DOWNTOWN – Can a set be the star of a show?
The Broadway tour of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” is a dazzling spectacle, starting with its lush, heart-shaped dance hall interior then moving to the brooding streets of a decaying arts district in 1899 Paris.
The Tony Award winner for Best Musical is in San Diego for the first time and the multi-layered sets from Tony winner Derek McLane are only the first eye-popping feature of themusical based on Baz Luhrmann’s Academy Award winning film Moulin Rouge!
Catherine Zuber’s costumes and David Brian Brown’s wig and hair design continued the feast for the eyes.
A talented chorus flits between corseted cabaret dances, sexy tangos in swirling skirts and high-kicking cancans in a series of quick changes and wig swaps so fast that being backstage must require its own form of choreography. Women in the chorus had four wigs each, but changed into them multiple times.
Like in the 2001 film, the songs pull from pop classics of the last 150 years. The soundtrack was updated for the musical’s debut in 2019 so hits by Adele, Katy Perry, Sia and Lady Gaga joined the list of illustrious songs from Elton John, Marilyn Monroe, Mick Jagger and David Bowie. With so many new songs circa 2005 to 2015, the music is like catnip for millennials.
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In a chat back after the show, cast members explained getting the legal rights around each of the songs was a long negotiation, which is why some are carefully timed to be exactly 15 or 30 seconds long.
The mishmash of choruses arranged by music supervisor Justin Levine even sounded like the height of a cappella’s popularity in the same period.
Alongside the nostalgic soundtrack, the choreography was something to behold. The real Moulin Rouge was at the forefront of the invention of the French cancan. The show opens with the ensemble kicking above their heads before landing in the splits and does not hold back from there. Using dance for storytelling was a way in which the musical excelled thanks to choreographer Sonya Tayeh.
With so much to be dazzled by, acting and singing from the main cast stood up to the splendor around them. Arianna Rosario gave an arresting performance as the ill-fated Satine while the sultry Andrew Brewer menaced as the Duke of Monroth, lording his aristocracy over the poor artists in the cabaret.
Idealist American songwriter Christian was played by Jay Armstrong Johnson and Robert Petkoff served as flirtatious announcer and Moulin Rouge manager Harold Zidler. Jahi Kearse sang an enrapturing solo as playwright Toulouse-Latrec while Danny Burgos as Santiago stood out even among a stacked cast of dancers.
Cabaret dancers Nini (Kaitlin Mesh) and Baby Doll (Rodney Thompson) had few lines but each had some of the most moving moments of a piece exploring the perils of the bohemian ideals of truth, beauty, freedom and love butting up against the realities of poverty.
The tour will be in San Diego through July 6 with extra performances over the holiday weekend.
For tickets and showtimes, visit Broadway San Diego.
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