Spectacular, Spectacular – Moulin Rouge! The Musical at the Edinburgh Playhouse
“More is more, darling. And even that might not be enough.”
The Edinburgh Playhouse is currently hosting a two-month run of this relatively new addition to the musical theatre scene, and it already feels like a classic in the making: bold, immersive, and bursting at the seams with lavish, frenetic, gloriously over-the-top production. In fact, it’s a sensory deluge from the second you step into the auditorium – crimson drapes, flickering cabaret lights, a massive decorative elephant to one side, an illuminated revolving windmill on the other. It’s the first time I think I’ve ever actually gasped when walking into the Playhouse to take my seat.
This is a jukebox musical on speed – or, more accurately, absinthe. Along with all the songs you’d expect to hear from the 2001 movie, new highlights, like the fantastic set piece mixing Bad Romance with Toxic and Sweet Dreams, give the stage adaptation even more bang for its buck. There’s real wit behind the mashups, too: Toulouse-Lautrec crooning Lorde’s Royals starts as a punchline, with the audience audibly laughing when they recognise the song, and somehow turns into a completely credible character moment. It’s musical alchemy – mad, brilliant, and often unexpectedly moving.
Every member of the company brings something wonderful to the stage, and the ensemble – spinning tirelessly through the kaleidoscopic chaos – are every bit as vital to this kind of show as the leads. For this production, the Duke has been repackaged as a dashing, smooth-talking panto villain, and Zidler is a more maternal showman than his movie counterpart – equal parts ringmaster and den mother, with more than a dash of Fagin. Both choices are departures from the film, but they work well in the riotous non-logic of this stage adaptation, with James Bryers and Cameron Blakely giving standout performances respectively.
Nate Landskroner is outstanding as Christian, pitching his performance with the perfect combination of humour, vigour, and starry-eyed romantic naïveté. Kurt Kansley also hits it out of the park as Toulouse-Lautrec, in a version of the character I found far more moving than the original. Sadly, the only lead that didn’t quite click with me was Patrice Tipoki’s Satine. The actor is clearly a capable talent – her vocals really excel when belting out the big choruses on songs such as Firework, and she successfully brings touching vulnerability to Satine’s bruised, ‘survivor’ side. However, for me, that elusive, enigmatic charisma – the magnetic dazzle that makes her the club’s crown jewel, the Sparkling Diamond – wasn’t quite there. It’s hard to know if this is down to the alternate casting (though this actor has played the role before), or if it reflects a broader shift in how the character is conceived: less fragile, consumptive goddess, more grounded, scrappy heroine. Closer to Nancy from Oliver! than Nicole Kidman’s glittering ghost. And while that interpretation is interesting and undoubtedly more contemporary, I’m not sure it’s one I love.
Regardless, this is one of the most enjoyable shows I have experienced in a long time, and indeed it is a show that demands to be experienced. It’s immersive, sexy, chaotic, and utterly bonkers. The story is largely ridiculous – and borderline irrelevant – but its non-stop, gorgeous, glamorous, confetti-cannon-blasting fun. If you ever wanted to know what it was like to fall headfirst into a Baz Luhrmann fever dream, now is your chance.
It’s one of those shows, like Mamma Mia! or The Rocky Horror Show, that could (and should) become a returning favourite for many years to come. There’s a giddy, communal magic to it, though the challenge will be maintaining this full-throttle energy in smaller touring versions – because so much of its impact depends on the visual extravagance. It’s a show that revels in style over substance, so the style needs to remain Spectacular Spectacular.
But for now, Moulin Rouge! is painting the town red, gold, and glitter. And if you’re in the mood for a night of glorious, head-spinning escapism, make sure you catch it while you can-can-can.
All words by Susan Sloan.