Moulin Rouge! The Musical is just as decadent as it's on-screen counterpart, with all the spectacle in it's set and dressing that you could hope for!

Truth! Beauty! Freedom! Love! The ideals spouted by bohemian artist Toulouse (Kurt Kansley) throughout the show serves as the backbone to Moulin Rouge! The Musical, the stage adaptation of the 2001 Baz Luhrmann-directed extravaganza. The Moulin Rouge is the perfect vision of opulence, a club in Paris at the turn of the 20th Century, where all of your dreams can come true — providing your dreams are scantily clad women dancing to the cancan. Christian (Nate Landskroner) is a young, idealistic American, who has come to Paris searching for artistic meaning, and quickly falls in with fellow like-minded creatives. At the Rouge, it is love at first sight when he locks eyes with centrepiece of the theatre Satine (Verity Thompson), and their developing romance during the development of their new show, while trying to keep it a secret from the dastardly Duke (Craig Watson), who has purchased the venue, and Satine alongside it.

That quick glance over the plot is as much as the show gives you too, characters are paper-thin and cookie-cutter, built from cardboard to service the jukebox musical. But who cares? Moulin Rouge! The Musical does not care for character or believability — it cashes all of its chips on spectacle, and on spectacle, it delivers. The set design is lavish and extraordinary, for the Moulin Rouge to be believable as a seedy venue set for destitution, while simultaneously the secret destination for the rich and mighty. The golden frames of the stage are accentuated by the ruby red backdrop, while a mighty elephant prop towers over the audience from one of the boxes (and never gets enough attention might I add!) The costumes are a highlight, Satine’s dresses are mouth-watering, going from strength to strength throughout her transformations across the acts, from showgirl to upperclass lady to ailing star. The ensemble are decadent and extravagant, a perfect showing of wealth to contrast the bohemian trio, out of place in this world of luxury, striking out against the bourgeoisie.

Luhrmann’s non-stop, breakneck editing style is missing here, Moulin Rouge’s charm for me came from the nausea you felt on watching it, and the total inability to do anything other than let your eyes glaze over and experience the ostentatiousness on screen. Here, you are given a little more room to breathe, which both makes for a more pleasant viewing experience, but also more room to examine its flaws. The choreography and music is infinitely more pleasurable here though, and is finally allowed to be enjoyed.

The musical numbers are inherently divisive; while the mashup popsong cacophony of “Welcome to the Moulin Rouge”, “Elephant Love Medley”, or especially “Backstage Romance” (an incredible combination of “Bad Romance”, “Tainted Love”, “Toxic”, among others) is undeniably thrilling and effective, I couldn’t help but stifle a groan when Harold Zidler (Cameron Blakeley) rattles off ‘party girls don’t get hurt’ with a wink towards to the audience before bursting into “Chandelier”. I have no doubt that this is all part of Moulin Rouge! The Musical’s charm though. The playing-to-audience with cheap pop songs is appealing to the camp charisma the show succeeds at; and in fact, thematically appropriate, these “disposable” commercial tracks given new life through the Rouge’s lens.

Moulin Rouge! The Musical is an excellent showing as the first major performance back at Mayflower Theatre after its close for the summer season, and this all-singing, all-dancing, all-enjoyment performance is a perfect one to get back out there and enjoy the show!

Moulin Rouge! The Musical plays at Mayflower Theatre until October 24th.