Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Global Creatures and others, Melbourne, The Regent Theatre, Thursday April 7th 2022
We had seen “Moulin Rouge” two weeks after the official opening on Broadway in August 2019. I will compare my experience in Melbourne.
The link to my 2019 review is at the end of this review.
In my review from 2019 I had given the Broadway version an 8.5/10. In Melbourne for the Thursday April 7th performance they receive a 7/10.
Entering The Regent Theatre’s foyer I was in awe of the architecture of the building. The foyer lacked the decorated atmosphere of the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway.
Upon entering the Dress Circle I was eager to see the renovations to compare the sight lines. I was impressed with the seamless renovations that reduce the proximity to the stage and enhance the sense of inclusion to the performers.
I was disappointed with the prologue as on Broadway I remember counting at least fifteen performers seducing and teasing the audience with the pre-show entertainment. In Melbourne, the maximum of nine performers paraded performing their stylised improvised or choreographed moves. It lacked the atmosphere of engaging the audience to seduce us and draw us in for an experience. I remember the taunts and squeals of delight from the audience on Broadway as the performers focused on selling their wares. At The Regent Theatre, the performers looked disengaged and dismissive bar a few odd moments. They missed a huge opportunity to create the exciting prologue as occurred on Broadway.
The view from our A 30-31 seats in the Dress Circle were basically the same seats that we had at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway. As I wrote in my original review I knew the set would look better at The Regent Theatre, and I was correct in my judgement. We did not have to stand (or half stand) to see the catwalk at the front of the stage.
I tested standing to see what I could see comparing it to the 2019 experience. Here at The Regent Theatre I could see the first ten rows of the Stalls with the same effort required for viewing the catwalk on Broadway. Hence the Melbourne experience is much better viewing than at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway. I also tested this at interval and at the end of the show, with the views much better value for audience members seated further back in the Dress Circle. Heaven forbid what the Dress Circle audiences could see behind the A row at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway!
Overall, this presents better value for money in Melbourne than on Broadway.
The opening number was flat! There was no excitement, no fire, nor any electricity. The dancing in the opening number was very laboured, pedestrian and “marked” at times. The reason I can say this is when you see one performer who is working the choreography and showing definition and clarity of lines, steps, and movements; and they stand out when another person is “marking” or “going through the basic movements”.
A classic example is the hip-roll-walk. Well, with some dancers/performers you were lucky to see a hip raised or a roll!
That was the dancing! The singing was ordinary too!
AND THIS WAS THE OPENING NUMBER!!!!
There were four cast changes for our performance.
Alinta Chidzey played Satine as I predicted in my 2019 review of the Original Broadway Cast. I was so pleased to see her and she had more passion than Satine on Broadway, though sadly she cracked on a few notes. Her relationship with Christian had more passion than those on a Broadway viewing. She was as good as the Satine on our Broadway experience when you balance the positives and negatives of both performers.
Christian was played by the Principal Cover, Maxwell Simon who struggled with his upper-register notes. His deep notes were richer, melodic and without any scooping. His acting performance had more passion than the performer on Broadway, but his singing was overall not to the same standard.
Special mention must go to the understudies who played The Duke (James Bryers) and Toulouse-Lautrec (Jarrod Draper). Both of these men gave performances with solid characterisations as good as the original Broadway leads.
Joe Donovan filled in for the parts by Jarrod Draper.
Overall I thought the men danced better than the women with more consistent definition of steps, and with the quality and texture of moves and phrases. Sadly, a lot of the partnering work was not secure enough with the men not getting their centre of gravity prepared sufficiently to support their female partner. Some of the timing of lifts and partnering was awkward. I felt there was too much effort being shown in much of the pas de deux/partnering work.
The difference in quality and standard by the female dancers was more glaringly obvious. For example, a hip-role-walk was executed with definition and precision by a few dancers, while the others varied from a “marked” version to something that was totally unidentifiable! No, let me be more specific - some of the defined hip-role-walk choreography was hard to detect on a few dancers! And this was only one step! Overall the dancing was sloppy and laboured, and needed to be showing less effort.
I can give many other examples as the snap, precision and definition of the whole choreography was lacking.
The dancing in “El Tango De Roxanne” in the second act finally provided the standard closer (but not close enough) to what I had witnessed on Broadway in August 2019.
The accents varied. I would barely have known the show was set in Paris from the accents! One blond female had a strong Australian strine and lacked the “bitchiness” or the characterisation of the Broadway performer.
On three occasions the dialogue was “rote” and not "in the moment" (attentive and listening to their fellow performers). For example, a performer acknowledged the entrance of another character prior to their appearance (as their back was turned!) Another two example had the performer react prior to the other character saying a line, or doing anything to affect a response.
The best singing was when most of the cast were singing together, though the harmonies were not as rich as our Broadway experience.
Simon Burke played Harold Ziegler nearly as good as Danny Burstein. The main difference in performances was the supressed desperation for survival of the Moulin Rouge and the future of the cast and artists if they do not acquire funding from The Duke. Many of the other performers need to have Simon Burke’s energy and polish.
Each ensemble member on Broadway had defined characters for every entrance and exit. This was lacking for most of the performers here in Melbourne.
Overall the show lacked fire, electricity and seduction. This performance lacked the excitement of my 2019 experience. (Note I have seen some shows multiple times where the better performance was on the second viewing!)
The best part was the superior view from our seats at The Regent Theatre. Plus, this Melbourne performance had more passion than the performance we saw on Broadway in August 2019. The sets and costumes looked more sensational on the larger stage at The Regent Theatre particularly with the revolving set-piece.
A side note regarding the revolving bus for “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” looked better at The Regent Theatre compared to the cramped stage of the Palace Theatre on Broadway. The spaciousness at The Regent Theatre created the sense of isolation in the desert, while on Broadway the bus looked as if it were doing a three-point-turn in the suburbs. The spaciousness with the “Moulin Rouge” revolving central set-piece at The Regent Theatre created a greater sweeping sense of passion, and swept me away with the Parisian landscape.
Overall, the show needs refining and tightening.
I gave it a 7/10 whereas we gave the Broadway performance of “Moulin Rouge” an 8.5/10.
Below are some of my notes and feedback from 2019:
MINI REVIEW OF MOULIN ROUGE ON BROADWAY:
Spectacular sets and costumes and the story telling was clearer than the movie. Though the show is about so much passion and love, the show felt dead of emotion. It is a great show with lots of laughs and spectacle, but the show lacks any emotional drama and connection with the audience. I felt a slight of slight emotion once during the show, unlike “Fiddler on the Roof” or “The Prom” where my tears flowed.
Thoroughly worth seeing for the spectacle.
We both gave it 8.5/10.
Survey notes form 2021-08-23
We had front row tickets in the Mezzanine and we could not see stage right below nor could we see the front of the catwalk. CHECK the sight lines as Hal Prince would do from every seat. At $299US a ticket this is not good enough. Also for a show about passion and love, it felt dead and lacked emotion. I felt one twang during the last 20 minutes. I cry easily and get very emotional during shows and here I felt dead. We loved the show, but the music sounded too electronic and needed a richer sound. Please ensure that the renovations of the Regent Theatre Melbourne allow viewers to see the top of the stage for Santine’s entrances. Make sure they get the sight lines right. I have already shared this on Facebook.
Congratulations as we did not like the movie and this show is better than the movie. We felt the same about Beetlejuice and Alex Timbers is a genius.
The show will look great in the current Regent Theatre. We hope they do not destroy the theatre seats and sight lines.
Here is my link to my review on Broadway:
https://raymondstheatrereviews.blogspot.com/2019/09/moulin-rouge-musical-global-creatures.html
