Moulin Rouge delays West End opening to late 2021

The Broadway hit, previously announced to open at the Piccadilly Theatre in March 2021, is the latest to be impacted by the Covid shutdown.

UPDATE: Moulin Rouge! The Musical performances are at the Piccadilly Theatre. Get Moulin Rouge! The Musical tickets on London Theatre.

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, the spectacular hit musical from Broadway, has announced it will delay its West End opening by seven months due to the impact of Covid-19 on its production schedule. Although announced to open at the Piccadilly Theatre in March 2021, it is now expected to open in late fall 2021 at the same theatre. Tickets for the originally-timed run had not gone on sale.

Carmen Pavlovic, the show's producer and CEO of its production company Global Creatures, said in a statement: "Whilst we're disappointed to be opening a little later than originally planned, we are committed to bringing Moulin Rouge! The Musical to London and look forward to being part of a revived West End."

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, based on Baz Luhrmann's iconic 2001 film, opened on Broadway in July 2019, following a successful out-of-town tryout at Boston's Emerson Colonnial Theatre in 2018. It quickly became one of the highest grossing productions in New York, playing to capacity crowds and routinely grossing over $2 million per week.

It was directed by Alex Timbers (Beetlejuice), with choreography by Sonya Tayeh (So You Think You Can Dance). The acclaimed physical production includes set design by Derek McLane (Beautiful), costumes by Catherine Zuber (The King and I), and lighting by Justin Townsend (Jagged Little Pill).

Global Creatures's first production in 2007 was the arena tour Walking With Dinosaurs, which has been successful around the world. They followed this with an arena show How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular in 2012 before shifting focus to legitimate theatre productions.  In addition to producing Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Global Creatures' recent stage productions include King Kong at New York's Broadway Theatre, Muriel's Wedding in Australia and Strictly Ballroom at London's Piccadilly Theatre. It is also a co-producer of the UK hit play A Monster Calls.