Broadway Access Review -
Moulin Rouge

General:

• I felt the need to use earplugs for the show but some of the dialogue was slightly quiet so that may have been an issue (was not wearing them so I’m not sure)

• this show is kinda immersive! Meaning the stage goes into the audience, the set and lighting go into the audience, and the aisles are often used

• cigars are smoked, you can slightly smell them

• I definitely I missed several lighting cues in this rundown but this is an idea at least. There’s a lot going on in this show! Very similar in lighting style to Here Lies Love but twice the length and leans red

Pre-Show: medium volume music and the neon red Moulin Rouge sign over the stage. At 10 min to curtain the actors enter the stage one by one and stare at the audience. They will probably make eye contact with you

Act I:

• the show “starts” when Christian enters and stands on stage left with a spotlight on him and the Moulin Rouge sign rises above the stage. After this is about 10 minutes straight of flashing lights (switching between primary color of red to blue and back, all mixed with white), neon pulsing lights, low bass booms, moving/rotating lights, alternating and flashing bulb lights (they surround the stage and are also on the spinning windmill on the upper left), a confetti cannon, and some pyrotechnics. Along with flashy shiny costumes and lots of dancing. The end of this section is marked by Christian exiting the right balcony and talking about Satine. This is the flashiest this show gets with the exception of the top of Act II and the Encore. 

• “is Argentinian!” - quick white light on

• end of We Are Young, lights move quickly

•  “one and only” - single spotlight flashes on Zidler and then two of them move quickly to focus on the swing descending from the ceiling

• The Sparkling Diamond - Satine’s costumes are consistently very sparkly, causing some accidental strobe

• moving white downlight on her as she walks to the stage, with the occasional pulse of the blue neon on the wall behind her/around the stage and the bulbs

• flash of white when the girls enter, everything turns purple 

• alternating lights & sparkles for Single Ladies

• flashing light change after she says each “Tiffany”, “Cartier”, etc

• flash when she collapses followed by a loud heartbeat

• when the men enter there are ~2-3 seconds of white down strobes 

• switch to red before “friend” and then all lights move for the rest of the song

• moving white light over audience when Babydoll finishes center stage

• quick flash when Christian and Satine meet

• Shut Up And Raise Your Glass -

• first “shut up and dance with me” - quick light switch to blue spot only 

• neon pulses on the “born” of “born to get together”, also some downlights kinda pulse on them? They move somehow

• it gets flashier when Toulouse gets on the diamond, mostly pink/purple 

• lots of moving over the audience during the dance after “we are Bohemians!”

• Firework gets significantly louder around the second chorus, onstage haze

• Satine’s room has neon borders and pink neon sign in the back

• right before the kiss the heart projections spin

• moving yellow circle lights at the end of The Pitch Song

• Sympathy For The Duke - when the men enter there are spinning white dots and the lights shift on beat 

• after this there are quick sidelights that turn on, following by alternating bulb lights and red washing over the audience

• Elephant Love Medley - 

• when Satine’s room spins out there is scentless fog which goes into the first 3 rows

• lots of sparkles on the Eiffel Tower

• light flash when they’re center holding hands

Intermission: same situation as pre-show, without the actors. They signal the end of intermission with chimes and slowly dimming and fading in the lights repeatedly

Act II:

• Backstage Romance -

  • the stage has a lot of haze 

  • quick white light on after “5-6-7-8”

  • occasional on beat light shifts when the clothing rack comes on 

  • shortly after the electric guitar starts there is ~7 sec of full stage green strobe

  • several quick light switches before “know that you’re toxic”

  • ~2 sec white strobe when everyone is at center

  • occasional white strobes and loud ref whistles after this

  • 3 big booming chords with associated lighting at the end of the number

• there is a gun and, unlike Chekhov’s gun, this one will never go off

• “you have a hard road ahead I think” - scene change (to Christian’s home) has a neon red sign behind it

• Only Girl In A… - loud when she gets lifted up and neon changing colors on the wall behind her; then drums, after beat ~5 there is about 2 sec of downlight strobes

• Chandelier - “on for tonight” - everything gets green & sparkly; lots of moving and on/off lights with flashes on each “I’m”

• several downlights come on one by one, each one loudly

• El Tango De Roxanne -

  • “red light” when holding onto the balcony the whole stage quickly turns red

  • occasional red pulses throughout, then blue, then red again 

  • back footlight pointed at audience during the high note

• blue downstrobes as the set enters 

• haze and back footlight reappear after we see Christian with the gun

• flashing/moving lights on the curtain at the end of Crazy Rolling 

• when he holds her center, sparkly confetti comes down awhile 

• when the backdrops come back down they bring the red LEDs back with them

• snap and lights off

• when everyone is standing for what you think is bows, like 15-20 seconds later there is a loud blackout followed by a reprise of the opening of sorts, it is a little less chaotic with the lights

• gets louder and more bass-heavy when Zidler shows up

• lighting becomes more chaotic during the can can bit

• during bows the lights flash more, would argue it’s more Blinky than flashy 

• men shoot confetti from their canes and there are pyrotechnics that go off in the back