Global Creatures has today announced casting for the anticipated UK premiere of the multi-Tony-Award-nominated Broadway spectacular, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which begins performances at the Piccadilly Theatre in London’s West End on Friday 12 November 2021.
The production will star Liisi LaFontaine as Satine, the sparkling diamond at the heart of the Moulin Rouge, and Jamie Bogyo (making his West End debut) as aspiring writer Christian, alongside Clive Carter as the legendary Moulin Rouge impresario, Harold Zidler, Simon Bailey as The Duke, and Jason Pennycooke and Elia Lo Tauro as the Bohemians Toulouse-Lautrec and Santiago.
The club’s famed entertainers known as the ‘Lady Ms’ will be played by Sophie Carmen Jones (Nini), Zoe Birkett (Arabia), Jonathan Bishop (Baby Doll) and Timmika Ramsay (La Chocolat).
The full company is completed by Femi Akinfolarin, Robson Broad, Ian Carlyle, Jonathan Cordin, Anthony Cragg, Katie Ella Dunsden, Adam Gillian, Luke Jackson, Alicia Mencía, Ciro Lourencio Meulens, Georgia Morgan, Melissa Nettleford, Ian Oswald, Craig Ryder, Tinovimbanashe Sibanda, Katie Singh, Ope Sowande, Tanisha Spring, Toyan Thomas-Browne, Amy Thornton, Misty May Tindall, Jon Tsouras, Tommy Wade-Smith and Lily Wang.
Set in Paris, 1899, a world of indulgent beauty and unparalleled extravagance, of bohemians and aristocrats, of boulevardiers and reprobates, Moulin Rouge! The Musical is the story of a lovesick American writer, Christian, and Satine, the dazzling star of the Moulin Rouge nightclub.
When their lives collide at the Moulin Rouge, they fall hopelessly in love, only to be thwarted by the nightclub’s host and impresario, Harold Zidler, and The Duke of Monroth, the wealthy and entitled patron of the club who thinks he can buy anything he wants, including Satine. Together with his Bohemian friends – the brilliant and starving artist Toulouse-Lautrec, and the greatest tango dancer in all of Paris, Santiago – Christian stages a musical spectacular in an attempt to save the Moulin Rouge and win the heart of Satine.
Baz Luhrmann’s iconic film comes to life onstage, remixed for today in a new musical mash-up extravaganza. Moulin Rouge! The Musical invites you to enter a world of passionate romance and eye-popping splendour… a place where Bohemians and aristocrats revel together in electrifying enchantment… a place where all your wildest dreams come true!
Directed by Alex Timbers (Here Lies Love at the National Theatre, Tony Award®-nominated for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Peter and the Starcatcher) Moulin Rouge! The Musical has a book by John Logan (Tony Award®for Red, three-time Academy Award nominee, including for Gladiator and The Aviator), choreography by Sonya Tayeh (Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for Kung Fu, and Emmy winner), and music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Justin Levine (Here Lies Love).
The design team for Moulin Rouge! The Musical includes Tony Award® winner Derek McLane (sets; his credits include Beautiful – The Carole King Musical), Tony Award® winner Catherine Zuber (costumes; credits include The King & I, for which she won the Olivier Award for Best Costume Design), two-time Tony Award® nominee Justin Townsend (lighting), Peter Hylenski (sound), Drama Desk Award winner David Brian Brown (hair and wig design; credits include Come From Away) and Sarah Cimino (make-up design). Casting is by Pippa Ailion CDG and Natalie Gallacher CDG.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical is produced by Carmen Pavlovic and Gerry Ryan OAM for Global Creatures and Bill Damaschke. The Executive Producer in the West End is Patrick Murphy and General Management is by Playful Productions.
