Musicals are by far one of my favorite forms of art. The use of music to both tell a story and convey the emotional tone of a performance always creates an extremely immersive experience. Moulin Rouge! The Musical played at the Citizens Bank Opera House in Boston taught me that even if every other aspect of your performance is fantastic, if the music falls short, then so does the whole show.
Adapted from the classic 2001 movie directed by Baz Luhrmann, Moulin Rouge is a love story about an aspiring young poet named Christian who has just moved to Paris. While attempting to convince the Moulin Rouge night club to let him and his friends put on a play, he falls in love with the most popular and beautiful performer, Satine. But because she promised her heart to the duke in exchange for his financial investment in the club, their relationship is forbidden.
Like the movie, Moulin Rogue! The Musical shares the same iconic jukebox style soundtrack. But instead of entirely new songs telling the story, they used mashed up remixes of pre-existing, well-known pop songs. This is where I think the musical fails. The goal seems to be to create a more playful execution of the plot while also being more digestible to new audiences due to the songs being so recognizable. But in my opinion this creative decision greatly diminished the quality of the show.
Every design aspect of the performance was dazzling. The set, costumes, choreography, and even lighting were all extremely impressive but I found myself not being able to fully appreciate it due to the soundtrack. To call it cringe would be an understatement, I found myself at times genuinely wanting to leave. I wouldn’t be surprised if the writers took their inspiration straight from KIDZ BOP’s 2015 top hits.
A great example of this being when Gabriela Carillo who played Satine sang a rendition of Katy Perry’s “Firework” and while both her voice and delivery were fantastic, the song itself was just so grating. I can commend how it shared the themes of inner strength she was trying to express, but even if it did make sense for the story, the song choice left me with an awkward humorous feeling despite the dramatic emotional message of the scene.
I think I would’ve been able to get over the embarrassing song choices if it wasn’t done to such a high degree. The sheer amount of them they managed to mash up into each track created an experience that can only be described as obnoxious. Like with “Elephant Love Medley,” containing over 20 different songs in five minutes compared to its source material having half that amount.
I was disappointed because the performers were some of the best I’d ever heard but almost the entire soundtrack concentrated its energy towards the musical’s kitschy motif through the excessive use of remixes rather than focusing on how well the music impacted the plot. I couldn’t fully appreciate the immensely talented cast or connect with the emotional aspects of the story being told because I got the impression the musical wasn’t taking its story seriously. Watching it felt like they were trying to say, “Look how many pop song references we can fit in here.” And my response to that is that too much of a good thing creates a bad thing.
I don’t think the fact that it was a jukebox musical alone made it unenjoyable. This style has been done well before like with Mama Mia and their use of ABBA. But there is a sense of timelessness that it lacks, almost as if the soundtrack is past its expiration date. Even though there are plenty of other shows that showcase outdated songs, this one didn’t work for me because of the overwhelming number of them they incorporated. It shared the same glamor and exaggeration that the original movie had but instead of being able to call it charming or camp, it just felt embarrassing and hard to sit through. I think if they included a better mix of original music or lowered the number of remixes, I would have enjoyed it more.
I desperately wanted to like this musical but I just couldn’t get on board with it. It wasn’t bad per se and I can understand why it has such a strong pre-existing fandom but because of the music, which is arguably the most important aspect of musicals, being so unenjoyable to me, I would not want to see this show again or be able to confidently recommend it to others.
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