THE HANGOVER REPORT – The exhilarating MOULIN ROUGE triumphantly makes the leap from screen to stage

Karen Olivo and Aaron Tveit in "Moulin Rouge" at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

Karen Olivo and Aaron Tveit in “Moulin Rouge” at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Photo by Matthew Murphy.

This week, the highly anticipated film-to-stage adaptation of Moulin Rouge opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, after a hugely successful out-of-town tryout in Boston. The iconic 2001 film took the jukebox musical format and pumped it up to a state of heightened ecstasy, solidifying director Baz Luhrmann’s unmistakable hyperactive cinematic aesthetic. Both the film and the stage edition are a variation on the themes, characters, and setting of Puccini’s immortal opera La bohème, telling the story of struggling Parisian artists and their pursuit of “truth, beauty, freedom, and love”. At its center is the love story between a young, talented composer and a glamorous but increasingly sickly nightclub performer. In summary, I’m happy to report that the movie has triumphantly made the leap from screen to stage. Long may it thrive at the Hirschfeld.

Luckily, the stage version doesn’t merely replicate the popular underlying movie. Brilliant stage director Alex Timbers and book writer John Logan have managed to take the schizophrenic template so successfully cast by Mr. Luhrmann and evolved and thoughtfully translated it for the stage, injecting the piece with much-needed humanity and more nuanced textures. They’ve also smartly updated the song list to include a bevy of pop hits since the release of the movie.  In short, they’ve skillfully channeled Mr. Luhrmann’s sense of decadent spectacle and married it with savvily revised storytelling and a keen understanding of what makes live performance tick (this is especially true of the production’s absolutely exhilarating second act, particularly as sizzlingly choreographed by Sonya Tayeh), making for a visceral, genuinely affecting experience that can only happen in the theater. Indeed, I have a feeling that the jukebox musical form may have come to an apotheosis with Broadway’s Moulin Rouge.

In many ways, the production is also a culmination of Mr. Timbers’ work as a director. His previous shows – Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Here Lies Love, and most recently Beetlejuice – have been marked by a bold visual palette and thrillingly immersive sensibility. I very much view Moulin Rouge to be the perfect match between material and the director’s strengths, which has not always been the case in the past. The Hirschfeld has been stunningly transformed into the famous Parisian nightclub, literally enveloping the audience with the musical’s kinetic staging (kudos to set designer Derek McLane), one-upping similarly memorable immersive environments created for the Broadway productions of the revival of Cabaret and The Great Comet. Tony-winner Karen Olivo, in luscious voice and a striking onstage presence, is simply sensational as nightclub performer Satin, which is just the right role for her at this juncture in her career (she’s come a long way from when I first saw her in Brooklyn!). Less compelling — but perfectly fine — are Aaron Tveit and Tam Mutu as the two men in pursuit of her. But right behind Ms. Olivo is another Broadway veteran, Danny Burstein, who may just receive his long-awaited Tony for his sinous and layered performance as nightclub proprietor Harold Zidler.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

 

MOULIN ROUGE
Broadway, Musical
Al Hirschfeld Theatre
2 hours, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Open run

Categories: Broadway, Theater

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