Review by Paul Towers, 25/4/23
Moulin Rouge The Musical, book by John Logan
Directed by Alex Timbers
Choreographed by Sonya Tayeh
At Piccadilly Theatre, London. Booking til September 2023 at the time of writing
“a Spectacular Spectacular”
Rarely have I been so blown away by a production that I have had to leave it a couple of days before putting pen to paper (metaphorically).
Based on Baz Luhrmann’s innovative reimagining of the 1928 film Moulin Rouge The Musical takes all the outrageous elements of Luhrmann’s 2001 film, camps them up even further and explodes the whole thing into the theatre as a, in the words of MC Harold Zidler, Spectacular Spectacular!
Everything you expected from the film is there on stage plus even more.
The basic story is that in 1899 the Moulin Rouge, a dissolute Paris bordello posing as a cabaret is on the verge of bankruptcy and peopled by a collection of degenerates desperately trying to bring in enough customers to stave off the inevitable. Their single asset, their sparkling diamond, is Satine, the star of their show. Zidler has lined up a gullible, but rich, Duke to finance the show and thus save it from closing. There is a sting in the tail of his generous offer. He wants Satine. Meanwhile Christian, a penniless American song writer, is mistaken for the Duke and Satine falls in love with him. Much confusion ensues.
What lifts this supposed jukebox musical into the heights is the extraordinary way that dozens of songs have been edited together and used as a narrative. Some songs you only get to hear a single line but the audience laughs at every incongruous lyric. If you look in the programme there is a whole double page of song acknowledgements. Seventy four songs by my reckoning! I doubt any other musical can boast such a number and range of styles of songs.
The main cast includes Melissa James as Satine, Jamie Muscato as Christian (last seen by me in Curve’s West Side Story), Ben Richards as The Duke and, holding it all together, Matt Rixon as Harold Zidler. The ensemble are an extraordinary cast of singers, dancers and actors ably complimented by a live band of ten led by Musical Director James McKeon.
All of this would make a great show but the icing on the top of the cake is the set. Designed by Derek McLaine it is a riot of colour and includes both the iconic windmill and a life sized elephant.
Moulin Rouge is booking til September 2023 at the moment but, judging by the sold out night on Tuesday, it will run forever.
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