‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’ brings splendor, hometown star to Bass Hall
It’s an age-old expression, “Love is a many splendored thing.” On the other hand, Johnny Cash sang to us that “Love is a burning thing.”
“Moulin Rouge! The Musical” brings both together with enough passion and splendor to fill the largest theater in Fort Worth — which happens to be where it can be seen now through June 15.
Baz Luhrmann’s tale of romance centered amidst glitz, grandeur and colliding classes is the latest in Performing Arts Fort Worth’s Broadway at the Bass Series Presented by PNC Bank.
The jukebox musical is the stage version of the 2001 movie written, directed and produced by Luhrmann that was nominated for eight Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and won two. The musical hit Broadway in 2019, receiving 14 Tony Award nominations and winning 10 — including Best Musical — and is still running there today.
And now it has made its way to Fort Worth for the first time onstage in as grand a fashion as its reputation foretold. But then, what would one expect when the production involves four Tony Award winners — director Alex Timbers, John Logan and his book, music supervisor Justin Levine and choreographer Sonya Tayeh?
Starring Fort Worth’s own Jay Armstrong Johnson as Christian, alongside Arianna Rosario as his love interest Satine, the show remains largely true to Luhrmann’s film story. There are, however, some slight changes, such as Christian is now an American self-transplanted in Paris from Lima, Ohio, and the ending is altered a bit.
Also, the song list is updated from the film as some of the songs in the musical hadn’t yet been created at the time of the movie’s release. Still, the show pays tribute to a vast array of artists from Elton John to Adele, The Police, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and many more.
The story begins as Christian has arrived at the Moulin Rouge cabaret club in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. Run by Harold Zidler (Robert Petkoff), whose major focus seems to be keeping the Duke of Monroth (Andrew Brewer) happy so his riches can save the club from financial ruin, the Moulin Rouge’s mantra is “Where your fantasies live.”
For Christian, that soon becomes having a romance with Satine. The two meet after he is recruited off the street by Paris locals Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (Jahi Kearse) and Santiago the Argentinean (Danny Burgos) to help them write a musical that, through some irony, ends up being performed at the Moulin Rouge.
Even more ironic, the show within a show they create is a mirror image of what is happening in the real lives of the characters connected to the club.
Zidler wants Satine’s affections to be only for the Duke, believing they must get together for the club to survive. For the sake of the club and her “family” there, she reluctantly agrees.
Fate lends a hand as her attraction to Christian actually begins as a case of mistaken identity. She attempts to seduce him, believing he is the Duke.
When the Duke agrees to back the production of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” (not to be confused with the song by Queen) he claims “ownership” of Moulin Rouge and everyone connected to it — including Satine. While she and Christian sneak in moments of being together, Satine understands the risk of being caught and is reminded of the time another woman betrayed the Duke and ended up with a vial of acid thrown in her face.
All the while Satine has a dark secret of her own that she is determined to keep until the world can get a glimpse of Christian’s songwriting talents on the opening night of their show.
Armstrong is dynamic in a triumphant return to his hometown and is equally matched by the powerful Rosario. They masterfully navigate the love connection through its winding tunnel of emotions.
Armstrong is one of two performers in the show from Fort Worth. Rodney Thompson plays dancer Baby Doll.
As Zidler, Petkoff portrays with vigor a self-serving weasel, albeit with a heart. Brewer’s Duke exudes a bombastic attitude with a self importance that exceeds his actual necessity outside of his finances.
Burgos and Kearse are wonderfully charming as two souls who see Christian’s talents as their way to something better in life. One of the show’s most moving scenes has Toulouse-Lautrec telling Christian “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return” (from the King Cole Trio song “Nature Boy”).
While the love story is indeed explosive, the happenings around it are equally so. Tayeh’s choreography is simply dazzling, accompanied by a virtual eruption of lighting.
And one particular quick change scene involving Christian and Satine had audience members doing a double take.
Then there’s the music. There is something for anyone who has ever heard a single note, from Dolly Parton to The Rolling Stones.
There are two original musical numbers in the show, and both are memorable for different reasons. “Come What May,” performed by Christian and Satine, is a beautiful moment in the second act as Christian wrote it to affirm their love in a scene where she is questioning the danger their relationship poses to the Moulin Rouge.
The other, “The Pitch Song,” performed by the leads, along with Zidler, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Santiago, perfectly combines humor with an effort to disguise desperation as they attempt to get the Duke to monetarily back the show. It’s one of the show’s more comical moments.
And while Cash’s music itself is not featured in the show, he did perform a popular duet version of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe” with June Carter. That song is in the show’s “Elephant Love Medley.”