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Moulin Rouge! The Musical

 
Pete Shaw Review by Pete Shaw 4 Published: 20 Dec 2025 Piccadilly Theatre Show Dates: 5 Nov 2024-25 Oct 2025

Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film Moulin Rouge! continues to dazzle on stage as a maximalist jukebox musical that wears excess as a badge of honour. Set in a heightened, bohemian version of 1890s Paris, the story follows a young writer who stumbles into the intoxicating world of the Moulin Rouge and falls for its star performer. The stage version keeps the film’s broad outline and emotional spine but reshapes the detail. Characters are reweighted, the song list is radically expanded and the musical leans even harder into contemporary pop culture. Knowledge of the film is helpful but not required. This is very much its own creature, built to overwhelm rather than seduce gently.

Moulin Rouge! may shout before it sings, but when it finally listens to its own story, it becomes something genuinely affecting

From the moment you enter the auditorium, the money is on display. A glowing red windmill spins in a stage-right box, a giant elephant looms opposite and the ceiling and walls are drenched in plush scarlet fabrics. Even the balcony carvings are threaded with windmill motifs. This is immersive theatre by way of opulence. Cabaret tables sit in front of the stage, and a sultry pre-show unfolds as performers lounge across the set and in go-go cages, blurring the line between audience and spectacle. The comparison with Cabaret is hard to ignore, right down to the pre-show tease, although Moulin Rouge! is far louder about it. A booming announcement reminds us not to sing along or dance, which suggests experience has taught them caution.

The first half is an onslaught of pop mash-ups drawn from every corner of the charts, delivered at breakneck speed. There is a long stretch where it feels like a megamix pop concert occasionally interrupted by a musical. The ensemble work relentlessly, powering through dense, complex choreography that must make this one of the most physically demanding shows on the West End. The second half eases its grip on spectacle and allows the story to breathe, revealing a surprising emotional core beneath the glitter. This is where I found the real beauty.

Visually, it is astonishing. The sets feel endless, the lighting is dazzling and the whole production radiates polish. Karis Anderson’s Satine comes armed with powerhouse vocals ideally suited to the pop-heavy score, while Alistair Brammer’s Christian reveals his true strength once the show lets him lean into emotion rather than vocal gymnastics. His delivery of Come What May finally aligns voice, material and feeling. Craig Ryder presides over the chaos as a deliciously camp Harold Zidler, presented here as bisexual and delightfully slippery, with Richard Lloyd King adding warmth as Toulouse-Lautrec.

The opening half can feel desperate to impress, piling sensation upon sensation until subtlety is crushed under sequins. A few audience members do not return after the interval, which is a shame. Once the show slows down, it finds its heart. Moulin Rouge! may shout before it sings, but when it finally listens to its own story, it becomes something genuinely affecting.

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The Blurb:

Enter a world of splendour and romance, of eye-popping excess, of glitz, grandeur, and glory! A world where Bohemians and aristocrats rub elbows and revel in electrifying enchantment. Pop the champagne and prepare for the spectacular spectacular…Welcome to Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film comes to life onstage, remixed in a new musical mash-up extravaganza. Directed by Tony Award® nominee Alex Timbers, Moulin Rouge! The Musical is a theatrical celebration of Truth, Beauty, Freedom and — above all — Love. With a book by Tony Award® winner John Logan; music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Justin Levine; and choreography by Emmy Award® nominee Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge! is more than a musical — it is a state of mind.