Tony Awards 2021: ‘Moulin Rouge!’ Has Now Won Oscars and Tonys for the Same Categories
Moulin Rouge! The Musical won big at the 2021 Tony Awards. The Broadway show, based on Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge movie, won Best Musical at the Tonys on Sept. 26. In fact, it won the most Tonys of the night with 10 total wins. Luhrmann’s 2001 movie musical also won several Oscars. And as fate would have it, the Moulin Rouge! awards now overlap, meaning the movie and the stage show have both won awards in similar categories at different award shows.
‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’ Tony wins
Moulin Rouge!‘s Tony wins included two awards the Broadway community felt were overdue. Danny Burstein won his first Tony for Featured Actor in a Musical. He plays Harold Zidler in the musical, played by Jim Broadbent in the movie. This was Burstein’s seventh nomination. Aaron Tveit won his first Tony as well for Moulin Rouge! after several nominations and no wins. He plays Christian in the musical, played by Ewan McGregor in the movie.
Karen Olivo was nominated for Lead Actress in a Musical for their performance as Satine (Nicole Kidman’s role). But they didn’t attend the awards show in protest of Broadway’s response to the allegations against producer Scott Rudin. They previously left Moulin Rouge! for the same reason. Natalie Mendoza stepped in as their replacement and performed with the rest of the Moulin Rouge! cast at the Tonys.
Here are the rest of Moulin Rouge!‘s Tony wins: Best Scenic Design, Best Costume Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Sound Design, Best Direction, Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations.
Moulin Rouge! had the second-most Tony nominations of the night at 14. Jagged Little Pill was nominated for 15. Hamilton still holds the record for the most Tony nominations ever at 16, of which it won 11. The Producers still holds the record for the most Tony wins at 12, and it was nominated for 15.
‘Moulin Rouge!’ Oscar wins
Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture. Kidman also got a Best Actress nomination. The other nominations were for Makeup, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound, Costume Design, and Art Direction-Set Decoration. Art Direction-Set Decoration category is now called Best Production Design at the Oscars.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical also won Best Costume Design at the Tonys, as well as all of the categories tied to production design (scenic design and lighting design). The scenic, lighting, and costume design roles all work closely with the director of a film or musical to achieve the creative vision of the piece. And clearly, Moulin Rouge!‘s creative vision has remained popular over the last 20 years.
The delayed Tony Awards for the 2019-2020 season aired live on Sept. 26 on Paramount+ and CBS. The event was hosted by Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom Jr. and featured live performances from Broadway legends. The nominated musicals also performed at the show. But the performances were filmed in advance.
Moulin Rouge!, Jagged Little Pill, and Tina — The Tina Turner Musical were up for Best Musical. No revivals were able to open before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shut down Broadway, so there was no Best Revival of a Musical category this year.
