As Oscar Wilde is said to have said, “Nothing succeeds like excess.” Wilde lived in the late 19th century, the time period that Moulin Rouge: The Musical takes place, though he was born too early to see the musical, which is a perfect illustration of his aphorism.
From Catherine Zuber’s sensuous costumes to Derek McLane’s fanciful, eye-popping sets to Justin Townsend’s very rouge lighting, the road show playing at the Kravis Center this week is an exercise in visual excess. And when you factor in the six dozen often-familiar pop songs that are sprinkled throughout the evening, the energetic, acrobatic choreography by Sonya Tayeh executed by a large, limber ensemble, and the handful of top-notch principal performers, this is the kind of excessive Broadway show we thought we would never see again in these belt-tightening days. Great eye candy and vocal enjoyment.
Under the resourceful and firm hand of director Alex Timbers, Moulin Rouge opened on Broadway in 2019, won 10 Tony Awards including best musical and went on to be an international hit. It weathered the COVID shutdown better than many shows, continues in New York six years later, while mounting a national tour that does not skimp on its lavish bells and whistles. From the alluring stage-wide concentric hearts and neon title sign that greets the audience as it enters the theater, this is clearly no corner-cutting production.
Based on Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 musically anachronistic movie, the stage show is again about a romantic triangle involving Satine, the star of the title nightclub and an occasional prostitute, torn between love and money — namely Christian, a handsome but penniless composer from America, and the wealthy but controlling Duke of Monroth.
The duke bails out the cash-strapped club, taking ownership with the constant threat to close it down if Satine does not remain faithful to him. That proves tricky, since Satine and Christian cannot keep their hands off each other.
That’s about it for plot and about all there is room for after the profusion of jukebox songs, some sung in their entirety, but most heard in short snippets, mashed together in medleys. For instance, the first time we see Satine (in an uber-sparkly though brief Zuber outfit), she belts the James Bond theme “Diamonds Are Forever” along with a classic Broadway tune from 1949, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.” More recent are numbers from the songbooks of Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Adele and Elton John, which fit the situation nicely, but rarely further the narrative.
As Satine and Christian, Arianna Rosario and Jay Armstrong Johnson sing well in the score’s many song styles and have a palpable chemistry that has us rooting for their happiness together. As the Duke, Luke Monday projects evil without resorting to caricature and Robert Petkoff is a standout as the Moulin’s ringmaster and Satine’s pimp. And representing the bohemian artist community, Jahi Kearse is amusing as Toulouse-Lautrec.
John Logan won a Tony for his book to Moulin Rouge, yet that is the show’s weakest element. Nevertheless, there is so much to look at and be entertained by in this show, few theatergoers will mind a little wheeze in the story.
MOULIN ROUGE: THE MUSICAL, Kravis Center Dreyfoos Hall, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Through Sunday, March 30. $68-$174. 561-832-7469 or visit kravis.org.