New hits push ‘Moulin Rouge!’ to new heights
NEW YORK – Imagine Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” but as a steamy Spanish tango.
Now imagine that’s been mashed up with Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” and vigorously performed by a group of hot-blooded bohemians in early 1900s Paris.
It’s an absurd combination that by no means should work but winds up being the undeniable highlight of Broadway’s new “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” a wildly entertaining adaptation of Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 movie that opened Thursday at New York’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre.
Like the film — which starred Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor and earned eight Oscar nominations, including best picture — the stage show follows the doomed love affair between Satine (Karen Olivio), a tuberculosis stricken cabaret star, and Christian (Aaron Tveit), a wide-eyed Midwesterner who dreams of becoming a world-renowned songwriter (changed from a poet in the movie).
In an effort to save the cash-strapped Moulin Rouge, Satine is forced by impish emcee Harold Zidler (Danny Burstein) to seduce wealthy patron The Duke of Monroth (Tam Mutu), but in a case of mistaken identity, accidentally comes on to Christian instead. The two are instantly besotted and secretly start dating despite her commitment to the Duke, who threatens to shutter the storied Parisian nightclub if he can’t have Satine.
Even with its sizable box office and fan base (who ardently cheered in recognition throughout a recent preview performance), most people either loathe or adore “Moulin Rouge!,” with very little middle ground between the
two extremes. Kidman’s divine performance notwithstanding, this reviewer was ready for Satine to croak by the 15minute mark of Luhrmann’s exhausting film, which throws you into a melee of cacophonous medleys and flashy quick cuts that never lets up.
Alex Timbers’ musical, with a book by John Logan, is still a bombastic assault on the senses, and occasionally its anachronistic music cues are more eyerolling than endearing.
Rihanna’s fist-pumping club anthem “Only Girl (In The World)” — one of several new Top 40 hits incorporated into the show — becomes a smarmy villain number for the Duke as he treats Satine to a shopping spree on the Champs-Élysées in a futile effort to win her affection.
Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” is also awkwardly shoehorned into the otherwise-dazzling mashup of Madonna’s “Material Girl” and “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” earning cheap laughs when Satine mimics the superstar’s now-iconic choreography.
But by and large, the use of recent pop songs actually improves upon the source material, helping flesh out characters’ motivations and deepen the central romance. As sung by world-weary revolutionary Toulouse-Lautrec (Sahr Ngaujah), Lorde’s “Royals” becomes a wry critique of the class divide between artists and aristocrats. Katy Perry’s “Firework” is transformed into a tearful yet triumphant ballad for Satine as she reflects on her fading youth and limited prospects, but summons the inner fortitude to keep going.
Sia’s “Chandelier” is now a trippy absinthe drinking song, while Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” is a showstopping duet between Christian and Satine bemoaning their forbidden love, seamlessly blended together with Gnarls Barkley’s 2006 hit “Crazy.” And although we thought we’d soured on Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance” after one too many wedding receptions, it’s a shockingly fun meet-cute between the characters on — where else? — the dance floor.
Fans eager to hear their favorite tunes from the film have nothing to fear: “Your Song” and “Come What May” still pack the biggest emotional wallops, and brassy, bawdy renditions of “Lady Marmalade” bookend the musical. And even when the show is working overtime to please — a “Mamma Mia!”-style supermedley at curtain call undercuts the stirring final scenes — there’s still enough onstage magic between the jawdropping sets and sumptuous costumes to help make the dollops of cheese more palatable.
C’est magnifique, indeed.