Review: MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL at Broadway San Jose

While many performances deliver a pleasing experience, only a rare, luminous creation possesses the alchemical magic to truly dazzle, delight, and forever enchant an audience, leaving an indelible mark on their hearts and minds.  And what, you ask, is this extraordinary show? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Moulin Rouge! The Musical, a jukebox musical like no other. Prepare to be utterly captivated!

Playing now through July 13th, Broadway San Jose’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical will take your breath away and leave you longing to dance the Can-can.

In 2017, book writer John Logan set out to bring Baz Luhrmann’s epic 2001 film of the same name back to its original nightclub cabaret setting – the Broadway stage. It was a daring move that paid off spectacularly when it swept the 2020 Tony Awards with 14 nominations, ultimately securing 10 coveted gold statues, including Best Musical, Direction, and Choreography; Scenic, Costume, Lighting, and Sound Design. With a veritable hit parade of 70 pop songs credited to 160 songwriters (Justin Levine, Matt Stine, Katie Kresek, and Charlie Rosen won the Tony for Best Orchestrations), this is a not-to-be-missed dream for any music lover!

Like the movie, the musical is set during one brief, shining moment at the turn of the 20th century in the depressed and derelict Montmartre Quarter of Paris. This district came alive with a creative spark during what would later be known as La Belle Époque (the beautiful era).

Shunning stifling conformity and strict social class rules—and espousing an ethos of truth, beauty, freedom, and love—the bohemian residents of Montmartre quickly became a glorious festival of artists, writers, courtesans, and, of course, performers of all persuasions. Suddenly, the Moulin Rouge nightclub found itself hosting the biggest, most spectacular party in all of Paris.

News of the nightly "party" at the Moulin Rouge spread swiftly. And how could it not, when the evening’s performances featured beautiful, leggy women tossing caution and their skirts to the wind in a risqué dance called the Can-can? Needless to say, it became the favorite hot spot for secretly "slumming" aristocrats who craved the salacious, intoxicating, and reckless abandon that such an atmosphere afforded them.

It is into this vibrant milieu that history collides with fiction in John Logan and Luhrmann’s narrative. We meet young, impoverished American composer Christian (a dreamy, lovelorn Jay Armstrong Johnson) who recounts his ill-fated love for the headliner and courtesan, Satine. Arianna Rosario shines in this role as a woman torn between an unexpected love and the harsh realities of her life as a courtesan whose income is always shaky and whose life has never been easy or secure. In fact, club owner Harold Zidler (a devilishly delightful Robert Petkoff) has just informed her that the club will close unless she can use her wiles to convince the Duke of Monroth (Andrew Brewer rides the thin edge of quiet evil, delectably) to invest big money to keep them open. Satine understands her role, yet unbeknownst to most of her fellow performers, she is gravely ill, giving heartfelt meaning to the phrase "the show must go on."

And it does go on, propelled by Sonya Tayeh’s Tony Award-winning sublime and sultry choreography that throbs with sex, passion, and consummate artistry. (Associate Choreographer Camden Gonzales’ work is exceptional in maintaining this vision.) Kaitlin Mesh (as Nini), Renee Marie Titus (as La Chocolat), Amara Berhan (as Arabia), and Rodney Thompson (as Baby Doll) opened the showstopping "Lady Marmalade," and the energy just kept escalating. Special mention goes to Kaitlin Mesh, whose legs seemingly defy gravity in every number, including her powerful dance with Santiago (played with raw and focused energy by Danny Burgos) at the beginning of Act II. Catherine Zuber’s Costume Design ensures that what Tayeh says with her choreography is echoed and defined in satin, leather, lace, fishnets, velvet gloves.

As the story continues, Christian and his new friends Santiago and Toulouse-Lautrec (Jahi Kearse brings warmth, pathos, and a burning boldness to the bohemian ideals of his Toulouse) are beneficiaries of Satine’s secret affair with the Duke, which, of course, further complicates her even more secret affair with Christian. It doesn’t take much to figure out that things are not going to end well.