THEATRE REVIEW: "Moulin Rouge!" at the Nederlander Theatre (Chicago, IL)

      On March 23rd, 2022, I saw the matinee performance of "Moulin Rouge!" at the Nederlander Theatre in Chicago, IL.  This is the National Tour's first stop is in Chicago, so it is playing a two-month engagement.  Then again, the tour will be in Los Angeles most of the summer, and in San Francisco for a good portion of the fall.   I guess it's pretty neat Chicago is the location for the National Tour premiere of "Moulin Rouge!"  Then again, what does it even matter.  I won the ticket lottery and got to see it.

   The production stars Courtney Reed (as Satine), Conor Ryan (as Christian), Austin Durant (as Harold Zidler), David Harris (as the Duke of Monroth), Libbey Lloyd (as Nini), Gabe Martinez (as Santiago), and Andre Ward (as Toulouse-Lautrec).  I previously saw Courtney Reed as Carla in the Broadway Production of "In the Heights" in 2010.  As far as I know, she was the only cast member who I saw in a show before.  The scenic design of "Moulin Rouge" is by Derek McLane.  He was the scenic designer for "Beautiful - the Carole King Musical" and the Roundabout Theatre revival of "Anything Goes."  He also designed the scenery for the 2011 Broadway Revival of Stephen Sondbeim's musical "Follies," which I regret not seeing.

     This is a great musical, in my opinion.  There were no original songs written for the show, so I guess it is a jukebox musical(?).  I saw the film version of "Moulin Rouge" years ago, but might not have watched the entire movie.  Needless to say, I didn't care for it.  One thing I do remember is Nicole Kidman singing "One Day I'll Fly Away," which is not included in the stage musical.  There are a lot of newly added, yet pre-written songs, in the musical that replaced songs from the movie that are not included in the stage musical.  That isn't a bad thing.  I don't know if it is necessarily a good thing either.  Whether it is or not, the visual spectacle that is "Moulin Rouge" makes up for any flaws in its song lineup.  

The marquee of the Nederlander Theatre in Chicago (I took this photo).

     The songs in "Moulin Rouge" include a shortened version of "Lady Marmalade;" "Heya" by Outkast; "All the Single Ladies" by Beyonce; "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley; "We Are Young" by Fun; "So Fresh, So Clean" by Outkast; "Nature Boy" by David Bowie; "Toxic" by Britney Spears, and more.  During Act One of the musical, I had an excellent seat with a view of the entire stage.  The problem was that I had people on either side of me and I was too big for the seat.  It took a tremendous effort to keep myself as small as possible during the entire first act. 

     During intermission, I moved to a section of empty seats off to the side.  The seat I chose was under a replica of the Moulin Rouge windmill that was positioned on one of the two theatre balconies that border the proscenium.  The other proscenium balcony was adorned with a giant decorative elephant.  Anyway, the seat I moved to had an obstructed view, but much more room to spread out and breathe (also to quietly cough occasionally).  I had made the decision towards the end of Act One to either move to another seat or leave without seeing the second act.  I am glad I stayed.   "Moulin Rouge" won ten Tony Awards in 2020, including Best Musical.  I can definitely understand why.  If you would like to listen to the Original Broadway Cast Recording of "Moulin Rouge," click Here.

     

The National Tour cast of "Moulin Rouge!" (Photo by Matthew Murphy).

    As the musical went on, the actress who played Satine was required to cough more and more.  The problem with that was the global pandemic which had symptoms which include coughing.  So, as a result, Satine would cough, but it was a very unrealistic sounding cough.  She might as well have been going "cough! cough! cough!"  But that wasn't a bad thing, and it didn't take anything away from her performance.  If her cough was too realistic, it could have caused a panic.  At the same time, I did smirk at the sound of the cough because it sounded so ridiculous.  But that is my imperfection, not hers.