By Neil Glasspool.
Star rating ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
When Baz Lurhmann brought Moulin Rouge to the cinema it came with every drop of his flamboyant, maximalist screen-filling style. It remains in that sense, arguably, of all his films, the full Lurhmann experience.
The stage adaptation sure has big (dancing) shoes to fill – and it does so with every inch the energy and passion of the film. It’s a deep, rich and immersive stage filling experience. In fact, the visual feast is so opulent that there are moments when it feels the stage may not quite be big enough.
It sets about its daunting task right from the curtain up, with a floor shaking rendition of Lady Marmalade. It’s one of the iconic tracks from the film, so it locks you in right away. Over the course of the next 3 hours it will be joined by performances of the other songs most synonymous with the movie – Elton John’s Your Song and the signature love theme, Come What May.
This, however, is far more than a note-by-note translation of the film and there is real joy to be had at the dizzying array of mash-ups and medleys that come thick and fast. There’s far too much to possibly mention them all here. In fact, it may be something of a spoiler to do so, as part of the fun is in keeping your ear tuned to pick out the hits, but you can expect everything from the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Madonna to Katy Perry, Rihanna, Sting, Gnarls Barkley and Adele. I can assure that is a mere dip in an ocean of classic and more recent pop hits.
And these are far more than just hits for the sake of it. Each one is integral to character development and narrative arc. A noteworthy moment is how ‘Shut up and Dance’ is used to move the story forward.
So, to that story.
We are in turn of the 20th century Paris. Montmartre to be precise. It’s a place of bohemian decadence that attracts artists, writers and musicians. Nothing embodies this more than the Moulin Rouge. It’s more than a club, it’s a state of the mind that lives and breathes its ethos of truth, beauty, freedom and love.
One such artist is Christian (played by Nate Landskroner), an idealistic American songwriter. He falls in love with the Moulin Rouge’s star attraction Satine (Verity Thompson), after she mistakenly assumes him to be the wealthy Duke (James Bryers) whom she has been assigned to charm by the club’s owner Zidler (Cameron Blakely), in return for his financial support for the Moulin Rouge.
The performance does an impressive job of teasing the unveilling of Satine, and when her moment finally arrives she is lowered in on a giant glittering diamond.
Along the way, Christian befriends fellow artists Toulouse-Lautrec (Kurt Lansley) and Santiago (Rodrigo Negrini). The latter opens the second act with a stirring duet with Nini (played by Kahlia Davis), of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance.
The story is, at its centre, a romantic tragedy, which follows a thread we’re familiar with since the work of Shakespeare, of the tragic death of the heroine. There is something perhaps a little uncomfortable about the centring of the narrative on Satine’s body – from her much hyped arrival to her dead body at the end of the show.
Throughout the show we see Satine trying to wrestle back control of her own narrative and destiny from the three dominant men in her life, which she does with some success. Ultimately though, this is Christin’s story, not hers, and she is more the object of his gaze than the subject of her own narrative.
A subtle, but welcome change from screen to stage adaptation is in the role of Nini, who goes from backstabbing Satine on the big screen to standing in solidarity with her in the stage adaptation, admitting that she is jealous of her but adding that they are sisters and she has her back.
However, Satine remains in the position of having three men who care about her – in very different ways – but also who in some way feel they own her and try to control her. This is most explicit in the case of the Duke, who believes he can buy and own her, but what is Christian attracted to when he sees her on the stage if not her beauty and charm which she knows is all she has to trade and will fade with time. Meanwhile, despite his avuncular affection for her Zidler encourages her to prostitute herself for the sake of the club’s finances.
The reality of her situation, which she is all too aware of, despite Christian’s naivety about and even disregard for, gives the show a gritty, challenging edge which juxtaposes elegantly with the sparkle and sheen of so many of the set pieces.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a visual and aural spectacular. The performances across all the cast, particularly the vocals of Verity Thompson as Satine, are nothing short of magnificent and there’s not a foot out of place in every dance routine.
It’s more than a match for Baz Lurhmann’s film and is arguably even bigger, brighter and more immersive on stage than in the cinema.
Tickets for Moulin Rouge! The Musical (Thursday 24 September to Saturday 24 October 2026) are on sale at mayflower.org.uk or 02380 711811.
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