Review: 'Moulin Rouge'

 by Tabitha Richardson

In the half term, I swapped the tedium of revision for the buzz of London to spend an evening at the Moulin Rouge (in the West End)!

After only having seen the original Parisian club two months before, I was very excited as I had heard nothing but good reviews.

Similar to the actual French cabaret, the second the doors of the Piccadilly Theatre were opened, my mother and I were surrounded by an abundance of scarlet scenery, a maximalist spectacle of lights and velvet. The theatre’s layout was particularly unique compared to other West End shows; with a giant windmill to the left of our peripheral vision in the royal box, and a catwalk woven in between the seating that was aptly labelled ‘cancan seats’. Before the show even started, there was a pair of provocatively dressed actors swallowing swords in unison in front of a giant blue elephant. I was preparing myself for something sensational.

Before we went in, all we knew about this up-and-coming musical was that it was based on the iconic 2001 Baz Luhrmann film starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, which made this adaptation have very large shoes to fill. To combat this, we learned they now had a more contemporary and revised score. So, needless to say that after going in basically blind, we were sceptical- however, this was soon washed away once the outrageously talented Dom Simpson waltzed on stage to start the show.

The energy was high but the leg kicks were higher- the dancing from the assiduous ensemble was taken to another level, and the singing from the principal cast was a feat in itself. And when we discovered that the cast we had just watched had only joined the red windmill a week beforehand, we were shocked as their performances more than sufficed! There was so much to behold, it was almost overstimulating at times. It was also made very clear early on that the plot was not what sold the tickets, as despite it being adapted by John Logan, it was still stuffed with cliches, washing out any empathy that could have been squeezed from the audience towards the protagonists. However, with confetti continuously raining from the ceiling and no longer than five minutes in between each remix, it made the atmosphere one worth remembering.

The show had over 70 hits from the likes of Elton John, Beyonce and Fatboy Slim- it was inevitable that we would be bopping along. This is why I am a strong disbeliever in the jukebox musical stigma (using popular songs that have already been released before the musical’s score). There is a lot of snobbery around reusing songs as it’s almost seen as ‘lazy’. But what’s so wrong with upcycling already known and loved songs with extra harmonies and adding meticulous choreography on top? It is a successful tried and tested formula as proven by Mamma Mia. In Moulin Rouge’s case it has clearly proved prosperous after the Broadway production managed to sweep 10 Tony awards in just one night in 2021!

I was very pleasantly surprised by my visit to the home of the Bohemians and the cancan, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to anyone looking for a high-spirited evening in London. Although maybe not suitable for those under the age of ten, it's an eye-popping extravaganza of fun and flamboyance.