MOULIN ROUGE BROADWAY CAST ALBUM!

THIS JUST IN — THE MOULIN ROUGE BROADWAY CAST ALBUM IS OUT FOR PRE-ORDER!!

if you pre-order it now, you automatically get to download “the sparking diamond!”

the whole album is available for purchasing and download on AUGUST 30, 2019!

DON’T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY, CHICKENS!

also, bless that we finally get to hear a studio version of aaron singing “your song.” i’m definitely gonna listen to that before i go to bed so he can sing me to sleep every night! ;)

Originally posted by playbill

^^^ this is an exact representation of me when i saw the cast album on itunes 😂

I Saw Moulin Rouge On Broadway (PT 3) — My Review For The Show!

welcome to part tres (three) of the “i saw moulin rouge on broadway” series! as listed in my first part, this is the last post of this series but i may or may not have more parts coming. ;) 

but let’s focus on this part — my review for the show. i will be breaking this down into different subcategories: principal actors/actresses, musical numbers, costume/lighting/set design, choreography, and my overall thoughts. 

so let’s do it! 

⚠️ ANOTHER SPOILER WARNING! AGAIN, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! ⚠️ 

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principal actors and actresses

• aaron tveit as christian — aaron was phenomenal. i’m probably just saying that because he’s my one true love but i swear he was born for this role (as the new york times even said). aaron has been in so many different things such as catch me if you can on broadway, les mis on the big movie screen, and graceland on tv. but this show has to be the best project he’s ever been in. his tenor (and godly) voice fits the songs super well and his acting (especially at the end of the show) is absolutely breathtaking. his high belt has improved so much throughout the years he’s been singing and his performance showcases that improvement. 
• karen olivo as satine — i’ve heard mixed reviews about karen’s portrayal of satine. some people like her portrayal and other people think she was cast wrong for the role. i, however, liked karen’s portrayal. in the movie, nicole kidman portrayed satine as a damsel in distress who was very uneducated about love and living life out of the moulin rouge. but karen portrayed satine as a grown woman who wants to escape the life she’s living, making her portrayal focus more on the central conflict of love. both portrayals are correct (and nicole kidman praised karen olivo for her performance), but i just prefer the way karen portrayed satine. 
• danny burstein as harold zidler — danny portrayed harold as mysterious but intriguing and it was literally perfection. he brought you to the edge of your seat throughout the whole show and he nailed the entertaining and comedic aspect of his character. 
• tam mutu as the duke — tam honestly made me like the duke a tiny bit lol. in the movie, the actor has a weird looking mustache and isn’t that attractive in my opinion. i think it’s because the duke is supposed to be all power and money, while christian is supposed to be all love and looks. but tam was clean cut and professional looking (i mean, i love aaron with all my heart but damn he looked fine) and he let his character’s actions speak for itself to make him “the villain.” 
• ricky rojas as santiago — i loved ricky so much! the sexy and intense take on the character combined with being able to portray the craziness side made him perfect for the role. i also love how he’s british. and his dancing and chemistry with robyn hurder (nini) was incredible. 
• sahr ngaujah as henri de toulouse-lautrec — sahr (and ricky) portrayed the “two most interesting men” very well. they were able to act as the crazy bohemians of france, but they were also able to channel their emotional and intense side when the plot line thickened and got more climatic. the one scene that stood out to me with sahr was when he told aaron (christian) to go back to satine (who had just kicked him out) and tell her he loves her, something toulouse didn’t do and regrets it. it was one of the more serious moments in the first act and i appreciated it. 
• the lead ensemble members (satine’s girlfriends) — each one of the ladies had a different personality and they all helped satine with her conflicted feelings and her sickness throughout the show. one person who really stood out to me was robyn hurder who played nini “legs in the air.” she was the most amazing dancer and she portrayed the sexiness of her character very well. and as i mentioned in ricky’s review, her chemistry with him was so good!

musical numbers 

i enjoyed the music. to be honest, i never thought i wanted my favorite broadway actors to sing trashy pop songs for two and a half hours until i experienced it. this 👏 is 👏 the 👏 content 👏 i’ve 👏 needed 👏 for 👏 so 👏 long 👏! 

• i’ve heard so many people say things about how the audience laughs every time they sing a song that’s familiar to them, but i took that as an audience problem and i admit that i laughed when i heard songs i knew. the whole idea of the show is a creating a satirical comedy to tell a love story through popular music. and when you have aaron tveit and karen olivo busting a move to “raise your glass” by pink and “never gonna give you up” by rick astley, it’s a shocker and sometimes you can’t help but laugh because it’s so unexpecting.
• my favorite musical numbers were “chandelier,” “roxanne,” and “rolling in the deep.” i liked chandelier because the staging was really cool with christian playing a game of tag with satine who appears as the “green fairy.” everyone is trying to hold him back in order for him to forget about her, but he is so in love with her that he pushes them aside to try and get close to her. i loved “roxanne” because aaron’s high belt was amazing (ugh bless that high belt) and i was tired of hearing ewan mcgregor’s voice with no vibrato (though his acting in the movie was top notch!). also aaron’s emotions were amazing and robyn was incredible as the central dancer. and i liked “rolling in the deep” because of the emotions. during that song, satine is getting sicker and sicker and is on the verge of dying while christian is heartbroken and is buying bullets to later threaten to kill himself. 
• “roxanne” had some controversy because some people didn’t like the way it was sung. again for me, i enjoyed the way it was staged. i loved the movie version because there’s so many scenes going on at once, but there’s only so much you can do on a live stage. i also used to agree that aaron sang “put on the red light” one too many times, but i recently heard the original version of “roxanne” by the police, and they do the same thing so i guess they decided to stay true to the original version of the song. 
• overall, i was skeptical of how they were going to cut the musical numbers. i looked at the list of songs they were going to sing and i was nervous that they would mash up the songs together and it would be bad, but the songs actually flowed really nice with each other. 

costumes, lighting, and set design

• the costumes were absolutely stunning. satine’s sparking diamond number was extravagant and i honestly do not understand how karen olivo can be 43 years old and pull of the lingerie look (like damn!).
• the lighting was so cool to see live onstage. lots of spots were used and it was cool to see how they used them to show different scenes going on. there were some surprising special effects with the lighting throughout the show which made it even more spectacular. the vibrant and bright neon lights added on to the spectacle, but the lower hue of red helped keep the lighting in a sexy tone for the cabaret setting. 
• the set design went hand-in-hand with the lighting. right when you walk in the theatre, you get a feeling of being in a cabaret club. they also paid homage to the movie by adding an elephant, windmill, and neon signs. 

choreography 

if moulin rouge doesn’t get a tony nomination for choreography, i’m throwing hands! the choreography was jaw dropping. the best number for dancing was the “bad romance” and “toxic” mashup that opened act two. this is the song where aaron has the big lift where he’s launched across the stage, and yes, it’s amazing to see live. this is definitely a show where all the ensemble members are just as important as the principal characters, as they are dancing their hearts out onstage throughout the whole show. sonya tayeh (the choreographer) did an amazing job with creating a balance between the sexiness of cabaret performing, but the energy of a broadway spectacle. 

overall thoughts

i honestly loved the show. it’s important to know that you can’t see moulin rouge expecting to be moved by a storyline. the ending did make me cry, but it doesn’t make everyone cry. it isn’t a gut-wrenching plot line like dear evan hansen, but it can still move people and it still teaches a lesson. act one is more comedic while act two is more serious and dramatic. the main reason you should see this show is because it’s a spectacle. from the opening number, all the way to the end, there’s nothing but high energy and liveliness. 

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remember, this is my opinion on the show and although i am putting it out there to tell you guys that it’s amazing and (in my opinion) the best show on broadway, it shouldn’t define anyone’s thoughts fully. the only person who can define your true feelings on a show is you, and the only way you can determine those feelings is to see the show yourself. 

if you’ve seen the show please feel free to comment on my review, but please respect my opinion and i’ll give you the same respect. if you haven’t seen the show, feel free to submit any questions in my inbox… i’d love to answer them!

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i’d love to continue this series, so i’ll try to figure out what else to post. if you guys have any suggestions, please (PLEASE!) comment them! 

SEE YA LATER, CHICKENS!