NYMF Celebrates with Baz Luhrmann!
We're thrilled to have the legendary Baz Luhrmann as the Honorary Chairman of this year's festival! Join us as we celebrate NYMF 2010 with two very special events:
Seventh Anniversary Season Opening Night Celebration
Hosted by NYMF 2010 Honorary Chairman Baz Luhrmann
As the lights come up on a new season of NYMF musicals, what better way to celebrate the start of the Festival than with a party? Meet the casts and creative teams of this year’s shows at our glam opening night bash, mingle with Broadway’s hottest stars, and dance the night away with the NYMF family! Hosted by the Festival’s 2010 Honorary Chairman, Oscar and Tony nominee Baz Luhrmann, this exclusive red carpet event is only open to NYMF members and patrons.
WHEN: Sept 27, 9:30pm
WHERE: Hudson Terrace, 621 West 46th Street New York, NY 10036
TICKETS: Free for NYMF Members, Patrons and Participants - please check back for rsvp details.
Not a NYMF Member? Then become one today! 
Musical Theatre on Film: A Master Class with Baz Luhrmann
Through his work, Baz Luhrmann has had a direct effect on popular culture, fashion, design, music, graphics and cinematic innovation over the past twenty years. From the kaleidoscopic storytelling of the films in his Red Curtain Trilogy to the cinematic rapture of his Tony Award-winning production of La Boheme, Luhrmann’s work has captivated audiences worldwide with an innovative approach to musical storytelling. In celebration of the upcoming Blu-ray release of Moulin Rouge! and William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, NYMF is proud to offer an exclusive master class with this legendary artist. Featuring clips from his most beloved works, this event will include a discussion about musical theatre performance for stage and screen, the challenges in making a “contemporary” adaptation, and other insights into Mr. Luhrmann’s creative process.
WHEN: September 30, 7pm
WHERE: Paley Center
TICKETS: Free for all NYMF Patrons, Diamond and Platinum Members; free for high school and college students by invitation. Limited $30 public tickets available, click here to purchase!
ABOUT BAZ LUHRMANN
Baz Luhrmann has captured popular and critical imagination internationally with a diverse range of commercially successful projects in film, opera, theatre, music, multi-media and events. As the founder and director of Bazmark.Inq and subsidiaries Bazmark Live and Bazmark Music, the huge commercial success of Luhrmann's projects reveals an instinctual ability to anticipate audience tastes, and to tap into the spirit of the times.
Luhrmann’s Red Curtain Trilogy – comprised of Strictly Ballroom (1992), William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), and Moulin Rouge! (2001) – met with worldwide box office and critical success. The films’ honors have included the Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy (Moulin Rouge!), Academy Awards for production and costume design (Moulin Rouge!), four BAFTAs (Romeo + Juliet, including Best Direction and Adapted Screenplay), and the Cannes Film Festival’s Prix de la Jeunesse (Strictly Ballroom).
His most recent film, Oscar-nominated film Australia (2008), was Luhrmann's personal poem to his homeland. It is the country's second highest grossing film, and went on to make more than $210 million at the international box office.
Strictly Ballroom evolved from a play that Luhrmann conceived, co-wrote, and directed while studying at Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Arts. The play, which also began his long-term collaboration with writer Craig Pearce, had several further award-winning stage incarnations, including a first run during Luhrmann's stint as Artistic Director of Six Years Old (for the Sydney Theatre Company). Among other works, Luhrmann’s other projects include the opera Lake Lost with composer Felix Meagher (Australian Opera); Dance Hall, a large-scale musical event staged at the Sydney Town Hall; and Benjamin Britten's version of A Midsummer Night's Dream (Australian Opera, winner of the Edinburgh Festival Critics' Prize). His acclaimed production of La Boheme was first mounted in 1990 for the Australian Opera, and then completely re-staged for Broadway in 2002, where it was nominated for seven Tony Awards (including Best Revival and Best Director) and won for the ensemble cast, set design and lighting. The opera toured to the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in 2004, where it was nominated for seven Ovation Awards, winning for ensemble cast, set design, lighting and sound.
Luhrmann’s other works have included the concept album Something For Everybody; the multiplatinum soundtracks for Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet, and the groundbreaking cinema and TV campaign for Chanel No. 5 perfume.
