I’m back stage at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin, which is hosting Moulin Rouge! The Musical!
This romantic stage version of Baz Luhrmann’s lush 2001 film, which starred Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, is midway through a two-month run.
I arrive ahead of the matinee and am here to photograph the cast as they prepare for their afternoon show.
There’s a quick tour of the facilities and backstage area as cast members gather onstage to warm up and run through their well-practised routines.
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The cast are in their casual gear and go through the energetic motions: stretching, sliding, running and jumping.
Props and stage equipment are introduced by the backstage crew as the cast run through their routines. Then the stage clears and the cast head off to prepare for the show, with make-up, elaborate costumes and wigs.
Suddenly, it’s two minutes to curtain. Silently and calmly the cast members begin to appear in the wings of the theatre, seconds before they are needed on stage.
We are back in late 19th-century Paris, the city of light, but scored with contemporary pop and rock classics. An American innocent abroad, who has travelled to Paris to be an artist, instead finds himself embroiled in a lethal love affair with the vaudeville dance hall’s biggest star. And there’s a dastardly villain too.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical continues in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre until January 11th, 2026
