As soon as you walk in the doors of the Palace Theatre, it is clear why Moulin Rouge, which takes residency at the venue for the next 6 weeks, is billed a ‘Spectacular Spectacular’.
This show is so spectacular you have to say it twice to grasp the excess on display here. It is worth arriving a little early just to soak in the atmosphere. The auditorium is bathed in red light – turning everything and everyone in it rouge, while the stage seems to stretch back forever, drawing us into the depths of its heart. Those sitting at the back of the stalls might want to wander a little forward and look up to the boxes, where there is a spinning windmill and a giant blue elephant. On stage there are burlesque dancers and sword swallowers – all before the opening can-can welcome to the famous nightclub that is the Moulin Rouge!
You’ve entered a world of extremes – of bohemians and aristocrats, romance and fantasy. Everything here is pushed to excess, even the music, with no fewer than 70 songs in a whirlwind 2 hours and 40 minutes.
How do they fit it all in? Well, we don’t hear the full tracks, rather the score is a clever mix of snippets from well-known hits. Fans of the 2001 Baz Luhrmann’s film will be pleased to hear the original song, ‘Come What May’ still has its prominent romantic pull. More than 20 years on the theatre show brings with it some musical updates, adding Katy Perry, Lady Gaga Gaga, Lorde and Rihanna to name just a few artists whose songs are sampled alongside those from the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Madonna and The Police.
Again, the billing is fair here, describing the show as a ‘musical mash-up extravaganza’. To call it a juke box musical would give the wrong impression. The integration songs is seamless. And it doesn’t matter if you don’t recognise some of the tunes because they’ve been mashed together to create something new and fun.
All this and we still haven’t got to the story. It’s Paris, 1899 and despite all the outward glamour and glitz, the famous Moulin Rouge nightclub is struggling financially. It’s saviour comes in different guises – there is its star Sabine (Verity Thompson), who makes a swinging entrance to Shirley Bassey’s ‘Diamonds Are Forever’; the bohemian artists – American songwriter, Christian (played by Josh Rose on the night we saw it), long-suffering artist, Toulouse-Lautrec (Kurt Kansley) and Argentinian tango maestro Santiago (Rodrigo Negrini) – and finally the man with the cash, The Duke (a deliciously dastardly James Bryers).
Each of these characters could have a role to play in the club’s ongoing success, but the jeopardy comes because the Duke is not only wealthy, he is also entitled. When host Harold Zidler (Cameron Blakely) shmoozes him to invest, the Duke believes his money has bought the club, its shows and the lives of all the performers along with it. Poor Sabine, torn between her love for the penniless Christian, whose only gift is his song, and the domineering Duke whose fortune is keeping her and her fellow performers off the streets. And because this is a show of excess, romantic and financial woes aren’t the only challenges our heroine has to face – Sabine is also covering a serious illness with a smile and show must go on attitude.
Every one of this high energy, talented cast draws us into the fantastical world that is Moulin Rouge, but it is the spectacle of it, rather than the story or any one tune, that leaves a lasting stamp on the memory. This is a show where the costume, lighting, scenery, choreography, and performers come together to blast our senses into a world of fabulous fun that is true escapism. Go and be dazzled.
Moulin Rouge is at the Palace Theatre, Manchester from 20 August to 4 October 2025 before continuing on tour.