Book by Josh Logan

Directed by Alex Timbers

Review by Dominic Corr

Tickets from £15.00

Take a deep breath. Embrace the hedonism and sultry nature of it all, and welcome, one and all, vagabond and nobility alike, to the Moulin Rouge.

The ninth production of the smash-hit musical take on Baz Luhrmann’s much-adored cinematic masterpiece, Moulin Rouge the Musical! Finds audiences ravenously clambering for more ahead of a world tour kicking off in Edinburgh at the Playhouse. An honour to host the Den of Iniquity, one of the hottest tickets in years, the run to June may seem a long way away. Still, it’s suggested that to avoid disappointment, grab your tickets now, and find out that ‘spectacular’ is often the best way to describe this lavish, fantastical romance.

Bathed in crimson, the Playhouse auditorium looks a little different to the usual affair – Derek McLane’s set dressings cascade light across the room in a seductive, enticing fashion, which enables the pre-show performers the opportunity to strut, seduce, and flirt with the eager crowds – the anticipation building. And from the get-go, Moulin Rouge thrusts itself forward and refuses to let up.  Sonya Tayeh’s choreography weaves through genres to match the patchwork soundtrack of over 75 songs, a jukebox affair that fully uses the space and strong vocals on full display.

Fitting for the city of Paris, Moulin Rouge, at its heart, beats with one story to tell: one of love. Of illicit affairs, of unfulfilled, rejected, and shattered love. Like its tremendously impactful costuming, love is displayed in all its colours here – from the vividness of an emerging connection with someone to that of friendships and companionship, and yes, to the brutality of love which finds itself pierced and with a sell-by-date. As a young songwriter, Christian falls madly for the Moulin Rouge’s glittering diamond: Satine. A woman with a sharp edge and a firm command of the men in her life, but with little control over her autonomy or path.

And leading us through this first venture to the Moulin Rouge, besides a quartet of sensual and powerful ensemble dancers, is none other than stage performer and all-around smoothie Cameron Blakely as Harold Zidler. Playful and coy and providing many of the show’s comedic and eccentricities, Blakely embodies the spirit of the show’s lust for play and colour. They’re an ideal match for Verity Thompson’s Satine, the driving force of the narrative, and Zidler’s finest ‘asset’ at the club, used to draw in the eye (and coin) of James Bryer’s Duke, a man with all the poise of a gentleman, but the lash, cruelty, and cowardness of a man who sees opportunity in situations. While not entirely pushed to the same antagonistic levels of the cinematic counterpart, Bryer plays the role, even with the revolting actions and intentions, as an antagonist who is still just regaling enough to enjoy the performance.

Wide-eyed and with a fistful of love up their sleeve, Nate Landskroner’s Christian is understandingly besotted by Santine – and not only for the physical beauty, but for the wonderfully caring, sharp-tongued, and intelligent woman brought to life by a phenomenal Thompson. The pair’s chemistry is instantaneous but evolves through the show – the initial blossoms give way to a more genuine connection, one which rings of the bittersweet realities the characters face. But the duets sell the romantic elements between them, the long-awaited “Come What May ” is a firm favourite, and the finale to the whole affair makes the audience grasp those fleeting moments of heartache. 

Supported by a myriad of ensemble performers who Can, Can, Can (and do, do, do), Moulin Rouge is more of an experience and event piece of theatre than an outright narrative-driven exploration – though that isn’t stopping the likes of Kurt Kansley’s Toulose-Lautrec and German Satiago’s Santiago from turning this affair into a fairy-tale romp which puts most modern rom-coms to shame. With threads tying off further into the story, none more powerful than the second act’s tone change and the introduction of the show’s most famous sequence, “Roxanne“, where Justin Townsend’s lighting plunges the theatre from Carnivale into rawness and mystery.

Everything is thrown at the audience: sex and movement, love and heartache, elephants and enough sequins to blind the room – yet it’s never exhausting. A trip to the Moulin Rouge charges that salaciousness within us all and shuns away the soft quivering underbelly in favour of an encouragement, indeed an argument, that life is for living. That while money may run dry, and the tears flow, music, dance, and love will always find a way to push their way through – if one only remembers not to turn their back on those offering it. Enriched with high-octane energy and dripping in spectacle, sometimes the most obvious ways to phrase it are best: spectacular!

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