So for my Advnced Theatre Project, we had to pick a movie and turn a few scenes from it into a play (the entire movie for extra credit). I picked Moulin Rouge! The first scene I decided to do was, of course, the first scene in the movie. The big, grand opening! There are a few changes but read it with an open-mind and give me your opinion. Hope you like it :-)

Disclaimer: I do not own Moulin Rouge (Songs, lines, characters, ect.). Though I absolutely love them (Christian/Ewan McGregor specifically) :-)

ENJOY!

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The stage is black. Silence. The sepia-toned spotlight slowly reveals a woman, SATINE, center-stage. She is looking down at the ground. SATINE brings her head up as she begins singing. She looks straight out, as if looking over the audience.)

SATINE:

There was a boy

A very strange

Enchanted boy

They say he wandered

Very far, very far

Over land and sea

(SATINE Begins looking at the audience members, as if telling them a story now.)

A little shy and sad of eye

But very wise was he

(SATINE continues as lights begin coming up to reveal more of the set, the lights escalate with the music)(Part of the2nd level of the set is illuminated now. It is a dark, dirty little room littered with papers and bottles. Crouched in a corner, head in his arms, clutching a bottle, CHRISTIAN, a young man sunk in the depths of despair.)(SATINE continues singing out to audience without looking at CHRISTIAN.)

And then one day

One magic day

He passed my way

(CHRISTIAN slowly looks over at his typewriter, in the moonlight by "the window", AKA out to the audience)

While we spoke

Of many things

(CHRISTIAN stands in front of his typewriter, staring at it.)

Fools and kings

(HE puts a piece of paper in the typewriter.)

This he said to me….

(SATINE looks over to CHRISTIAN for the first time. She slowly approaches upper stage; she looks as if she is about to cry.)

(CHRISTIAN begins to type as the words are projected on the wall, sound of keys from him typing are also heard again)(He looks serious, determined. But the minute he starts typing he begins to break down)(The music continues as he begins speaking.)

CHRISTIAN: The greatest thing… You'll ever learn… (CHRISTIAN stops typing for a moment and then slowly continues typing) Is just to love and be loved in return… (CHRISTIAN stops typing, he runs he hands through his hair.) (SATINE is still looking at CHRISTIAN.)

CHRISTIAN: The Moulin Rouge… (The stage lights up in all variations of color, as if it is a dance floor, THE MOULIN ROUGE, all except for the spotlight and lights on CHRISTIAN, which do not change. SATINE is standing still under the spotlight, her eyes locked on CHRISTIAN)(Music is heard lightly as CAN-CAN DANCERS, CLOWNS, RAKES all appear under colored lights resembling the dance floor back in it's heyday)

CHRISTIAN: …a nightclub, a dancehall and a bordello. . . (An older man, ZIDLER, runs out to join the dance floor.)

ZIDLER: (He looks as if he is yelling, but you only hear him faintly.) The Moulin Rouge! (The CAN-CAN DANCERS begin dancing, as does everyone else on the dance floor)

CHRISTIAN: …ruled over by Harold Zidler. A kingdom of nighttime pleasures where the rich and powerful came to play with the young and beautiful creatures of the underworld… (Everyone on the dance floor begins slowing down, as if going in slow motion) The most beautiful of all these was the woman I loved. Satine. (SATINE looks out to audience, still staring off into space as if in a trance.) (Lights begin going faster again, they now reflect on CHRISTIAN too. Everyone on the dance floor begins going faster than before, as if in fast-forward. Except ZIDLER. The music begins escalating.) A courtesan, she sold her love to men. (ZIDLER approaches SATINE, as if talking to her. SATINE still gazes out as if she cannot hear ZIDLER.) They called her (ZIDLER mouths "The Sparkling Diamond" as CHRISTIAN says it) "The Sparkling Diamond", and she was the star of the Moulin Rouge.

(CHRISTIAN suddenly stops typing) (The scene of dancers below freezes completely. The lights freeze; CHRISTIAN stands slowly as the lights lose their color going from colorful to sepia.) (CHRISTIAN stands by the edge, looking out "the window" at the scene below of the Moulin Rouge.)

CHRISTIAN: (After CHRISTIAN looks at the scene for a moment, the lights on the dance floor quickly shut off, causing a loud bang representing someone turning them off. Now only SATINE is in the spotlight, she has not moved until now. She looks up to CHRISTIAN. She looks as if she is in pain CHRISTIAN looks at her for the first time, he continues speaking but in a trance looking at SATINE. He continues calmly.) The woman I loved is (Right before SATINE'S light goes off, she looks out to the audience. SATINE'S spotlight shuts off quickly, the sound of it shutting off is heard) (CHRISTIAN stares at the spot on the stage where SATINE was. His eyes do not move from that spot, he continues almost inaudible)… dead… (He bows his head down as the lights on the 2nd level fades to black.) (CHRISTAIN exits off after lights go to black.)