Moulin Rouge Melbourne, Global Creatures & others, The Regent Theatre, Thursday April 7th 2022

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

The Homosexuals or Faggots, Griffin Theatre Company, Merlyn Theatre Malthouse, Wednesday March 1st 2017

The Homosexuals or Faggots, Griffin Theatre Company, Merlyn Theatre Malthouse, Wednesday March 1st 2017

"The Homosexuals or Faggots" a production by Griffin Theatre Company was presented at the Merlyn Theatre Malthouse on Wednesday March 1st 2017

For those new to my blog I write about the holistic experience of attending the theatre. I buy my own tickets. So if you want a re-telling of the story please refer to the links for further information or for further insights.  Note, that I may provide different links for repeated main words or phrases.  I write for my memories of what I have seen, and is more of a stream of consciousness.

"The Homosexuals or Faggots"  is a farce which is a theatrical genre rarely written for the modern stage.  Melbourne is lucky to have two new modern day farces on our stages playing concurrently with "The Play That Goes Wrong".

"The Homosexuals or Faggots"  was directed by Lee Lewis from a script by Declan Greene.  The script is quite funny building on various perspectives of political correctness, free speech and offense.

The dialogue sounded real for the various characters with the different sentence lengths and word choices.  The build up of the situation created tension to ensure the audience was prepared for a farce.
Declan Greene is a playwright to watch develop with his keen ear and sharp wit.

Design by Marg Horwell highlights the minimalist modern apartment in Darlinghurst.  At times it reminded me of "The Book Club" set with the open stage or thrust stage format.  The hidden seat reminds me of many farces and old movies as in "Arsenic and Old Lace".  The red wallpaper on stage right, through the main door, was very amateurish as each character walked past the wallpaper shook.  This reminded me of some sets from "The House of Elliott".

The costumes were fun and inappropriately appropriate for the theme of the show.  The choice of costumes importantly added to the farcical action.

Simon Burke played Warren a photographer with a penchant for risque male models.   Warren reveals his secret desires that underpin through the mayhem.

Warren's husband, Kim is played by Simon Corfield with rapid fired academic dialogue.  Their relationship had the requisite tensions and familiarity of a long term relationship, including fantasies, suspicion and history.  Simon Corfield played the drama queen with aplomb and showed a development of his character.

Simon Burke was at his funniest when lecherous or dreaming of a Jewish circumcised man.  It was his Nirvana.  Vocally, Simon Burke has a rich voice that is easy on the ear.  Physically he was a little cautious, which is understandable as he had an ankle bandaged, possibly from a twist on stage. Genevieve Lemon plays Diana and makes an impressive entrance wearing a Bill Cosby mask.  She uses her body for maximum comic effect in her various guises.  When untying her hairy, this added to the tense build up with honesty and determination.  Her message was pointed and sharp.  Her hair let down was symbolic of her freedom to express her honesty.  This was a great scene.

Drop dead gorgeous Lincoln Younes played the male model Lucacz.  What was more memorable than his body was that he could actually act.  His ability to bring realism to his role with his natural physical attributes and more importantly develop his character was impressive.  Lincoln Younes  showed us what he wanted to achieve and added to the mayhem.

Mama Alto played the dual role of Bae Bae and Pam.  I adored the confusing mispronunciation of Bae Bae as "baby" by various characters.  The repetition of a joke is fundamental to a good farce.  Mama Alto distinguished both of these characters with very deliberate physical and vocal choices.  She accomplished these differences with skill and assurance. Mama Alto also channels  Drew Forsythe from Sydney Theatre Company's  "The Venetian Twins", which had quicker entrances for the dual characters.

The play took about five minutes to build up for me, though other audience members were laughing.

As a modern day farce "The Homosexuals or Faggots" is laboured with the slow pick of cues at times slowing down the action.  There was not enough business by each character showing us what they needed or wanted, for a farce.  There was not enough of door slamming and misadventure.

More could have been played with the sliding door to the bar covering the front door for near misses and potential accidents to keep the audience on their toes.

Staging wise, the sight lines were lost at times with the main front entrance.  We had centrally located  seats and struggled at times to see entrances due to the masking by other actors.

The final moments were thrown away, as some audience members could not see the action of Kim's reaction clearly, due to masking.

Simple physical masking issues should have been resolved much earlier.  I wonder if the director moved around the seating arrangement to obtain different views of the stage.  For once, I think the most extreme side seats would obtain a better overall view of the action.

The final section could be reworked to highlight a more dynamic ending: with the chaos of Pam waking up and how Warren and Kim deal with this.  The ending fizzled out and my partner could barely see the final exit due to masking.  The ending need to smack you in the face rather than have a 1960's sci-fiction movie question mark ending.  This farcical ending was not as strong as other farces that I have seen.

Griffin Theatre Company have presented some great works at the Merlyn Theatre Malthouse with their version of "Holding the Man".  I long to see more work by Griffin Theatre Company  and hope they return more regularly to Melbourne.

"The Homosexuals or Faggots"  is a fun night at the theatre and will be popular with the amateur and community theatre groups.

Yes I gave this a 7/10 but with some work it could be a 9/10 production.