Moulin Rouge returns to Broadway at the Hirschfeld Theatre in the Times Square Theater District on Fri, Sep 24, 2021. From $69. moulinrougemusical.com 🇫🇷
A ticket lottery starts September 28 for a limited number of $34 tickets. moulinrougemusical.com
Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge! is a jukebox musical based on Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 movie of the same name. It starred Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor and John Leguizamo. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won Best Costume and Best Art Direction. It’s also nominated for 14 Tony Awards.
The story with its tragic woman torn between a rich man and a poor one, may be loosely based on the world’s most popular opera, “La bohème.” It contains one of the most romantic lines in English from the song “Nature Boy”: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love, and be loved in return.”
Luhrmann makes musicals in which songs flow naturally through the story. His work never feels like the cast stopped to do a musical number. He did the same thing with “The Get Down” on Netflix. It tells how Hip-hop started in The Bronx.
“Moulin Rouge!” the musical, premiered in Boston in 2018 and opened on Broadway at The Hirschfield in 2019. It won many Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics awards that year. It has 13 Tony Award nominations, although the Tony Awards have been held up by the pandemic until September 2021.
The show has since launched U.S. national, West End and Australian productions.
On Broadway in 2021, Natalie Mendoza plays the lead character Satine. Mendoza is very multicultural [like us]. She was born in Hong Kong and raised in Australia. She is of English, German, Filipino and Spanish descent. 🇵🇭🇪🇸
Lady Marmalade
Readers of a certain age will remember LaBelle’s #1 hit song “Lady Marmalade” (1974) or especially the 2001 soundtrack recording by Christina Aguilera, M´ya, Pink and Lil’ Kim. Corsets, garters and stockings seem to do well on Broadway. This video is what many Americans think of when you say, “Moulin Rouge.”
The song’s chorus says, “Will you sleep with me tonight” in French. Everything has its price. One of the great lines from the song is, “Why spend my money, when I can spend yours.”
The Real Moulin Rouge is in Pigalle
Moulin Rouge is French for “red windmill.” The real Moulin Rouge is a cabaret in Pigalle, the red light district of Paris, France. It’s the home of modern Can-Can dancing.
In general, French have a different relationship with sensuality than Americans. Sex is natural and not exotic or bad. French created our infatuation with high heels by putting them in naughty postcards. French have a natural style too. Living life with a certain French “je ne sais quoi” (indescribable quality) is cherished. We Americans are so uptight that the French concept seems wildly erotic. Enjoy!
The club was founded in 1889. The original building burned down in 1915, but the cabaret was rebuilt. Tourists love it.