By Cris Franco

Welcome to a world of romantic splendor and opulent excess.  A place where the underground can meet the elite in electrifying enchantment. Pour the champagne and prepare for the spectacular – you’ve arrived at Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Baz Luhrmann’s iconic 2001 Academy Award-winning film comes to life onstage, remixed in a new musical mash-up extravaganza at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa from November 9 to 27, 2022.

Moulin Rouge spectacular (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

Set in hyper-romantic Paris at the turn-of-the-century, Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a theatrical celebration of truth, beauty, freedom, love – and the power of art. The extremely gifted ensemble is headed by young songwriter Christian (dashing Conor Ryan) and his muse, the star of the deliciously decadent Moulin Rouge, Satine (irresistible Courtney Reed). Both romantic leads are alluring singer actors who thicken the slim “boy meets girl” plot with their deep emotions and spirited voices especially when turning Elton John’s “Your Song” into a timeless anthem for all lovers.  

Joining them on their star-crossed journey is the eccentric painter Toulouse-Lautrec (sparkling André Ward), flamboyant club emcee Harold Zidler (salacious Austin Durant), jealous club patron the Duke of Monroth (commanding David Harris) and the dancing gigolo Santiago (super-macho Gabe Martínez). With a jubilant juke-box score incorporating pop and rock hits from Sting, Beyoncé, Madonna, Rihanna, Katy Perry and many more, Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a non-stop all-singing, all-dancing Mardi Gras that leaves your toes tapping and heart racing. It’s thrilling.  

The cast of Moulin Rouge! The Musical. (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

The show features rich production design replete with exquisite, gracefully moving sets – including a 3-D Paris skyline complete with gliding Eiffel Tower! — (Derek McLane), retina-popping lighting (Justin Townsend), seductive choreography (Sonya Tayeh) and titillating gender-bending costumes (Catherine Zuber).  But what really makes this Moulin Rouge! The Musical tick is the clever way book writer John Logan and musical supervisor and lyricist Justin Levine weave 19th Century melodrama with contemporary pop/rock classics. This reviewer counted some 78 hit tunes masterfully incorporated into the plot. The result is lush entertainment at its best, making Moulin Rouge! perhaps the greatest juke-box musical of all time. 

From the ravishing “Lady Marmalade” can-can opening to the Bohemian’s “Burning Down the House” entrance to Satine’s character defining manifesto “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” to Santiago’s Apache dance to “Roxanne” to the lovers’ heartbreaking “Your Song” farewell – this story evolves both dramatically and musically and surprisingly always stays on course. The final message: to be fully human you must experience love. And I did. I loved every second of Moulin Rouge! The Musical. And so will you. 

For all show info:  Home | Segerstrom Center for the Arts (scfta.org)

Featured Photo: (L-R. Front Row) Gabe Martinez,  Austin Durant and David Harris (Photo. by Matthew Murphy)