‘Moulin Rouge!’ is nothing to shout about
The cast of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” labors feverishly on the stage of the Citizens Bank Opera House, as if determined to earn that exclamation point.
But skillfully executed bombast is still bombast. There’s no disguising the fact that the inane “Moulin Rouge!,” while chock-full of sound and fury, ultimately signifies, well, not much.
Was there a crying need for a stage version of Baz Luhrmann’s over-the-top 2001 film? In any case, the stage musical, which premiered in Boston six years ago, decidedly bears Luhrmann’s imprint. That is not praise.
Under the hectic direction of Alex Timbers, virtually every scene in this clangorous but empty spectacle is italicized. Nearly every moment is dialed up to 11.
No cliché — about Paris, the bohemian life, artists, aristocrats, musical theater, passion, freedom, power, loyalty, and of course love, all-consuming love, let’s keep singing about love — is left unturned. No opening for overheated melodrama is left unexploited.
“Moulin Rouge!” revolves around a romance in fin de siècle Paris between nightclub chanteuse Satine (Gabrielle McClinton) — whom we first see high above the stage, on a swing, in a blue spangled costume — and penniless American composer-lyricist Christian (Christian Douglas). Does that set-up remind you of the vastly superior “Cabaret”? Yeah, me too.
The Satine-Christian romance proves to be a dangerous one. Facing a financial crisis, Moulin Rouge impresario Harold Zidler (Robert Petkoff ) has entered into a deal with the villainous Duke of Monroth (Andrew Brewer). As part of that deal, the duke takes control not just of the Moulin Rouge, but, in his mind at least, of Satine. As far as he’s concerned, she belongs to him — and the duke is a lethal fellow when crossed.
The possibility that he will find out about the love affair between Satine and Christian escalates when Christian — having been befriended by a pair of bohemians, Toulouse-Lautrec (Nick Rashad Burroughs) and Santiago (Danny Burgos) — writes a musical whose plot closely parallels his love affair with Satine, complete with the deception of a duke-like character.
Further complicating the equation is the very large secret that Satine is keeping from both Christian and the duke.
John Logan, author of “Red,” a very fine play about artist Mark Rothko, wrote the overly ornate book for “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” based on the screenplay written by Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. Sample dialogue:
Satine: “Christian, I can’t go back to the streets.”
Christian: “Then come with me to the stars.”
The arrival in Boston of the touring production is a reminder that it was the premiere of “Moulin Rouge!” that reopened the Emerson Colonial Theatre in 2018, after that storied venue had undergone several years of renovations.
Then it was on to Broadway. In September 2021, “Moulin Rouge!” won 10 Tony Awards, including best musical. An important asterisk is attached to those Tonys, however, because “Moulin Rouge!” was competing in categories sorely depleted by the pandemic.
Its score consists of pop songs or fragments of pop songs that are shoehorned into the narrative whether they make sense or not: Elton John’s “Your Song,” which gets quite a workout; Lorde’s “Royals”; Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”; the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”; Jule Styne and Leo Robin’s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” and many more.
McClinton and Douglas are passable actors, with impressive vocal chops, and they have a decent amount of chemistry. One of the principal pleasures of “Moulin Rouge!” is Sarah Bowden’s scene-stealing turn as Nini, one of the club’s dancers. It is she who warns Satine about the duke’s viciousness.
Key scenes occur in Satine’s dressing room, which is framed by a giant, heartshaped window (the scenic design is by Derek McLane). The choreography by Sonya Tayeh is mostly a plus, as is the lavishly eye-catching attire by costume designer Catherine Zuber. The energetic orchestra is led by music director/ keyboardist Andrew Graham.
In both film and stage form, “Moulin Rouge!” has passionate devotees. It’s one of those polarizing, love-it-or-hate-it works. From their enthusiasm at Wednesday night’s performance at the Opera House, it was pretty clear what camp the audience was in.
Hey, you like what you like. But I couldn’t help thinking about the truth of Lord Illingworth’s remark, in Oscar Wilde’s “A Woman of No Importance,” that “Nothing succeeds like excess.”