Truth. Beauty. Freedom. And above all, Love.
These are the principles by which the young bohemian artists of the Bel Époque Montmartre district of Paris circa 1900 live in their passionate pursuit of love and art. Add a fifth principle of “Spectacle”, and welcome to the Moulin Rouge, the Tony Award Winning Best Musical currently on tour at the Kennedy Center Opera House enjoying a illustrious two-month run of visual and audio overload (in only all the best ways) complete with all the excess and hedonism of the actual Parisian landmark in its heyday. Maybe more, as realized through director Alex Timber’s exuberant vision.
Way back in 2001, film impresario Baz Luhrmann released his crowning achievement of his acclaimed career, the story of an idealistic young artist who, searching for his muse, falls in love with an intoxicating headliner at the legendary Moulin Rouge. He decided create a visually stunning old-fashioned stage musical but set their epic story of love and loss to a modern-day soundtrack of the best of the best pop music of the latter half of the 20th Century. Drawing inspiration from classical sources as varied as La Bohème (our heroine searching for a better life in the face of consumption) and the Greek myth of Orpheus (a musician with a voice and a vision ahead of his time, hence his use of music that would not be written for another 50-100 years), his deliberately anachronistic masteroiece would become one of the most acclaimed musicals—and films—of at least the decade, if not of all time.
Nearly 20 years later, John Logan adapted Luhrmann and Craig Pearce’s screenplay into a grand scale musical, incorporating even more contemporary music from the almost two decades since the movie premiered. And anyone who has anything distasteful to say about jukebox musicals (you know who you are), this production proves how narrow-minded and pretentious you can be. Jukebox musicals have unfairly been branded tourist-trap garbage by the artistes elite of the theatrical community. And while the genre has certainly provided some forgettable entries like Good Vibrations, (the music of the Beach Boys), Hot Feet (the music of Earth, Wind, and Fire), and Desperately Seeking Susan (inexplicably featuring the music of Blondie and not Madonna?), there have also been some that are incredibly well-executed, including the highly successful Mamma Mia, Jersey Boys, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Ain’t Too Proud, and The Cher Show (shut up, you didn’t see it despite my vigorous recommendations, so you have nothing to add here). Well, if these five are the royal flush of jukebox musicals, Moulin Rouge trumps them all as the 5-of-a-kind winner that raises the genre to an undisputed art form. As the bohemian ideal would have it. #TRUTH
There are also parallels in the story to the comparatively modern Fosse showbiz musical Cabaret. An American artist lands in a decadent European performance hall seeking inspiration, but in its stead finds an all-consuming, passionate but ill-fated love with the venue’s star performer. But here is where the comparisons end. Logan and Luhrmann have created a story of an epic love for the ages. Christian (John Cardoza) is a golden voiced “singer/songwriter”, as he corrects his fellow artists, who finds a muse and love of a lifetime in Satine (Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer), leading lady with a past at the Moulin Rouge nightclub. Giving them the majority of the 80+ songs sampled in the score is 2 and a half hour of pure euphoria for the audience.
Cardoza’s matinee idol looks and crystal clear, soaring (dare I say angelic?) tenor voice that apparently has no upper boundaries is perfectly cast and ready to step onto Broadway should the call come (which I have no doubt it eventually will). If Orpheus was an inspiration for the character as Luhrmann says, they’ve found their present-day virtuoso of mythical proportions to embody him. From the minute he belts out the chorus of Fun’s “We Are Young” in the “Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love” medley to the last notes of the bittersweet “Come What May”, Cardoza wows as each song climbs higher and higher. His version of Elton John’s “Your Song” is next level. His fiery deliver of “El Tango de Rozanne” is equal to the passionate dance it inspires (more on that visual seduction later). His smooth and clean vocal take on the ultimate 19 top 40 gold love song mashup “Elephant Love Medley”, featuring melodies as disparate as David Bowie’s “Heroes”, U2’s “Pride (In the Name of Love)”, A-ha’s “Take On Me”, Carl Carlton’s “Everlasting Love”, Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes’ “Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong”, and the granddaddy of them all, Whitney Houston’s take on “I Will Always Love You” all blended into one flawless 5 and a half minute testament to love through the ages, is simply breathtaking.
But the central love affair, in modern day parlance, is complicated. In order to save the near bankrupt nightclub, Satine has been pimped out by the deliciously bawdy emcee/owner Harold Ziddler (Austin Durant, having the time of his life) to the dashing but vicious Count of Monroth (Andrew Brewer, reveling in the delectably twisted machinations of his character arc). Through it all, Gonzalez-Nacer bares her dilemma with sensuality, grace, nobility, and, above all, equally thrilling vocals in her half of the dream score from the minute she makes an ultimate leading lady entry from the ceiling to belt out her showstopping “Sparkling Diamond” Medley (composed of “Diamonds Are Forever”, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”, “Material Girl”, and a dash of “Single Ladies”). She is equally successful with Katy Perry’s “Firework” and Rihanna’s “Only Girl in a Material World”. Considering she is asked to cover Whitney Houston’s lead in the last bars of the first act and more than succeeds is proof that she lives up Ziddler’s billing as the venue’s Sparkling Diamond. Any time Cardoza or Gonzalez-Nacer sing, it’s almost paradise (oddly, one of the few solid gold blockbuster duets omitted from the Elephant Love Medley). When they duet, it’s sheer utopia. #BEAUTY
The above-mentioned Durant and Brewer are perfect foils for the young lovers. Durant, magnetic as he boisterously breaks the fourth wall and works the audience into a performance frenzy during the 15 minute opening extravaganza, “Welcome to the Moulin Rouge”, an amped up, high octane extrapolation of the “Lady Marmalade” remake from the top of the film. He sets a remarkably high bar to start the show, yet everyone keeps up with or even exceeds him. He’s also a masterful comedian as he (over)acts out Toulouse-Lautrec (Denzel Tsopnang at this performance) and Christian’s thinly disguised opus, a last-ditch effort to save the club for which the Duke is the benefactor. But just when you think he’s shown all he has, Durant escalates everything with his second act fever dream tribute to the Green Fairy (absinthe here, which conjures up the literal fairy from the film) in Sia’s “Chandelier”.
There is a literary philosophy that the villain can make the story. And Andrew Brewer darkly delectable Duke of Monroth is a perfect illustration of that concept. Brewer is a modern monster—sophisticated and handsome on the surface, but with a frightening black hole where his soul should be. It’s not by accident that his theme song “Sympathy for the Duke” opens with the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil”, a barely veiled allusion to his pure evil core, and melds into the Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, which also has Faustian/Satanic connotations. But Brewer is flawless in his portrayal of the arrogant, spoiled aristocrat who controls the fate of not only the denizens of the shadow world of the Moulin Rouge, but the establishment itself.
The talent-deep secondary cast also features outstanding performances. Tsopnang is a manically erratic Toulouse-Lautrec, a welcome comic delight as the legendary artist who captured so much of the nightlife of the seedy side of Paris in his art like a Bel Époque Andy Warhol, preserving and protecting Art and the Bohemian lifestyle above all.
The third member of Christian’s artistic team, Gabe Martinez as the Argentinian Santiago, takes on his own ill-fated love affair with the club’s tempestuous lead dancer Nini (Libby Lloyd). The two bring the house down with two fiery paso dobles in the second act highlighting the passionate sexual side of love, the brilliant Act 2 opener “Backstage Romance”, perhaps the most brilliantly conceived segment of the show, mashing up tributes to toxic relationships everywhere, starting with Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”, and segueing seamlessly into Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and the Eurhythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”. Teamed up again near the climax in the iconic set piece from the movie, “El Tango De Roxanne” (the Police’s “Roxanne” as a conflagrant Argentine tango), Between Martinez’s lusty sexuality, Lloyd’s exceptionally limber body, and both of their intense passion as they dance, these two generate enough fireworks for next few years’ Capitol 4ths. Good for each other, bad for each other, who are we to say? 200 years before Lin Manuel-Miranda made it a catch phrase, Love is love is love. #FREEDOM
If the performance magic wasn’t enough, the design team has ignored all limits. This tour, a virtual copy of the New York production, is easily the most elaborate theatrical experience of this millennium, maybe ever. Using Lurhmann’s sumptuous art designs as a jumping off point, the designers have elevated everything for the ultimate theatrical experience, a visual eroticism to carry the theme of love throughout the show.
Set Designer Derek McLane gives us a literal valentine to the Bohemian ideals of love. Featuring a series of progressive lacy heart-shaped archways lit by intense reds and pinks, he easily transitions to the Artist’s humble Montmartre flat, Satine’s sensual lair in the infamous Elephant of the Bastille, not to mention the landmarks of the Elephant itself as well as the titular Red Mill that adorned the actual pleasure palace (which, upon entering the theatre, are spectacle enough even before you add the opulent sets they bookend). His sets work in perfect sync with Justin Townsend’s intoxicating light designs that consist of saturated jewel-toned washes and starlit skies highlighting some of the most theatrical specialty lighting on stage today. Their team work has created the perfect world for this dark and sensuous underbelly of life, the decadence and debauchery that gave way to it, and the otherworldly love that blooms from.
The always remarkable Catherine Zuber provides a stunning array of costumes from sexy stage garb and seductive lingerie to Crayola colored can can dresses, bohemian chic for the artists, and elegant yet sexy formal wear for the Duke. Employing an amazing saturation of color and minimum fabric for the bulk of the show, she provides a contrasting combination of pastels and excess for the aristocrats who inhabit the Duke’s brighter world along the Champs Élysees in Act 2’s “Only Girl in a Material World”, when the Duke walks Satine through a Pretty Woman inspired makeover. Rarely though, has a costumer paired so well with a set designer and lighting designer than in the first act finale when the Elephant Love Medley transitions from the interior of Satine’s Elephant dressing room with our lovers in day wear and dressing gowns into a final fantasy sequence that takes them out into Paris complete with a fully lit Eiffel Tour and beyond to a starlit sky and transformation into stunning rhinestoned ballroom attire. The trio combine to literally and flawlessly illustrate that artistic theme that first love can be heaven.
Special acknowledgement must be given to Justin Levine for his superlative orchestrations, arrangements, and additional lyrics that have in effect woven these elaborate mini pop operettas into a fabulous and coherent pop opera score, and Sound Designer Peter Hylenski, who utilizes the Kennedy Center’s traditionally gold standard sound system and jacks it up on steroids. The sound is unusually loud from top to bottom, but perfect for this piece with no distortion. This musical thrives on the musical energy it gets from Levines inspired arrangements and orchestrations amplified through Hylenski’s dance club style audio levels. Side benefit, the sound is just loud enough to drive the music and simultaneiously stifle any audience conversation or urges to sing along. Perfection on all fronts.
I’d like to end this review with a salute to the unending, unparalleled level of theatrical perfection the Kennedy Center has provided this season so far. Virtually every show is a theatrical event that seems untoppable. Until the next production opens. The landmark Broadway Center Stage production of Sunset Boulevard starring Derek Klena and the incomparable Stephanie J. Block in the role of her life. The revitalized national tour of the star studded Into the Woods starring Block again came a mere two weeks later. Then Broadway Center Stage tosses out a flawless comic farce with Spamalot, which was so good it was just announced that they were transferring it to Broadway (which I have said since the series inception that any given entry in the series should have—well done, Kennedy Center). Add in a still breathtaking Lion King, the enhanced topical historical drama in the visionary all-female 1776, and the precision sharp comic hijinx of last month’s The Play That Goes Wrong. Now this spectacular example of everything theatre can be, all housed in the beautiful and state of the art Kennedy Center performance spaces. I personally have felt little need to go to New York to experience theatre because everything the Kennedy Center has produced and sponsored this season is at the very least comparative and in most cases superior to today’s Broadway offerings. Thank you, Kennedy Center, for bringing the best of top quality theatrical entertainment into our back yard. Just know we appreciate you. You just gave us a visual valentine to love. This review is my valentine to your commitment to art. I’m legally speechless, as a writer I am running out of superlatives to describe your every rising levels of perfection this season. #AboveAll,LOVE
Photos courtesy of Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes with one intermission
Moulin Rouge currently plays through September 24, 2023, in the Opera House at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington DC 20566. For tickets, call the box office at 202.467.4600, or purchasethem online.