As the world watches the devastating wildfires unfold in Australia, everyone at Moulin Rouge! The Musical on Broadway is heartbroken. The production’s roots in Australia run deep: the film was made in Australia, brought to life by the great Australian artists Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, and Nicole Kidman. The musical was brought to the stage by Australian-based producers Carmen Pavlovic, Gerry Ryan and their production company, Global Creatures. The Broadway musical features Australian actors in the cast.

The bohemian values of truth, beauty, freedom, and — above all — love, have inspired Moulin Rouge! The Musical to rally together to support the relief efforts currently underway down under.

On Monday, January 27th, Moulin Rouge! The Musical and Friends will present the “Make it Rain Rally” a benefit for the Australian bushfires at (Le) Poisson Rouge (LPR). An initiative by Australian cast members Karli Dinardo and Reed Luplau, this special event is directed by Mr. Luplau and will feature performances by singer-songwriter Ben Folds; the band Postmodern Jukebox with Morgan James; cast members of Moulin Rouge! The Musical along with performers from other Broadway shows including Frozen, Hamilton and Tootsie; drag personality Alexis Michelle; and more to be announced. The event is produced by Mr. Luplau and Hayley Isaacson. #MakeItRainRally

All proceeds from the “Make it Rain Rally” will be donated to the Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund and WIRES Australian Wildlife Rescue.

ABOUT AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS – RED CROSS DISASTER RELIEF AND RECOVERY

As bushfires affect communities across Australia on an unprecedented scale, Red Cross is right there, providing practical, local support where it’s needed to tens of thousands of people during and after the emergencies. It’s all thanks to people like you. Learn more about what Red Cross is doing and how your donations are helping in our regular updates. Your donation helps Red Cross give people the support they need in disasters, whenever and wherever they happen. We have decades of experience in caring for people affected by earthquakes, cyclones, floods, storms, fire, drought and other emergencies. This includes: recovery programs and emergency assistance in communities affected by disasters like bushfires, heat, floods cyclones and other emergencies; helping people and communities prepare for disasters and protect what matters most; training, equipment, logistics and coordination of our volunteers.

ABOUT WIRES AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE RESCUE

WIRES (NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service Inc.) has been rescuing and caring for wildlife for over 30 years and is the largest wildlife rescue organization in Australia. We are passionate about supporting smaller volunteer organization in the wildlife sector with the same mission, as well as Universities, Veterinary Associations and other leading scientific and environmental groups. In the last 5 years WIRES has been working with WWF, National Parks Association, Humane Society International, The Wilderness Society, Nature Conservation Council, Birdlife, RSPCA, Animal Welfare League and IFAW and we thank these organizations for their significant ongoing contribution to the wildlife rehabilitation sector. While WIRES presence is mostly in NSW where we are responding to more than 90,000 rescues each year, we also receive around 170,000 calls to our 1300 WIRES line annually, including thousands of interstate calls where we provide rescue advice. WIRES also plays a major role in national community wildlife education. Normally WIRES has several hundred thousand unique visitors to our website annually but we have had over a million unique visitors in the last couple of days. Following these catastrophic fires WIRES is also very keen to pursue additional opportunities to help wildlife more broadly across Australia wherever possible, including partnering on projects to improve long-term outcomes for native animals. We will be announcing in the coming days our support for new projects to assist bushfire affected animals in all regions. We have over 2500 volunteers in 28 branches involved in the rescue and care of wildlife and we have a dedicated Rescue Office that operates 365 days a year assisting the community to help native animals in distress. WIRES helps tens of thousands of animals every year, receiving up to 95,000 requests for rescue advice and assistance every 12 months.