Moulin Rouge! Broadway closing: Stars replicate forward of Aug. 30 closing efficiency

MANHATTAN (WABC) — After almost 2,300 performances, the curtain will fall one final time at Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

For seven years, the Al Hirschfeld Theatre has been drenched in pink as Baz Luhrmann’s dazzling movie was reborn on stage as a nonstop social gathering. It took residence 10 Tony Awards, together with Finest Musical, and have become the highest-grossing present within the theatre’s 100-year historical past.

Joelle Garguilo spoke with Broadway stars Kelsie Watts and Christian Douglas about what the present has meant to them and the way onerous it is going to be to let go.

“I really feel like we’ll have an existential disaster when it is over,” mentioned Douglas. “What do you imply there is no Moulin Rouge?”

“You stroll into this theater and it is such as you stroll into Moulin Rouge,” mentioned Watts. “The music, all people is aware of it. So even should you’re not a musical theater fan, you are available in, and you are like, oh, that is the Rolling Stones. I really like that track.”

Douglas known as performing within the present “dwelling goals,” whereas Watts mentioned the bonds shaped with fellow performers are what make the manufacturing so particular.

For Watts, the highway to Broadway was something however straightforward. After showing on “The Voice” in 2020, she mentioned she spent years bartending till 5 a.m. in Nashville, pouring almost all of her earnings into performing, dance and singing classes whereas pursuing a profession in theater. Her massive break got here when a musical supervisor heard her carry out on a showboat and later provided her an opportunity to audition for Broadway.

“What folks do not see is the grind,” Watts mentioned, describing the years of coaching and sacrifice that led to her position as Satine. “They see the end result.”

Douglas mentioned the manufacturing has been life-changing, each personally and professionally. He described the problem of stepping on stage every night time and tapping into the extraordinary feelings required to deliver his character to life, calling it some of the rewarding and troublesome experiences of his profession.

Moulin Rouge! The Musical will take its closing bow on Aug. 30.