Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Overview

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 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, with its season running through until mid-December.

As Luhrmann's award-winning, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor-starring movie — which celebrates its 21st 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.

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 image: Matthew Murphy.  Updated: October 12.