Song Exploder Key Change: Baz Luhrmann on "Time After Time."
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Mar 18, 2026 
Baz Luhrmann, the Australian filmmaker behind Moulin Rouge! and Strictly Ballroom, recalls how Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” reshaped his path. He describes finding the song in rehearsal, using it as a montage device, turning a play into a hit film, and reimagining the track as a duet to serve the story. Short, vivid stories about music, dance, and creative risk.
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Use Devising Workshops To Generate Stories
- Use devising and workshops instead of solitary writing when you can't sit with the page; create with actors to generate material organically.
- Luhrmann taught via hot-chair exercises to reveal actors' real experiences and build authentic scenes.
Devising Strictly Ballroom From Two Myths
- At NIDA Luhrmann devised a 40-minute play by splicing Greek triumph-over-oppression myth with the Ugly Duckling to explore creativity versus imposed rules.
- He set it in competitive ballroom with an oppressive Federation and a rebellious dancer Scott Hastings.
How Time After Time Became Strictly Ballroom's Heart
- Baz Luhrmann discovered Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time while buying a cassette player and brought it back to his rehearsal room as the perfect piece for Strictly Ballroom.
- He used the song to create a montage-style theatrical sequence that showed time passing as dancers improved and the lovers developed.