Rouge’ while still overtly leveraging off the ‘brand’ name in any case…

And employing the likeness of Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, even slightly blurred… umm could this be a case of swapping one set of lawyers for another set. They do love sending letters out people. That said, I suspect they are safe, Nic and Ewan wouldn’t see much upside to lawyering up against a local charity. Bad business.

Still – good to see Thiess continued involvement despite these grim economic times.

This construction and development company is is an extremely well regard corporate citizen so it is nice to see them actively throwing their considerable support behind a worthy charity.

On a sidenote, as we are want to do from time to time – if your interested in the history of the Cancan then I recommend a quick visit to this site where we sourced the wonderful image of the three dancing girls.

And now for a wonderful video shot in 1943 showcasing the Cancan in action. Magnific!

FACTOR168 | Creative Event Management Company

In an office poll – his recent marathon effort “Australia” with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman was declared to have sucked the big one for being too self indulgent and long. And yet – everyone loves and admits to owning a copy of the iconic “Strictly Ballroom” starring a very young Paul Mercurio.

His other two efforts are also either adored or loathed -  “Moulin Rouge” again with Nicole and a strangely cast Ewan McGregor, and “Romeo+Juliet” with a pre-Titanic Leo DiCaprio and the Gwyneth Paltrow double, Claire Danes.

For myself personally, I can’t help but feel that Baz isn’t so much a great storyteller or a fabulous film director but rather his is a uniquely visioned cinematic stylist. His films are all stamped equally with the rich visual dimensions of his visual signature. Interestingly his partner in crime and wife Catherine Martin, is a three time Oscar nominee and a winner on two occasions for…. you guess it – costume design and art direction. Hmmm.

In any case – Baz (and or his muse Catherine) illustrate well practised artistic skills in re-visioning and re-packaging. Skills that are central to good business theatre practices. To take the familiar and the pre-existing in terms of set performances and audience expectations, and to revision (or as our Disney friends are want to say – reimagnieering) these elements into a newer, fresher and more impactful experience.

“Moulin Rouge” and “Romeo+Juliet” are both very good cases in point.

The well known Shakespeare story of forbidden love is expertly placed into more contemporary settings while “Moulin Rouge” draws heavily on the Toulouse Lautrec inspired historical Parisian setting threading musical sequences laced with distinctive and iconic pop music lyrics. I can assure you it was not just Ewan McGregor who appeared a little perplexed at this… but it worked. Which is a forced segway to today’s show and tell moment.

This music clip was employed at the time of the “Moulin Rouge” film as a great cross-platform promotional effort and what a great effort it was. Taking on a classic 1970’s dance floor hit “Lady Marmalade” by Labelle – this refreshed version starred the four biggest popstars at the time – Christina Aguilera, Lil’Kim, Mya, and the FACTOR168 fav’ Pink.

The results: a great musical cover version, a great cross-promotional experience, strong Baz inspired visuals, and a collection of distinctive thumbnail personalities presented by the girls. Not surprisingly – we’ve designed similar “Lady Marmalade” experiences and delivered them within the event context. Taking affectionately memorable moments and artfully redesigning them into even more powerful updated experiences. Good fun for all.

Enjoy the clip and the sisters in action!

FACTOR168 | Event Management Company