Ive only been sitting with Baz Luhrmann for five minutes when he gets the idea for a performance.
A monologue, written by him, about the mysterious fictional haunt of a man named Monsieur.
His new East Village bar, still under construction, namedyou guessed itMonsieur.
Photo: Emily Andrews
Jon Neidich, CEO of Golden Age Hospitality and his business partner.And action!
Then, he picks up the pace.
Luhrmann smiles as Neidich finishes.
Catherine Martin, the Oscar-award winning production designer and wife of Baz Luhrmann, translated theMoulin Rougedirector’svision into an interior that’s both gothic and rock ’n’ roll.
Thats our characterthats Monsieur!
Anyone who has seenThe Great Gatsby or Moulin Rougeknows that Luhrmann specializes in theatrical, maximalist storytelling.
His 60th birthday last year, hosted by Anna Wintour atThe Nines.
Cabinets of curiosities include a Napoleon bust pinned with a Chanel brooch.
Then eventually, he was creating the places I wanted to be at.
After several conversationsand a few hearts-to-heartsthe two decided to open their own space with an interior by Martin.
Cabinets of curiosities include a Napoleon bust pinned with a Chanel brooch.
Jon Neidich, Baz Luhrmann, and Catherine Martin—the team behind Monsieur.
They quickly settled on the East Village, Luhrmanns favorite New York neighborhood.
When touring the spaceformerly gay club The Boiler RoomLuhrmann spied a stained glass window.
It was a lightbulb moment.
“It was going to be a real aquarium with armor and jellyfish,” says Luhrmann says of this display case. Martin gently pointed out the impracticality and suggested a cardboard suit sculpture as an alternative—“I love it darling, brilliant, but absolutely impossible to do,” the director recalls her saying.
What if the bar took the form of a gothic medieval lair meets rock-and-roll club?
Jon Neidich, Baz Luhrmann, and Catherine Martinthe team behind Monsieur.
Even though he tells people vaguely that hes from royalty, heknowsthat he was a bellhop.
The back room at Monsieur.
Next, Martin got to work to distill that sprawling vision into a series of rooms.
She sourced Jacobean revival chairs from Chairish and 1stDibs.
She found modern-day tapestry makers.
A stained glass window features the fictional Monsieur’s pet chimp Thibault readingThe Master and Margarita.
Meanwhile, Neidich collected photographs by New York nightlife legend Dustin Pittman to hang on the walls.
Then he developed the menu.
The back room at Monsieur.
Luhrmann, Martin, and Neidich hope to bring a little bit of that renegade spirit back.
We have a phrase: Grow old disgracefully.
A stained glass window features the fictional Monsieurs pet chimp Thibault readingThe Master and Margarita.
