Winner of 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, experience this theatrical celebration of Truth, Beauty, Freedom and — above all — Love.
Time to pop the champagne bohemians! After a sold out Australian tour, the spectacular Moulin Rouge! The Musical is returning to the iconic Regent Theatre this August for a strictly limited season.
A celebration of Baz Luhrmann’s famed film, Moulin Rouge! The Musical will arrive in Melbourne from 20 – 31 August, following its run at Brisbane’s Lyric Theatre, QPAC until 27 July 2023.
Stay up to date with what’s happening within the region’s art and stage scene here.
The Return Melbourne season in August 2023 marks a full-circle moment for the production, which premiered to stellar reviews at the Regent Theatre in 2021. Melbourne was the first international city to host the 10-time Tony Award winning show after its dazzling Broadway debut, with the season also coinciding with the 20th anniversary year of Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film.
The sold-out premiere season commenced at the end of the last Melbourne lockdown, and since opening around Australia the production has welcomed nearly one million Australian theatregoers with sold out seasons in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. The Brisbane season is also on track to be a complete sell out.
Hailed “A clever, innovative, sparkling, energetic explosion of technicolour joy……Moulin Rouge! will blow your mind” (Herald Sun), Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film comes to life onstage once again in August, remixed in this musical mash-up extravaganza featuring over 70 songs including many of the iconic hits from the movie, as well as additions from Adele, Katy Perry, Sia, Beyonce, Rihanna and more.
Running for two hours and 35 minutes, Moulin Rouge! The Musical will see Melbourne’s own Bert LaBonté join the glittering world of bohemians and aristocrats for the production’s much-anticipated return Melbourne season, stepping into the role of Montmartre artiste Toulouse-Lautrec.
One of Australia’s leading men, Bert LaBonté’s career spans three decades across theatre, television and film. LaBonté received the coveted Helpmann Award and Sydney Theatre Award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical in 2012 for his performance in An Officer and a Gentleman (Gordon Frost Organisation), and was nominated in 2005 for Spelling Bee (Sydney Theatre Company) and again in 2017 for The Book of Mormon (Gordon Frost Organisation).
LeBonté joins Des Flanagan as bohemian dreamer Christian, who stars opposite sparkling diamond Alinta Chidzey who plays Satine. Simon Burke AO plays legendary club impresario Harold Zidler, James Bryers is The Duke and Montmarte’s other resident artiste will be played by Ryan Gonzalez as Santiago. The club’s famed entertainers known as the ‘Lady M’s’ will be played by Samantha Dodemaide as Nini, Olivia Vásquez as Arabia, Chaska Halliday as La Chocolat, and Christopher J Scalzo as Babydoll.
A theatrical celebration of truth, beauty, freedom, and — above all — love, Moulin Rouge! is more than a musical; it is a state of mind.
Tickets to the Return Melbourne season are on sale now via Ticketek. Find out more here.