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The famous Parisian cabaret comes to OKC with “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”

What could be nicer than a trip to Paris?

Two decades after Baz Luhrmann's dazzling, Oscar-winning musical film “Moulin Rouge!” transported film fans to late 19th-century France, the national tour of the Tony Award-winning stage show brings the seedy glamour of one of the world's most famous cabarets to one of Oklahoma City's most popular stages.

OKC Broadway will kick off its 2024-25 season at the Civic Center Music Hall shortly after Labor Day with a two-week run of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” with performances September 3-15.

“I think this is an amazing start to the season. It starts with a splash and takes you on a wild ride through Paris,” said Christian Douglas, who stars in the first North American tour of “Moulin Rouge.”

“The Moulin Rouge itself is a striking, entertaining and exciting place, and you can see that in the sets, the costumes and the dance numbers.”

In the dazzling romantic drama, Douglas plays Christian, a young composer who travels to Paris and falls in love with Satine (Gabrielle McClinton), the beautiful star of the Moulin Rouge. Like Luhrmann's 2001 film, the jukebox musical, which won the 2021 Tony for Best Musical, mixes 160 years of pop music, from the famous can-can composer Jacques Offenbach to modern-day pop innovator Lady Gaga.

Ahead of the show's Oklahoma City debut, Douglas, whose previous credits include the off-Broadway revival of “Kinky Boots” and the national tour of “Pretty Woman: The Musical,” spoke to The Oklahoman by phone about “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”:

Q: What was it like taking this new show, still on Broadway, on tour across the country?

It's not that different in terms of elements from my first tour experience, but it's a bigger production.

I started in the ensemble and then after about eight months I was able to move into the lead role. So I've been doing this for almost a year now. So it's been a wild ride and a really cool journey. … It's cool that there are so many cities that haven't had a chance to see the show yet, and it's fun to bring it there and continue to see all these new cities and the diversity of American cities.

Q: What do you think about adapting this movie musical from the screen to the stage?

Yes, it definitely lent itself perfectly to a stage show because the movie already had all that music. And they went a step further and updated it with newer pop songs, but kept a lot of the old favorites from the movie, things like “Come What May” and “Roxanne” and all the songs that fans of the movie want to hear. …

Of course I'm biased, but I think the creative team did a really great job adapting it for the stage, capturing everything we wanted to see from the film and from the world created by Baz Luhrmann.

The spectacle and the heightened reality elements are there, but then some things are different, like the updated music. I think that was a really impactful decision to bring it a little bit more into the modern era. … Generally, the reaction is that people who love the movie also really love the show. So I think that speaks for itself in terms of the audience reaction.

However, if you haven't seen the film yet and just want a fun night at the theater, I think Moulin Rouge! is literally the perfect show because it's a spectacle… but at its core it's a really deep, beautiful, emotional love story.

Q: Great actors like Aaron Tveit played Christian in the musical and Ewan McGregor played the lead role in the film. What was it like building on that?

I grew up with the film and the way it was portrayed. It was just such a beautiful, authentic, soulful portrayal in the film. So I try to be as authentic as possible. I take the material and process it and then try to bring the character to life in the only way I know how.

In some ways, I have some of these other iterations in the back of my mind, but I always try to just put myself in the role.

Q: The chemistry between Christian and Satine is key to the show. How did you and Gabrielle McClinton work on that?

Absolutely, chemistry is pretty much everything. Gabby and I have just become so close in this process. We spend so much time together: developing the friendship and the intimacy on and off stage is just really important in terms of the trust that we have to have. … We lean on each other and help each other through.

Both roles are really, really demanding and really hard, and it can be even harder when you're on the road. So it's been really great working with Gabby. She's wonderful and we've become like soul mates.

Q: What do you enjoy most about playing Christian night after night?

I find the development of his character really exciting. He starts out as a golden retriever, with hearts for pupils, gets thrown into the middle of this romantic Paris scene and falls in love. And as the show progresses, he almost grows up and sees some of the harsher realities and challenges…that get in the way of his love for Satine.

It's quite a journey. … He doesn't end up where he started at all, and the audience sees this naive boy from America who comes to Paris with this romanticized idea of ​​what it's going to be like to find meaning and love. He certainly ends up in a very different place by the end of the show. … It's a really fun journey to be a part of as an actor.

“MOULIN ROUGE! THE MUSICAL”

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