This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Martín Acuña: Hey, hey, hey, and welcome to Backstage Talk, a podcast about performing arts, films, and other things. This is your host, Martín Acuña speaking, and today we are going to review Moulin Rouge!, the musical that is right now on Broadway. This production started in 2018, but it was premiered on Broadway in 2019. This is the stage adaptation of the 2001 movie directed by Baz Luhrmann, starring Nicole Kidman and Evan McGregor. In this adaptation, I personally think that the musical is way better than the movie. I got the chance to see the musical in New York back in January earlier this year, and I think it was captivating, it was quick and witty, while I think the movie was slow, heavy, and dense. I actually got really bored watching and trying to re-watch it. I've tried it a couple times, but, sorry fans of Moulin Rouge! or Baz Luhrmann's fans, but I think the movie is boring, while I think the stage version is amazing and is really, really, really cool.

[1:40] Martín Acuña: To start, I think the musical has, or one of the biggest strengths that the musical has is its cast. Aaron Tveit is the Broadway heartthrob right now. He has starred in Next to Normal, he has been in Wicked as Fiyero, he was in Catch Me If You Can, and right now he is playing Christian, one of the main characters in the story of Moulin Rouge! He is joined by Karen Olivo. She is an amazing performer. She won a Tony for the West Side Story revival, and she has had a lot of nominations in other awards for In the Heights, and her job in the Chicago cast of Hamilton. But, when I saw it a month ago, she wasn't in the role of Satine. She was replaced by her standby, Ashley Lauren, which, boy, she is talented.

Her voice is just amazing, and if you go to the show and she is performing, you are going to have a great night. Also, part of the cast is Danny Bernstein. He has played in a lot of Broadway shows, he has been in a lot of movies, he has a big name in Hollywood and in Broadway, and he was previously in My Fair Lady. This cast is so strong and so talented that you are not going to want to blink for a minute while you are on this show.

[3:20] Martín Acuña: The second strength I want to talk about is choreography. Sonia Tayeh is the choreographer. She is amazing. She has been in So You Think You Can Dance, and she's a Broadway newcomer. So, congrats, Sonia, on your Broadway debut as a choreographer. One of the main things about the choreography is that it has a sexiness over all the performance. The burlesque style is all the way with elegance, always with elegance, without going to the grotesque. The ensemble for this show is such a talented group of people, a talented group of dancers, that I wanted to stand up and dance with them every single number. It has intense performers and such powerful movements in dance that you're gonna love it.

[4:15] Martín Acuña: Third, in the direction and the performance making is the amazing Alex Timbers. He is a two-time Tony Award nominee, and he also directed Beetlejuice. So, he has two shows running on Broadway. Man, that is an achievement. Congratulations, Alex. When I saw the show back in January, I always had the need to stand up and give an ovation at the end of each number, because the overall performance, the singing, the dancing, the acting was just breathtaking. He has an engaging way and an engaging power between the stage stuff and the audience. He really knows how to direct, so it is amazing.

[5:04] Martín Acuña: And the fourth and last strength this show has is the music. The suburbation, orchestration, arrangements, and additional lyrics were made by Justin Levine. One of the things I think is a success in this show is that even though it is a jukebox musical and it reunites a lot of songs that people know you have two paths when you do a jukebox musical. That audiences either love it or either hate it. And I think that is because of the music. Because you either love the song that's playing next or the mashup because you know the lyrics and you know the original songs and you know the original performers, or you either hate it because you hate the song or you hate the original singers. In this particular case, for Moulin Rouge, you will love every single mashup because they don't take the songs from the movie and play them just like that.

They do a new whole arrangement, traditionally for Broadway. It has a true Broadway song, so the arrangements are made for the stage and not for film, which I think is a big difference between the movie and the stage version. And the power that it has as a music complete compound is just great. It is just chapeau.

[6:33] Martín Acuña: Getting to analyze the songs, you will find that it has every single hit song from the billboards for the last two decades, three decades maybe. It has a lot of songs from the 80s, from the 90s, from the 2000s, even hits that were great one year ago, two years ago. The first song they play is an amazing mashup called Welcome to the Moulin Rouge and it's like a bomb. It explodes with such power and you either clap your hands to the beat or you start dancing in your seat. I remember that when you saw it, the crowd went crazy. They started singing, they started laughing, they started cheering. And for newcomers in this show, they are just going to be taken aback because they are going to remember things from their childhood or when they were young adults. And they are going to be taken by surprise because the songs throughout the show are an amazing selection of hits.

[7:56] Martín Acuña: The second song that I really loved from this show is the Act 1 finale. I think that is the way you want to write a scene and you want to write a number to end the first act of a play. It has all the love songs you'll ever need in one single mashup. It has The Beatles, it has U2, it has Queen, Pat Benatar, Tina Turner, Elvis Presley, David Bowie, Elton John, Whitney Houston, and more. You will have every single love song you ever need to say I love you. Then the first song back from Intermission, the first number of Act 2, is another great mashup that includes Gaga's, Lady Gaga's, Bad Romance, The White Stripes, Seven Nation Army, Britney Spears' Toxic, and Sweet Dreams. So you will forever love Justin Levine for doing this arrangement and this orchestration. It has such a powerful choreography that to this day, almost a month after I saw the show, you are going to remember that performance.

[9:04] Martín Acuña: Finally, Da Finale and the More More More Encore is a way to gather all the great hit songs from the show in one single mashup so you can clap and the performers can have a bow. Trust me. If you are in New York, go see this show because you are going to feel young, you are going to be happy, and you are going to enjoy it on another level. I think this is one of the greatest hits Broadway will have this year, this decade, and you are just going to enjoy it. From the single you step into the Harshfield Theater, you are going to enjoy it. Because I saw two years ago in that same theater, Kinky Boots, and they changed everything, and the performance making of it, and the custom designs, the scenery design is just great. And you are going to enjoy it.

[10:02] Martín Acuña: This show has a cast recording. Do yourself a favor and go listen to it because you are going to love it. That is how we end another episode of the Backstage Talk. If you are listening to this in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Google Podcasts, please leave a comment, rate it, give it a 5-star, give it a 3-star, give it a no-star, but I will thank you for that. I am also leaving my Instagram in which you can text me. I promise you I will reply. Have fun, listen to the cast recording, and trust me, you are going to love it. Bye! Have fun!