Moulin Rouge! The Musical @ Broadway Dallas (Fair Park)
—Ramona Harper
The “Voulez vous coucher avec moi?” of LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade” beckons you with a blast of rhythmic sensuality. A huge red windmill (a visual translation of the show’s title) and a giant, bejeweled elephant, both symbolic of the actual club Moulin Rouge, sit majestically on each side of a platform. Red-Light District neon floods the stage as well as the house. The dazzling extravagance of the French cabaret, the insouciance of twirling, twerking cancan dancers, and the circus-like spectacle of night life in gay, end-of-century Paris begin to flood the senses. OMG—fantasy of fantasies—you are at the Moulin Rouge!
But wait a minute, wasn’t “Lady Marmalade” released in 2001, not 1889, the setting’s date for the opening of the Moulin Rouge in Montmartre, France? That’s right. However, 2001 was also the same year that Moulin Rouge, the acclaimed movie starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, debuted under the creative genius of Australian director and writer, Baz Luhrmann (of recent Elvis fame).
Five years after its Broadway debut (with pandemic interruptions), the Tony-winning Best Musical has now made its Broadway Dallas way to the Music Hall at Fair Park, a perfect venue with its 1920s Baroque elegance and ambiance.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical tells the story of two young lovers dealt a sad hand by Fate. Satine (Courtney Reed is a commanding presence), the cabaret actress and “Sparkling Diamond” star of the cabaret Moulin Rouge, is at the mercy of the rich Duke of Montfort (a believably aristocratic Andrew Brewer). Why? The cabaret is in dire financial condition, and needs an “angel” to invest in its latest production. The ensemble of performers, endearingly called “the chickens” of the Moulin Rouge, are depending on Satine to save the show (and the club) by seducing the Duke.
Christian (Conor Ryan as the lovestruck innocent), a struggling American composer, is new to the Bohemian scene in Paris. He is persuaded by Toulouse-Lautrec ( a revolutionary post-Les Mis Nick Rashad Burroughs) and Santiago (Argentinian macho macho man Gabe Martinez), fellow populist artisans of the Left Bank, to meet Satine and sell her their idea for a new show. After a bit of trickery cooked up with the show’s producer, Harold Zidler (Austin Durant is part P.T. Barnum, part Florenz Ziegfeld), they succeed in persuading the Duke to invest in the Moulin Rouge.
In a classic theatrical move, Satine mistakes Christian for the Duke. By the time the “who’s who” is sorted out, she and Christian are in love, and Satine faces a hard choice: to follow her heart with Christian, who literally is mad for her—or to save the Moulin Rouge and her fellow performers by becoming the Duke’s mistress. In the ultimate sense, “Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love” (Moulin Rouge’s lofty thematic) triumphs—but not before Satine and Christian weather life-changing storms of fate.
Baz Luhrmann and co-writer Craig Pearce’s real genius with Moulin Rouge lies in its capacity to go straight for both our heads and our hearts. Directed by Alex Timbers, with John Logan’s book and under Justin Levine’s music supervision (and co-orchestration with Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, and Matt Stine), Moulin Rouge! The Musical seems to tap into subconscious memories of beloved, well-known pop music, mixing time and genres that immediately connect us to the story. With unabashed sing-along passion and the joie de vivre that the show creates, a lively audience in the Music Hall let loose in spontaneous song whenever the spirit hit them!
The songs are the high points in Moulin Rouge! The Musical, and there are many. Under the music direction of Andrew Graham, the show mixes pop music hits with original lyrics that anchor our memories in eternally new iterations. (Future revivals could easily tap into an endless new stream of evocative songs.) The mash-up of American Songbook classics like Christian’s opener (Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music”) is delightfully unexpected when followed by pop tunes such as “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. And it’s 1889!
As you might imagine, to mount a brash cabaret set in the high-times of an earlier post-war Europe, when both the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat were celebrating life at a time of peace, optimism and cultural exuberance, this show depends on the production team to project that kind of life-affirming magic in every aspect of the show. And they do—producing some amazing work with scenic design (Derek McLane), astounding lighting design (Justin Townsend), sound design (Peter Hylenski), and costume design (Catherine Zuber). They more than succeeded with a dynamite set design of fascinating shapes and mesmerizing colors. Sound design gave life to the thumping, rhythmic impact of songs such as Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” Beyonce’s “Put a Ring on It,” Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” and the lyrics of Christian and Satine’s special duet, “Your Song” by Elton John.
With terrific choreography by Sonya Tayeh (and dance arrangements by Justin Levine and Matthew Stine), the entire ensemble drops it like it’s hot with high-kick cancan numbers that pulse with excitement and energy. Sensuous duets, including a blazing tango, are performed with superb dance prowess by backstage lovers Nini (a can-dance-her-ass-off Libbie Lloyd) and Santiago.
Zuber’s costumes are colorfully loud when dressing former streetwalkers turned cabaret dancers, or aristocratically subdued in rich pastel elegance when dressing the Parisian elite in stovepipe hats and tails for the men, and gorgeous formal gowns for the ladies.
The entire cast has strong leading actors and an ensemble of dancers so excellent in performance and dynamic projection that it’s impossible to single out anyone to the exclusion of the others. They are all pros, many of whom have performed on Broadway—and some in the original production.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical is like nothing you have ever experienced in the theater, unless you’ve already found a way to time-travel to 82 Boulevard de Clichy in the “Gay Paree” of more than a century ago. Effervescently alive, sparkling, sensual, and emotionally riveting, Broadway Dallas’ Moulin Rouge! The Musical piles on layers of entertainment delight.
When: Through April 2
Where: The Music Hall in Fair Park, 909 1st Avenue, Dallas
Web: broadwaydallas.org
