Freedom, beauty, truth, and love were in full swing (as was Karen Olivo, literally) as Moulin Rouge! officially opened on Broadway July 25. Alex Timbers directs the stage adaptation of the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film, with Tony winner Olivo starring as Satine alongside Aaron Tveit as Christian. The musical arrives on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre following a world premiere in Boston last year.
The musical, with a book by Tony winner John Logan and a score boasting a spectrum of pop hits, also features Tony nominee Danny Burstein as Harold Zidler, Tony and Olivier nominee Sahr Ngaujah as Toulouse-Lautrec, Tam Mutu as The Duke of Monroth, Ricky Rojas as Santiago, and Robyn Hurder as Nini.
See what critics thought of the show’s Broadway bow below.
Broadway News (Charles Isherwood)
Entertainment Weekly (Leah Greenblatt)
The Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney)
New York Daily News (Chris Jones)
New York Magazine/Vulture (Sara Holdren)
New York Post (Johnny Oleksinski)
New York Stage Review (Melissa Rose Bernardo and Jesse Oxfeld)
New York Theatre Guide (Tom Millward)
The New York Times (Ben Brantley)
Rolling Stone (Brittany Spanos)
Theater News Online (Jeremy Gerard)
TimeOut New York (Adam Feldman)
Wall Street Journal (Terry Teachout)
The Washington Post (Peter Marks)
Playbill will continue to update this list as more reviews come in.
Rounding out the company are Amber Ardolino, Jacqueline B. Arnold, Olutayo Bosede, Kyle Brown, Sam J. Cahn, Max Clayton, Karli Dinardo, Aaron C. Finley, Paloma Garcia-Lee, Bahiyah Hibah, Ericka Hunter, Holly James, Evan Kinnane, Reed Luplau, Jeigh Madjus, Morgan Marcell, Caleb Marshall, Brandt Martinez, Jodi McFadden, Kaitlin Mesh, Kevyn Morrow, Fred Odgaard, Dylan Paul, Khori Michelle Petinaud, and Benjamin Rivera. Ashley Loren is the Standby for Satine.
The production features choreography by Sonya Tayeh, orchestrations by music supervisor Justin Levine, sets by Tony winner Derek McLane, costumes by Tony winner Catherine Zuber, lighting by Justin Townsend, and sound design by Peter Hylenski. Casting is by Jim Carnahan and Stephen Kopel.