The stage adaptation of “Moulin Rouge!” now on Broadway, while belting hits by Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Soft Cell, the White Stripes and Eurythmics.

[Headed Peckerhead]

But the stage adaptation of “Moulin Rouge!” — now on Broadway, London’s West End and on the road in North America — welcomes theatergoers back from intermission with a full-throated roar from the entire cast, dancing all out while belting hits by Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Soft Cell, the White Stripes and Eurythmics. Titled “Backstage Romance,” it’s an ensemble-wide embodiment of the 2001 movie’s maximalism aesthetic.

The Times went behind the scenes of “Backstage Romance” to find out how the high-energy hit parade came to be and what it’s like to perform repeatedly at Hollywood’s Pantages Theatre, where the show is playing through Sept. 4.

Levine: Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” is a song that’s not in the film but is absolutely at home with the canon Baz created. I then put together songs about the painful parts of relationships — Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” Soft Cell’s [cover of] “Tainted Love,” the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” and Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) — and made this anti-romance medley. There was a lot of playing around with the keys, instrumentations and tempos of these songs in trying to see how they could fit together.

‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’

Where: Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.

When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sundays; through Jan. 2

Tickets: Start at $39

Info: (866) 755-2929 or via Ticketmaster, (800) 982-2787 or Ticketmaster.com

Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes (with one intermission)

Source: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-07-08/moulin-rouge-musical-backstage-romance