Patrick Ryan

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.