Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Celebrating Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love

It's been almost 19 years since Baz Luhrmann's dizzying and dazzling jukebox musical drama was released.  This movie had everything: a soundtrack filled with medleys and mashups and sweeping ballads (see the incredible duet Come What May), the can-can, Nicole Kidman as a breathakingly beautiful courtesan living in an elephant, an evil Duke, Ewan McGregor as the dashing Bohemian poet, a bizarre version of Like a Virgin (almost as bizarre as Madonna's version of her hit on the MDNA tour) and Kylie as the absinthe-induced green fairy.  The film was subsequently nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress (for Nicole Kidman) and won two.

I was both excited and skeptical when I heard that Luhrmann's film was being reimagined for the Broadway stage.  According to the show's official website "Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film comes to life onstage, remixed in a new musical mash-up extravaganza" and is "theatrical celebration of truth, beauty, freedom and—above all—LOVE".   It officially opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on 25 July 2019 and has received rave reviews by critics and theatregoers alike.  And for good reason.

Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo shine as Christian and Satine, respectively (the characters played by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman in the film).  The cast also includes Austin Durant as Harold Zidler, Sahr Ngaujah as Toulouse-Lautrec, Tam Mutu as The Duke of Monroth, Ricky Rojas as Santiago, and Robyn Hurder as Nini. 

The design of the theatre and stage is spectactular spectactular (couldn't resist); the luxurious red velvet-covered walls, exposed light bulbs strung up around the theatre, rotating red windmill and heart-shaped arches on stage (reminiscent of the Lady Marmalade music video) draw the audience in to the flamboyant and indulgent world of the Moulin Rouge of Paris from the minute they walk in.

 Just about all of the main songs from the film are included in the show: Come What May, One Day I'll Fly Away, Nature Boy, Elephant Love Medley, Your Song and of course, Lady Marmalade.  However, a number of songs made popular after the movie was released have also been added.  My personal favourites were the reimagined versions of Bad Romance (an amazing tango between Santiago and his love interest), Rolling In The Deep (a mashup with Gnarls Barkley's Crazy), Single Ladies, Chandelier (used in the absinthe sequence with the green fairy) and Royals (when Toulouse-Lautrec laments the fate of the Bohemian).

The show was a sparkling, sensual and striking interpretation of Baz Luhrmann's cinematic masterpiece with a reworked soundtrack that entertained the audience from start to finish - one of the most fun shows I've seen in a long time.