Interview: Amara Berhan of MOULIN ROUGE! The Musical at Ruth Eckerd Hall

Moulin Rouge! The Musical is at Ruth Eckerd Hall April 1–5, bringing its explosive blend of romance, spectacle, and bohemian heart to Clearwater. Among the first performers to ignite the stage is Amara Berhan, who plays Arabia, one of the fierce and unforgettable Lady Ms.

Berhan steps into the role with a natural connection to its showgirl spirit. “Arabia is a showgirl, which, you know, is my job as well,” she said. “She starts, she comes out the gate swinging. She’s the first voice we hear. It’s just fun to like take on that showgirl persona. And I feel like we’re similar in that way because I love a spectacle. I love singing and dancing and that’s what she’s built her life around too.”

The production’s intensity is legendary, and performing it eight times a week demands stamina and discipline. “It’s very high intensity. It’s a big show to do every night. This is the hardest physical thing I've ever done. You definitely feel it in your body sometimes, but we're well taken care of. We have, we have a great physical therapist. We have everything we need to set us up for success," she said.

Touring also gives her the chance to explore each city between performances. “I usually try to explore a bit of each city that we’re in because that’s one of the gifts of being on tour,” she said. “You get to travel and see different parts of the country and even different countries. You get to see a little bit of what each city has to offer.”

Her connection with the other Lady Ms is one of the show’s most joyful backstage dynamics. They begin every performance together with a ritual that sets the tone for the night. “We call each other sisters. We’re a unit for sure, which is so fun,” she said. “We start every show together. We do a little pre‑show ritual every night. We give a little hug, and then we actually sing the beginning of Man, I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain every night.”

Berhan joined the tour in January 2025, reaching a milestone she had imagined but never expected to arrive so quickly. “It was the best day ever,” she said. “I remember just being so happy and excited and realizing that that dream was coming true. I saw the tour a week before I graduated college and I remember thinking, oh my gosh, I would kill to be in a show like that. And about five months later is when I got the call.”

Playing Arabia allows her to channel a bold, unapologetic energy that resonates with audiences. “It’s really fun to get to embody such a fun out there type of character and get to represent all the showgirls out there who are living for the spotlight and the spectacle of it all,” she said. “It’s definitely an honor to get to wear the beautiful Tony winning costumes and be under the beautiful Tony winning lights.”

One quiet moment in the show holds deep meaning for her, even though she isn’t onstage for it. “I will make you immortal,” she said, quoting Latrec’s farewell to Satine. “I love it so much because it’s a reminder that even though you’re faced with mortality and everyone’s story has to end eventually, we live on through others and who love us. Even though someone may be gone, they’re never truly gone.”

At the stage door, she often surprises fans who don’t recognize her without her signature wig. “I have a very distinctive, pretty iconic wig,” she said. “People are like, wait, who did you play? And they’re like, no way, I thought that was your real hair. I get that every stage door.”

But the reactions that stay with her most are the ones rooted in connection. “I just love when people thank us for a fun night,” she said. “We’ve even had people tell us what ‘you can, can, can’ means to them. You have people who have made it a mantra in their everyday life. It’s definitely an honor to get to be a part of that kind of legacy.”

As people make their way out into the night, she hopes the show stays on their minds.  “I hope they go home and talk about, oh my gosh, did you see this? Did you see this?” she said. “But I also hope they go home really thinking about what the four bohemian values mean to them: truth, beauty, freedom, and love. I hope that they take those four values away with them and put them into their daily life.”