The Oklahoman

'Moulin Rouge! The Musical' brings Paris to Oklahoma as OKC Broadway starts new season

By Brandy McDonnell, The Oklahoman,

20 hours ago

What could be better than a trip to Paris?

Two decades after Baz Luhrmann's glitzy Oscar-winning movie musical "Moulin Rouge!," transported film fans to late 1800s France, the national tour for the Tony Award-winning stage show is bringing the seedy glamour of one of the world's most famous cabarets to one of Oklahoma City's most beloved stages.

OKC Broadway is starting its 2024-25 season at Civic Center Music Hall just after Labor Day with a two-week run "Moulin Rouge! The Musical ," with performances Sept. 3-15.

"I think it's a heck of a starter to the season. It starts with a splash, and it carries you on a wild ride in Paris," said Christian Douglas, who's starring in the first North American tour of "Moulin Rouge!"

"The Moulin Rouge itself is this flashy, fun, exciting place to be, and you see it in the set and the costumes and the dance numbers."

In the glittering romantic drama, Douglas plays Christian, a young composer who travels to Paris and falls in love with Satine ( Gabrielle McClinton ), the beautiful star of the Moulin Rouge. As with Luhrmann's 2001 movie, the jukebox musical, which won the 2021 Tony for best musical, mashes up 160 years of popular music, from famed can-can composer Jacques Offenbach to present-day pop innovator Lady Gaga .

Ahead of the show's OKC debut, Douglas, whose previous credits include the Off-Broadway revival of "Kinky Boots" and the national tour of "Pretty Woman: The Musical," chatted with The Oklahoman by phone about "Moulin Rouge! The Musical :"

Q: How has it been taking this new show that's still playing on Broadway out on the road across the country?

It's not very different than my first touring experience in the elements of it, but it's a bigger production.

I started in the ensemble, and then about eight months in, I was able to take over the lead role. So, I've been doing that now for almost a year. So, it's been kind of a wild ride and a really cool journey. ... It's cool that there are so many cities that haven't gotten the chance to see the show, and it's fun to take it to them and to keep seeing all these new cities and see the breadth of American cities.

Q: What are your thoughts on how this movie musical has been adapted from the screen to the stage?

Yeah, it definitely lent itself perfectly to becoming a stage show, given that the movie already had all of this music in it. And they've taken it even further and updated it with newer pop songs, but kept a lot of the old favorites from the movie, things like 'Come What May' and 'Roxanne' and all of the songs that fans of the movie want to hear. ...

Obviously, I'm biased, but I think the creative team did a really wonderful job of adapting this for the stage, taking all of the things that we want to see from the film and from that world that Baz Luhrmann created.

The spectacle and heightened reality elements are there, and then some things are different, like the updated music. I think that was a really effective choice, to bring it into the modern era a little bit more. ... Generally, the response is people who love the movie also really love the show. So, I think that kind of speaks for itself in terms of the audience reaction.

At the same time, if you haven't seen the movie, and you're just looking for a really fun night out at the theater, I think 'Moulin Rouge!' is literally the perfect show, because it's a spectacle ... but there's a really deep and beautiful, heartfelt love story at the core.

Q: Great actors like Aaron Tveit have played Christian in the musical, and Ewan McGregor starred in the movie. How has it been to build on that?

I grew up really loving the movie and loving his performance. It was just such a beautiful, authentic, heartfelt performance in the movie. So for me, I just try to bring my authentic self to it as much as possible. I take the material and digest it and then try to just bring the character to life in the only way that I know how.

In a way, some of those other iterations are in the back of my mind, but I always try to just bring myself to the role.

Q: The chemistry between Christian and Satine is key to the show, so how have you and Gabrielle McClinton worked on that?

Absolutely, the chemistry is kind of everything. Gabby and I have just become so close in this process. We spend so much time together: Developing the friendship and the intimacy on and off stage is just really important in terms of the trust that we have to have. ... We lean on each other and carry each other through.

Both of these roles are really, really challenging and really taxing, and especially on the road, it can become even more difficult. So, it's been really great working with Gabby. She's wonderful, and we've kind of become soul friends.

Q: What's your favorite part about playing Christian night after night?

I think the arc of his character is really exciting. He starts out kind of like this golden retriever, with like hearts for pupils, thrown into the middle of this romantic Paris scene and falls in love. And as a show goes on, he starts to almost grow up and see some of the harsher realities and the challenges ... that are standing in the way of his love with Satine.

It's quite a journey. ... He doesn't at all end up where he starts, and the audience sees that naïve kid from America coming to Paris with this romanticized idea of what it's going to be find meaning and find love. He certainly ends up in a very different place by the end of the show. ... It's a really fun journey to play as an actor.