Chicago Tribune
- Highly Recommended
"..."Moulin Rouge!" is, of course, the story of a star and courtesan at the titular Paris nightclub who must choose between the affections of a duke (offering money, security for the club) and a penniless bohemian (offering love). The show has a lively book by Chicago's John Logan but does not have an original score, instead it samples a slew of existing songs from "Firework," as recorded by Katy Perry, to "Your Song," as turned into a hit by Elton John. Some numbers are performed with fullness; others get just a snatch of lyric and melody. Some are fusions, such as "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" merged with Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)." The musical arrangements and orchestrations by Justin Levine are extraordinarily skilled, but the lack of an original score, coupled with the choice to pack in so many songs, still extracts a price, especially in Act 2."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...The 1899-set stage version, "Moulin Rouge! The Musical," currently playing at the Nederlander Theatre, is based on the movie and arrives with a similar vibe. The 10-time Tony Award winner directed by Alex Timbers captures the fever-dream pace, the lavish excess and the irresistible music of its titular inspiration in countless spangly ways."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...If eyes popping and jaws dropping from the sensory overload of "Moulin Rouge! The Musical" was as loud as all the audience chuckling over its pop music, that would be the dominant punctuating crowd sound. There's no escaping how "Moulin Rouge!" continually wows with its show of exuberant style and excess."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...The book is by onetime Chicago playwright John Logan, but that hardly matters, since the story was already derivative by the time Luhrmann got his mitts on it. Poor Ohio songwriter Christian (Conor Ryan) falls in love with Parisian actress/courtesan Satine (Courtney Reed) in the City of Lights. But a rich horny Duke (David Harris) tries to control her with threats to close down the Moulin Rouge, because threatening to blow it all up if they don't get their way is what rich guys do sometimes. But of course art and love conquer all. Except consumption. (Ask Mimi from La boheme, the ur-Satine.)"
TheatreMania
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Rare for big rock musicals, the sound design by Peter Hylenski is perfectly balanced, with crystal-clear voices and a band that doesn't overwhelm, and in which even the orchestra's two strings could be heard. So, there is a great deal to applaud in this new national company of Moulin Rouge!, and it surely will do very well. But I couldn't help feeling that in this musical less would have been more. Wouldn't fewer songs better serve the characters when all they really need is love? I think so."
Stage and Cinema
- Highly Recommended
"...If a high-kicking, visually spellbinding, toe-tapping night out is what you love in entertainment, have I got just the show for you. Even though the original opening night was delayed a bit by a partial cast-wide Covid-19 outbreak, everyone is now back, healthy and bringing their A+ game eight shows a week at the Nederlander Theatre as part of the national tour. The opulent, 10 time Tony Award-winning new show, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, is bringing their message of “Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love” to a ravenous Windy City audience. It is very easy to see while this production won awards including Best Musical, Best Costume Design, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations and Best Scenic Design. Simply put, this show is the best. You can use all the superlatives; dazzling, opulent, stunning, breathtaking. Each certainly applies. The surface charms of Moulin Rouge! The Musical are absolutely undeniable."
Let's Play Theatrical Reviews
- Highly Recommended
"...Set in various parts of Paris, the musical relates the story of Christian, a young composer, who falls in love with cabaret actress Satine, who is the star of the Moulin Rouge. Christian becomes infatuated with Satine, a singer; however, the owner of the Moulin Rouge, Harold Zidler, has promised Satine to the Duke of Monroth in return for funding his next production. However, the bohemian aristocrat named Toulouse-Lautrec has also made an arrangement for Satine to meet Christian. As their lives intertwine at this popular nightspot, they meet and fall in love, but Satine discovers he is not the Duke and is forced into secretly meeting with Christian."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...In this brilliant work, which mixes the story of love and hate and passion along with snippets of modern day pop tunes we have two and a half wonderful hours ( one intermission) of highly energetic performance art. Yes, there is an art to what this cast does and from start to finish, they will elate you with their handling of love and power. Desperate love, foolish love, passionate love and honest love, the kind you never forget."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Highly Recommended
"...In addition to "Come What May," Satine and Christian's melancholy and romantic duet from the film, dozens of familiar, present-day songs, ranging from "The Sound of Music" to "Bad Romance," from "Rolling In the Deep" to "Single Ladies," "Material Girl" and "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," fill the score of this show to overflowing. While searching out Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love, this brilliant cast tells the tragic tale of two ill-fated lovers, while generously gracing their audience with a cassoulet of captivating and exotic musical entertainment."
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...After much delay, including the two years of the pandemic plus return dates bumped at least once after being finally set for early 2022 and a reviewable opening night pushed back two weeks due to breakthrough COVID cases in the cast, I was finally able to see the show again, a production I am more than happy to share is a complete delight, a feast of sensory overload with more to see, hear and soak in than one could possibly manage in a single sitting. Transported to Chicago's Nederlander Theater (formerly the Oriental and easily Chicago's most ornate performance venue), Moulin Rouge!'s bold production design (by Derek McLane) is adjusted only slightly from the Broadway set-up. Gone are the cabaret tables directly in front of the stage, but the massive red windmill and blue elephant taking up residence in the boxes flanking both sides of the theater more than make up for it. An electrified sign declares where you are (the Moulin Rouge, of course) on an open stage where ensemble members wander in the pulsing pre-show soundtrack."
Picture This Post
- Highly Recommended
"...Valentine's Day has nothing on Moulin Rouge! The Musical when it comes to the color and shape of love. Well, a particular kind of love - at first sight, no holds barred, all about the senses. Brains take a back seat at the Nederlander Theatre where the stage pops with receding heart cutouts. Based on Baz Luhrmann's 2001 jukebox film, Moulin Rouge! The Musical is about what strikes you in the moment."
Loop North News
- Highly Recommended
"...Take a look at the opulent James Nederlander Theatre and you will agree that this venue was destined to present this show. Previously known as the Oriental Theatre, which opened in 1926, this deluxe movie palace features Asian-inspired architectural and decorative details. It all adds to the wow factor."
Splash Magazine
- Highly Recommended
"...Satine, the beautiful lead singer/dancer of Club Moulin Rouge, has more weight on her shoulders than she can bear. Meanwhile, the owner and manager of the Moulin Rouge, Harold Zidler (Austin Duran), forces her to use her sexual bewitchery to seduce the Duke to provide the money to save the club. If she cannot convince the Duke to fall in love with her, Moulin Rouge will close, and everyone will be displaced. Unable to bear the thought of losing it all, she agrees to do what is necessary to survive."
BroadwayWorld
- Highly Recommended
"...A grand, glitter and confetti-filled spectacle, the Tony Award-winning musical Moulin Rouge! The Musical officially opened the national tour at the Nederlander Theatre in Chicago on April 21 and those who attended may still be giggling from excitement while picking confetti out of their hair."
