Moulin Rouge! The Musical – Sunderland Empire

Based on the 2001 Twentieth Century Studios Motion Picture written by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce

Book: John Logan

Director: Alex Timbers

Based on the 2001 Baz Luhrmann movie starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge! is a rare example of a film that should have been given the stage treatment far sooner than it did. Debuting in 2018, this stage adaptation arrived in London in 2022 and has been on a world tour since last year. The latest stop is Sunderland Empire, and it easily fills this enormous venue with vibrant colours, wild dancing, amazing vocals and a genuine sense of fun that leaves every single member of the audience exiting the theatre with a big, silly smile on their face.

Taking the film’s (admittedly flimsy) plot, John Logan’s script nicely adds to the central relationships, heaps on plenty of comedy, and even manages to make what was always an OTT film even more extravagantly theatrical for the stage.  Just like the venue after which it is named, Moulin Rouge! is decadent, outrageous and desperate to entertain – and entertain it does.

Moulin Rouge! could be described as the ultimate jukebox musical, with most of the score being made up of a diverse collection of familiar pop songs, classic tunes and even some classical pieces. Somewhat controversially, this stage version has changed many of the songs from the film, integrating hits from the intervening years. Don’t worry though: most of the fan favourites are still here such as The Sparkling Diamond Medley (now with added Beyonce!), Elton John’s Your Song, the Roxanne Tango, and the written-for-the-film Come What May. Meanwhile, the newly inserted numbers all fit perfectly into the patchwork score, creating a perfectly assembled fusion for today’s audiences.  

It is difficult to get across in mere words the amazing talent that is on display here. The large cast are all incredible and work together seamlessly as a tight company. Verity Thompson knocks it out of the park as Satine, belting out her showstoppers with the same amount of apparent ease as she breaks hearts with her tender moments, while also displaying amazing dancing prowess. Thompson is every bit the star that we are told Satine is, and she is brilliantly matched by Nate Landskroner as Christian, the role that the stage show seems to have beefed up the most from the film. Landskroner’s Christian is charming, sincere and one hell of a singer, carrying large chunks of the show by himself, this is a central performance that, like Thompson, he makes look a lot easier to perform than it actually is. Their chemistry together is palpable and thanks to that, the central love story sings. Cameron Blakely almost manages to steal the entire show as the gloriously camp and hugely likable Zidler, Kurt Kansley as Toulouse-Lautrec nails his delivery of Nature Boy and leaves not a dry eye in the house, James Bryers manages a perfect mix of suave and evil as the Duke, and Rodrigo Negrini as Santiago performs the sexiest of dances with Kahlia Davis’ Nini to open act two. 

As brilliant as the cast is however, the stars of the show are the production team who deliver a lavish spectacle that makes this an unforgettable event. Alex Timbers’ direction is tight and fluid, Sonya Teyeh’s versatile choreography is simply mind-blowing, and Justin Levine’s orchestrations perfectly fuse the diverse songs together into a coherent whole. Derek McLane brings Paris’s left bank from the 1880s to Sunderland with his simple but beautifully ornate set, and Justin Townsend proves to be the MVP with his eye-popping lighting design that adds enormously to an already visually rich spectacle.  

Although the plot may be a little simple and cliched, everything else about Moulin Rouge! is pure theatrical magic that deserves to be seen by anyone who has a pulse. Big, loud, bright and bursting with energy and fun, it’s exactly what the world needs right now. Get tickets while you can-can-can.  

Runs until 27th June 2026