Moulin Rouge! The Musical – Bord Gáis Energy Theatre – Review
Dates – 20 November – 11 January 2026

Welcome to the Moulin Rouge! A nightclub where all of your fantasies come true. The year is 1899, and we meet Christian (Nate Landskroner), an innocent young songwriter arriving in the Montmartre district of Paris for the first time. There, he is befriended by two local denizens in Toulouse-Lautrec (Kurt Kansley) and Santiago (Rodrigo Negrini). The three venture to the Moulin Rouge in the hope of finding employment as songwriters. There, Christian sees Satine (Verity Thompson), their star performer and courtesan, for the first time and falls madly in love. But the course of young love is never simple, as Satine is promised to another, the evil Duke (James Bryers).

The film was released in 2001 and starred Nicole Kidman and the lovelorn Ewan McGregor. The piece takes inspiration from Puccini’s opera La bohème, which Luhrmann directed in 1993 in Sydney, featuring a similar setting and storyline.

The musical premiered in 2018 in Boston, before transferring to Broadway, where it went on to win 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. While this musical is billed as Baz Luhrmann’s movie come to the stage, there are several differences to the storyline to make it work better for the stage. The biggest update is to the musical score. The production has moved the songs and arrangements to present day, with many modern pop songs playing a prominent role. We have moments of Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ and Walk the Moon’s ‘Shut Up and Dance’. ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ is mixed with Beyoncé’s 2008 classic ‘Single Ladies’. We hear elements of Seven Nation Army mixed with Britney Spears’ (2003) Toxic. Sympathy For The Duke is an arrangement of Rolling Stones songs, which is a particular highlight. It’s quite complex how they blend one song into the next, intermingling music and lyrics.

The staging is quite lavish, with the scenes in the Moulin Rouge the most dynamic, with their strong lights and scenery. There are also scenes set backstage and in their changing rooms, which contrast well with the decadence of the stage.

The story is surprisingly straightforward, with a tale of forbidden love between Christian and Satine, hidden from the dastardly Duke. The focus of the production is mainly on the visuals, along with the song and dance. It’s a Jukebox musical with many songs you’ll be familiar with if you keep up to date with the pop scene, or at least did in 2018, when it was first released. There are two very impressive dance numbers where the stage is filled with colour and action. The vocal talents of the various singers are the main highlight, with Nate Landskroner having some admirable moments. It’s ephemeral, chaotic, and filled with colour and scantily clad men and women. Much like the world the play tries to emulate, it is not that intellectually challenging, but it is a dazzling rush to the senses.