Hello, Chickens!!! Are you ready to experience the epicenter of your passions? The apogee of your desires? Of course you are, you radiant reprobates and rascals!
Truth
Beauty
Freedom
Love
They’ve got it all in Montmartre— it’s all there to titillate the senses, tease the mind, sway the heartstrings— it’s all there inside The Moulin Rouge! And Moulin Rouge has landed itself grandly at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre for a limited two-week engagement just in time for the holiday season. This Tony Award-winning theatrical extravaganza, with book by John Logan (based on the 2001 20th Century Studios motion picture by Baz Luhrmann & Craige Pearce) is filled with visual spectacle, some of the most iconic love & pop songs of the recent decades, and even tells a tragically beautiful tale. Directed by Alex Timbers with Musical Arrangements (additional lyrics, co-orchestration, and supervision) by Justine Levine and Choreography by Sonya Tayeh, it’s a visual marvel, an aural explosion, and an all-round theatrical sensation not to be missed.
If you can stand the roving red-lights that blind the audience all during the pre-show setup and throughout the intermission, then you’re in for a wildly fanciful and highly engaging night of theatrical decadence. Lighting Designer Justin Townsend may have made one fatal flaw in keeping those enormous swing-lights at that intensity, flushing and swinging out over the audience over and over and over both as the house is opened (and the characters lurk in the not-so-shadows of the stage) and again during the intermission, but every other lighting choice in the show is sheer brilliance. The sheer volume of lighting instruments and cues programed into this production is nothing short of astonishing and some of the special effects that Townsend achieves are beyond brilliant; the first one that comes to mind is all the neon-green-play happening during the segment with Absinthe referred to as “The Green Fairy” (and featuring the song ‘Chandelier’.) Not only is the overall lighting in this segment of the show exceptionally timed and executed to create the desired effect and emotion needed to carry off that scene successfully, but one of the slickest prop/lighting tricks is used to really augment the amount of Absinthe that’s being passed around during this number. Townsend employs the use of swirling, shaped gobos frequently— favoring hearts as ‘Love’ is one of the four core tenants of the show.
Creating a striking backdrop for Townsend’s illumination, Scenic Designer Derek McLane adds layer after layer of razzle-dazzle to the overall spectacle of the production. The iconic red-ruched boudoir curtains, the opulence and decadence of the interior of The Moulin Rouge is all there, looking miraculous and resplendent. McLane tempers this with darkness, grittiness, grays and blacks and smears of white when the cast journeys out to the streets of ‘Bohemia’; the other Paris. For every opulent burst of color and glitz inside the Moulin Rouge, there’s a void of darkness waiting in the street scenes; it creates a sense of visual balance but also sharply draws into focus the contrast between the world of fantasy with art and the reality of being an artist.
The same practice and execution of balance and polar opposites come into play for Costume Designer Catherine Zuber. No one wants to focus on the drab street togs she threads together (though they’re perfectly suited for their purpose) because all eyes are drawn to the grandiose and lavish affairs Zuber has compiled for those performing inside The Moulin Rouge. Those glorious, multi-colored can-can skirts, or the sparkling effervescence of the costumes seen on Satine and her dancing girls during “Satine’s Entrance” (which features “Diamonds Are Forever”, “Diamonds Are a Gir’s Best Friend”, “Material Girl”, and “Single Ladies”), all of which radiate their extraordinary vibes out to the audience, creating a visual feast upon which theatergoers will gorge all the night through. Zuber crafts that ‘Master of Ceremonies/Ringleader’ look for Harold Zidler using glitz, top hat, and lots of red. Red is one of the focal colors in Zuber’s work and it blends the production’s sartorial selection right into the background drapery but also into the emotional intensity of the show’s narrative.
It’s no wonder the show is a Tony Award-winning show (the Tony was preset on opening night at a special media-pre-show invite for those invited to marvel over and celebrate with) given how clever the musical segments are spun together. DJ’s in the 90’s used to call them ‘mashups’ and Moulin Rouge! takes the concept of ‘mashups’ to a cerebrally dazzling level, particularly in some more of their up-tempo montage moments like the Act I Finale, also referred to as “In The Elephant: Elephant Love Medley”, which features nearly two dozen iconic love songs blended together. Some of the songs in these mashup-montage moments are merely cleverly clipped and delivered single-lines, which sends the audience into adoring stiches of laugher. The music, arranged by Justine Levine, is woven together in a smart fashion that really astonishes the ear and enhances the narrative experience of the show.
Go to the theatre for the story, go to the theatre for the spectacle, but really and truly go to The Hippodrome Theatre while Moulin Rouge! is in town to see Sonya Tayeh’s choreography. The opening montage, “Welcome to The Moulin Rouge!” is almost 15-breathless minutes of high-octane choreography, frenetic dancing that doesn’t quit, and performers creating a living spectacle of themselves as they sing, dance, and astound their way through this pulsating sequence that sets the tone (and the bar of standards) for the entirety of the performance. There are moments of extraordinary dance moves sprayed liberally throughout the production from the opening number through to the finale, but the most impressive is perhaps the full-on Can-Can led by Zidler and the male ensemble dancers during “Bows” (that’s a whole 15 minute extravaganza unto itself!) Tayeh’s choreography is sensational and the ensemble executing her routines are top-notch, no question.
Carrying the high-octane, indefatigable energy of this show is the tireless, talented ensemble (featuring: Sam J. Chan, Nicci Claspell, Darius Crenshaw, Jimena Flores Sanchez, Tommy Gedrich, Max Heitmann, Cameron Hobbs, Chloe Rae Kehm, Kamal Lado, Tyler John Logan, Harper Miles, Tanisha Moore, Brayden Newby, Elyse Niederee, Kent Overshown, Stefanie Renee Salyers, Adéa Michelle Sessoms) who spice up each and every scene they populate, especially when it comes to the insane intensity of the dance routines that feel like they dominate nearly every moment of the show. Right from the explosive opening— featuring Nini, Arabia, La Chocolat, and Baby Doll (Sarah Bowden, Nicci Claspell, Harper Miles, and Max Heitmann, respectively) this dancing, singing sensational ensemble draws you into their world of movement, of evocative expression, of pleasure. The ensemble tells the story as much as Zidler, Christian, The Duke, and Satine do, if not more so, as they are perpetually existing in motion, expressing the verve of the show’s atmosphere, the emotional intention of many of the songs, and the overall sensation of existing inside the show’s fantasy world.
Santiago (Danny Burgos) is fierce of both tongue and move, particularly when partnering up with Nini (Bowden) to open the second act with the segment called, “Rehearsal” (featuring “Bad Romance”, “Tainted Love”, “Seven Nation Army”, “Toxic”, and “Sweet Dreams.”) You get to see their highly provocative dance moves dominate the opening section of this montage and it is wild. Burgos is the other half of the comedic duo, Santiago & Toulouse-Lautrec (Nick Rashad Burroughs), and while the pair certainly do live up to the description of being “…two knockabout vaudevillians escaped from the asylum…” you get a much darker, somber side of existence from Burroughs’ Toulouse. Delivering a haunting and eerie, yet entertainingly amusing rendition of “Royals” during the segment “Bohemian Idea Part 2”, Burroughs is expressive and fearless, if at times bogged down in the character’s emotional mire, which he extrapolates into beautiful music every opportunity he gets. Of the pair, despite being highly flamboyant when engaging with the villainous Duke, Burroughs is the more grounded of the two characters, while Burgos brings the flames and the sassy heat of fantasy to the duo.
He might as well be called the villain (receiving several audible boo’s during curtain call means you’ve done your antagonistic job exceptionally well), as The Duke of Monroth (Andrew Brewer) earns himself nothing but disdain from the audience straight from jump street. There’s no humanizing this demon-wearing-aristocratic skin; Brewer sees to it that the audience loathes this antagonist every step of the way from his airs to his graces and all the heinous vitriol he slathers over everything he sees. Cutting and cruel, his possessive nature— not only of The Moulin Rouge but of Satine and her friends as well— Brewer delivers the utmost intense villain one can expect from a show where debauchery and hedonism are celebrated. “Monroth’s Proposal” in the second act is spine-tingling in a most unpleasant fashion and cements how much the audience detests the character.
The dazzling diamond, the sparkling sensation, Satine (Gabrielle McClinton) is pitched and presented like a trophy, a prize, and little more than a showgirl who is the last hope of everyone and everything invested and involved with The Moulin Rouge. While McClinton has an impressive vocal style and it’s equally pleasing to hear someone singing primarily in that tenor-alto range (especially during her introduction where she’s serving up Shirley Bassey sound singing ‘Diamonds are Forever’) there are times when she feels disconnected from the story and the performance, almost like it’s a technical singing exercise for her. There are so many other intense moments of spectacle and performance artistry happening all around her that it really doesn’t detract from the overall show experience, but if this show were less about the spectacle and visual sensations, it would certainly be noticeable. There’s also something of a disconnect in the chemistry between McClinton and the Christian character (at this performance Preston Taylor), though that’s difficult to say if it is because McClinton is somewhat mechanical in her performance of Satine or if having a stand-in for Christian has put her off. When she does connect to the character, it’s thrilling, and again her singing is quite impressive and ultimately the lack of strong-sense of character doesn’t put a major damper on the overall enjoyment of the production.
Preston Taylor (at this performance) is so engaged with what’s happening in Christian’s world, you’d never truly know that he was the understudy-standby for the role rather than the original casting choice. Fully submerged in the naivete and starry-eyed-dreamerness of Christian, Preston delivers this drastic transformation from the show’s beginning to the show’s end, executing a rainbow arch of emotions and feelings as the Christian character grows with the narrative. Charming and quirky in that adorable ingenue sense, Preston, simply put, is really fun to watch and you find yourself hoping and cheering along with him every step of the journey. Preston explodes into a mercurial version of Christian late in the second act, which juxtaposed against the happy-go-lucky Christian from Act I is like having two different characters on his shoulders. For as heavenly and airy and beautiful as his singing is during “Dancing with the Duke”, “In the Elephant”, and “Elephant Love Medley” (especially ‘Your Song’) is as dark, sobering, and harrowing as his singing is during “Streets of Paris”, “The Show”, and “Finale” (again, especially ‘Your Song’ and hearing them in contrast to one another is mind blowing.) Preston becomes the dazzling diamond of Moulin Rouge! and is an extraordinary, versatile sensation on the stage.
But for every sparkling diamond there’s a sturdy, equally shiny but perhaps not as well-displayed, ring setting. And in this case, that fascinating character is Harold Zidler (Robert Petkoff.) He’s the face, the voice, the inviting presence, the show-start, show-stopper, and all round Jack-of-All-Moods character that worms his way into your heart, your head, your mind, and soul. Even when Zidler is dismissive and cold, barking at Satine, you feel for him. Petkoff has that masterful balance between charm and sincerity, flamboyance and showmanship; there isn’t a moment when Petkoff is on stage where you don’t find yourself peeking at him. And what an extraordinary voice! Though he sing-speaks a good many lyrics throughout the performance, when he belts into ‘Chandelier’ during “The Green Fairy” section of the show, your jaw just drops. And holy-wow can that man can-can. Yes, he can-can-can. Spirited and effervescent, erupting like Vesuvius with all that debaucherous glee, Robert Petkoff’s Zidler really ties the whole experience together.
It’s a must-see for all of the spectacle and wonder, particularly all the dancing and wild lighting effects! So get your tickets to Moulin Rouge! while it is in Charm City, if you can-can-can!
Running Time: 2 hours and 40 minutes with one intermission
Moulin Rouge! plays through December 17th 2023 at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre on the Main Stage of The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center- 12 North Eutaw Street Baltimore, MD 21201. For tickets call (410) 837-7400 or purchase them online.
