In 1996, when Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet hit cinemas, the director revealed to an Australian magazine how he picks his projects. “I choose something creative that will make life fulfilling,” he explained, “and then follow that road.”
Or, in this case, follow those rails — for Luhrmann’s latest project is a private dining and events carriage aboard the Belmond British Pullman. Launching this summer, the space was designed in collaboration with Oscar-winning costume designer (and Luhrmann’s wife), Catherine Martin, and draws inspiration from the florals of the British countryside. Think oak-wood marquetry, custom timber parquetry, and a colour scheme of rich greens, yellows, and purples.
The carriage is named Celia — not for the kind-hearted confidante of Shakespeare’s As You Like It, but rather for a fictional muse dreamed up by Luhrmann himself. The director’s Celia is a 1930s West End leading lady, gifted her own Pullman car in honour of an era-defining performance as Titania, Queen of the Fairies, in an imagined production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Luhrmann says he wants guests to feel “as though [they’ve] stepped inside A Midsummer Night’s Dream” when they board Celia. To this end, he and Martin enlisted long-term Belmond collaborators, including bespoke furniture designer Bill Cleyndert, Tony Sandles Bespoke Glass studio, and Hand and Lock embroiderers, to cultivate the dreamlike cinematic atmosphere.
TOP RIGHT: CATHERINE MARTIN. PHOTO BY HUGH STEWART.
BOTTOM: BAZ LUHRMANN AND CATHERINE MARTIN. PHOTO BY HUGH STEWART.
Departing from London’s Victoria Station, Celia will host up to a dozen guests and features a lounge, a bar, a pantry, and a kitchen (on request, a private chef will design customised menus using seasonal produce). But, whether it’s a grand banquet, an intimate celebration, or a lavish cocktail hour, it’s undeniably a place where — borrowing from The Tempest this time — “such stuff as dreams are made on.”
FEATURE PHOTO BY HUGH STEWART, COURTESY OF BELMOND.
