REVIEW: Moulin Rouge at the Capitol Theatre
Image: Alinta Chidzey & Des Flanagan. Photo - MICHELLE GRACE HUNDER/
BY JARROD WOLHUTER
The red–carpet premiere of the Moulin Rouge at the historic Capitol Theatre on Saturday night was an assault. An explosive, opulent kaleidoscopic spectacle.
The theatre production is the BIGGEST thing currently in Sydney, and will be the biggest event of 2022. The set, costumes, music, casting; the performances, dancing, choreography – everything – about this long-awaited homage to Baz Luhrmann’s ground-breaking musical is beyond comparison. If there was any dust left on Sydney from the past two difficult years it was certainly blown away by the sheer scale and force of Saturday night’s coup de maitre.
Simon Burke (AO), as the guileful Harold Zidler – owner of the Moulin Rouge, lead the way for the young and promising cast to individually conquer their roles in what manifested as a collective tour-de-force. Des Flanagan as the poet-naïf Christian and Alinta Chidzey as seductress Satine captured and failed to let go of audience attention. Omaji gave an inspired performance as infamous Moulin Rouge artist and defender of the French proletariat, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Andrew Cook as antagonist The Duke was incredibly believable; whose unforgettable effort helped to temper a simmering audience disdain towards his villainous character.
Luhrmann’s genius lies in how lyrics from his tribute pop soundtrack parallel the dramatic narrative that is unfolding between the colourful characters onstage. The already robust song-list has been revitalised for the theatre version with more recent additions by artists like Sia, Beyonce, and Gnarls Barkely to name a few. In addition to song icons Roxanne by The Police, and Your Song by Elton John, the stage musical has not only succeeded in this exciting adaptation but also achieves through its endorsement by Baz Luhrmann himself.
Produced by Carmen Pavlovic and Gerry Ryan, the Moulin Rouge theatre production will go down in Sydney’s history as the show that demonstrated Sydney remains an international powerhouse of entertainment.
Do not miss this.
