'Moulin Rouge! The Musical' Is Bringing Its Spectacular Stage Show to Sydney in 2022
Following its current run in Melbourne, the film-to-stage production will hit Sydney’s Capitol Theatre next May.
Back in 1999 and 2000, Baz Luhrmann's beloved movie musical Moulin Rouge! was filmed in Sydney. Come May 2022, the Tony-winning stage version of that hit feature will come to the city, too. In spectacular (spectacular) news, it'll mark the show's second Australian stop — following its current Aussie-premiere season in Melbourne.
Once more, Sydney will stand in for the Montmartre Quarter of Paris — the backdrop for a heady romance between lovestruck young bohemian Christian and performer Satine, star of the legendary titular cabaret. Moulin Rouge! The Musical will spin that story from Saturday, May 28 at the Capitol Theatre. And yes, it'll give the city its next blockbuster production after Hamilton finishes up its Sydney run just a few months earlier.
When it was first announced back in 2016 that Moulin Rouge! was being turned into a stage musical, fans around the world thought the same thing in unison: the show must go on. Since then, the lavish production premiered in the US in 2018, then hit Broadway in 2019, and finally made its way Down Under this year. But if you're a Sydneysider, you've probably been wondering when it would bring its excitement home — as well as its dazzling on-stage thrills, Moulin Rouge! The Musical is the first-ever Aussie-produced show to win the Tony for Best Musical.
As Luhrmann's award-winning, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor-starring movie — which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year — did before it, the stage musical is heavy not just on star-crossed romance, but with a loaded soundtrack that celebrates iconic tunes from across the past five decades. Indeed, Moulin Rouge! The Musical backs up those favourites with even more hit songs that have been released in the two decades since the movie premiered.
The musical comes to Sydney in the hands of production company Global Creatures. CEO and producer Carmen Pavlovic said that "after an extraordinary year that often left us wondering if the show would go on, it's joyous to confirm that we're coming to Sydney in 2022! We have been so overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of audiences in our opening weeks in Melbourne, and we look forward to making the Capitol Theatre 'spectacular spectacular' when the production arrives there in May."
Directed by Alex Timbers, the Australian production stars Alinta Chidzey as Satine, Des Flanagan as Christian, Simon Burke as club impresario Harold Zidler and Andrew Cook as The Duke — plus Tim Omaji as Toulouse-Lautrec and Ryan Gonzalez as Santiago, Montmartre's resident artistes; and Samantha Dodemaide as Nini, Olivia Vásquez as Arabia, Ruva Ngwenya as La Chocolat, and Christopher J Scalzo as Babydoll, aka the 'Lady M's'.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical will play its final Melbourne show on Friday, April 29. Pre-sale tickets for the Sydney season will be available from Monday, December 13, with general sales kicking off on Thursday, December 16.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical will hit the Capitol Theatre, 13 Campbell Street, Haymarket, from Saturday, May 28 . For further details or to join the waitlist for tickets — with pre-sales from Monday, December 13 and general sales from Thursday, December 16 — head to the production's website.
Images: Michelle Grace Hunder.
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