Everybody Can-Can! A Review of Moulin Rouge! the Musical
It's true - everybody can indeed can-can!
I went on a quick trip to New York after New Year's, and I wanted to see at least one show, of course. I chose to see the 2021 Tony Awards Best Musical, Moulin Rouge! the Musical, because it was one of the only ones I had not seen or will not be seeing anytime soon. A jukebox musical based off of the real club in Parsi, the Moulin Rouge, it follows a young Bohemian writer, Christian, who falls in love with the club's 'sparkling diamond', Satine (this was also based off of the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film of the same name).
It was such a fun and visually stunning show, plus the cast was so talented - a huge round of applause to all actors and understudies and swings on Broadway right now who are putting in the work to make shows happen! Also, what a pleasure it was getting to see Tony-Award winner Aaron Tveit in person, too! He sold the whole show for me, really, as well as Danny Burnstein who played Harold Zigler. I have been such a fan of him since the Les Miserables movie so it was so cool getting to see his performance in person, and him as Christian really carried the show and proved him so worthy of his Tony this past year (but that has been a long time coming).
I hadn't see the movie in a long time so I did not remember some of the details in the plot, but I watched it again recently and I think the major plot changes were for the better. The original movie gave Satine, the leading lady, less agency as a character by her not knowing of her sickness, but the stage version lets her make her own decisions based on her health which I think was great for her character growth. They also changed the plot of the show within the show, the plot in the movie being about a Maharajah, sitar player, and prostitute. At first I was disappointed they didn't keep this plot, but then later in the film they have a whole production of it that very much appropriates Indian culture, so I now realize why they changed it to something more simple like a sailor and a gangster (and also still a prostitute). I do think that maybe could have been a great opportunity to cast mainly Indian or Arab actors and keep that part of the plot, but the way they changed it worked just as well.
One of the things I actually didn't end up liking was some of the musical updates. When they first announced they would be updating it with more recent songs, I was excited to see what they would choose, but personally, I found the songs they chose a bit tacky. That may just be because I'm a young adult who has grown up with the new songs they chose, but they just didn't have the same feel to the older songs they decided to keep. The new songs added like 'Firework', 'Shut Up and Dance' and 'Rolling in the Deep' felt almost laughable, even if that wasn't the intention. Don't get me wrong, the cast does a great job vocally with these songs, but I wish they would have maybe changed them more to fit the overall aesthetic of the show or just picked different songs. My absolute favorite addition though is the top of Act 2, where they have a mashup of mostly 'Bad Romance' and 'Toxic'. That is a killer opening number and those songs translated super well into the show! That one felt like it could've been in the original movie (and honestly I wish it was because of how incredible it was).
Another thing I did enjoy about the show is that it felt immersive in a way. About ten minutes before the show, actors would walk and hang out on the stage as if you were really in the Moulin Rouge and you were experiencing it for yourself. They also have cabaret table seating at the front of the orchestra, which honestly looked a little uncomfortable because you would just be looking above you, but definitely immersive nonetheless. With that in mind, I would think pre and hopefully post-COVID the actors would actually be able to come in the aisles of the theatre or up to the cabaret tables and actually interact with you, but I guess seductive staring will do for now. The encore of the show also feels like you could dance and sing and clap along, which some did for a bit, but I think without masks it would be so much more engaging and fun.
Overall, Moulin Rouge was such a fun show and I think this is a great show to see for any adults traveling to New York who want to see a show - it is nostalgic for those who are fans of the original Baz Luhrmann film as well as those who would recognize all the songs. While I did not love all the new updates to the music, this has really shown what jukebox musicals can be like and how much fun you can have with them. It is a spectacle but also a spectacular show with incredible dancing and something that everyone *can-can* enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by Rachel's Records and reading all about Moulin Rouge! Hope you enjoyed after a long blog hiatus and hopefully I can get myself to keep posting more. Thanks again for stopping, come back soon! x
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