Moulin Rouge The Musical - Review

Post

Subscribe

Fri 12 Nov 2021

I was very happy to be going to Moulin Rouge The Musical at the Regent Theatre on a night my favourite performer was playing the lead, Satine. I have loved Alinta Chidzey for a long time, and fell especially in love with her when I saw her in the theatre production of Broadway's hit musical Chicago, playing Velma Kelly. Her powerhouse vocals and performance in my opinion blitzed the lead performer at any given time. The bonus moment on the night for me was having to go the back way because we had someone with a disability with us; passing the dressing rooms - noticing Casey Donovan's name on one of the doors, and being caught in the elevator with Alinta herself. Starstruck and of course I yabbered on a little and gushed about my love for her performance - took a selfie or two with her and came home floating on cloud 9. She was fabulous and patient about it all.

Alinta did not disappoint in Moulin Rouge. Her vocals were distinct, powerful and rose above all else - befitting the star of the show that she was. However, I am racing a little ahead of myself. Let me just tell you, when I walked into the theatre, marching down to the 8th row from the front of the stage (I love the theatre and I'm a bit of a theatre snob. I have to be in the first 8-10 rows at all times!), I was quivering with excitement from the ambiance I was walking into. Chandeliers galore overhead, the elephant representing the elephant room on one side of the stage, staircases on either side looking like it belonged to the Montmartre Quarter of Paris, a place I visited and loved, and all that red lighting where you almost expect to find a few courtesans strolling about.


I looked at the spacious seating set up right in front of the stage where a lucky few sat and was gobsmacked at how gorgeously close they were to the stage. Mind you, I prefer being in the 4th or 5th row (8th row is my absolute limit) so I'm close enough to get lost in every expression and nuance of the actors and see the whole stage comfortably and not be looking up skirts and nostrils. It did however look good and the usher told me those seats were $300 each and comes with a $600 champagne bottle you pay for as well.

Before the performance, a fair few of the performers come out, gliding across the stage, amongst the patrons and up the staircases on the side, moving seductively, draping themselves artistically over the surfaces they were positioned in. The overall show was around two and a half hours inclusive of interval. It was so fully packed out, it's hardly worth pushing past the crowd to go get a drink or snacks. The best thing to do is to come prepared, so you don't have to leave your seat. I thought employees would come out serving drinks and ice cream as they sometimes do, but programs were all that was on offer on the night.


You might already be familiar with the storyline (you can Google search) set in 1899 Paris of a young man named Christian, a writer whom Satine mistakes for The Duke, a potential investor that Zidler had set her up to woo for financial backing. Too late, they fall in love and the rest is history in this love triangle of clandestine meetings, unrequited love and deceptions . You'll find the full cast here and the main performers on stage for the performance I saw were Alinta Chidzey as Satine as aforementioned, Des Flanagan as Christian, Simon Burke AO as Harold Zidler, Tim Omaji aka Timomatic as Toulouse-Lautrec, Andrew Cook as The Duke, Ryan Gonzalez as Santiago, Samantha Dodemaide as Nini, Olivia Vásquez as Arabia and Ruva Ngwenya as La Chocolat.

Simon Burke , in the day, every mother's heartthrob from Play School was unrecognisable, completely transformed as Harold Zidler. You can't take the shine off a good actor though and he's just a delight to watch on stage and commands quite a few of the situations with vocals and dance moves on point. Another surprise was Timomatic , the Nigerian born Australian singer songwriter and dancer. He was perfection in his performance and hits all the notes as a serious actor and comes complete with swagger, dance moves and vocals. You couldn't fault anyone, but Alinta, Simon Burke and Tim Omaji just shone.


I enjoyed seeing Ruva Ngwenya as La Chocolat on stage as I had seen her perform at Cabaret De Commons at Ormond Collective - a cabaret show, and was familiar with her powerful vocals. She didn't disappoint. The show is only here till April 2022. It's joyful, fun, extremely lavish, has amazing dance routines, costumes, and modern song choices that were perfection and perfectly matched to the storyline as it unfolds. The stage show features many of the iconic songs from the movie as well as additions from Adele, Katy Perry, Sia, Rihanna, Beyoncé, and more.

If you love musical theatre, this is one not to miss so get your tickets now. The show speaks volumes in saying 'welcome back to live performances Melbourne!' Stay updated via Facebook and enjoy all the snippets and behind the scenes stories; of the 10 musicians in the studio space creating the incredible sound for you, playing live, night after night. If I had any criticism at all, for me personally, I would love to have seen sadder sad scenes and meaner cruel scenes to really make that emotional impact I found a little lacking, but that's just my personal opinion. There are 75 songs lovingly stitched together, and you'll chuckle at just how appropriate they are for the scenes. In spite of my slight criticism, I wouldn't say no to watching it all over again. There's just so much to take in.



#cbd
#fun_things_to_do
#musicals
#nightlife
#performing_arts
#theatre
#november
!date 12/11/2021 -- 07/04/2021
%wnmelbourne