The CHIEF February 2025

Musical Review

By Mady Herkert

Moulin Rouge!

February is here and love is in the air! Moulin Rouge! , a 2018 musical based on the 2001 film, is a love story between a young composer and a cabaret actress. We start here in Paris, France, during the turn of the 20th century. Act 1 shows us the rundown of this cabaret club. One night, the young composer named Christian walks into the club and meets Satine. The two eventually fall in love and write a song together to affirm their love. Later in the Act, they meet the Duke of Monroth who is planning to buy the club and turn it into his own realm of wonder. Satine and the other dancers are not happy with what the Duke plans on doing. Meanwhile, in order to keep the peace, Satine and Christian have to keep their relationship simple because it endangers the show. But just before Act 2, we discover Satine has been coming down with tuberculosis. In Act 2 we see there are auditions for a Bohemian Rhapsody performance. However, in the Champs-Élysées neighborhood, the Duke tells Satine that he wants every part of her, including her heart. Despite Satine's protests that she does not "fit in" with the upper-class society of Paris that he inhabits, he remodels her image against her wishes. Back in rehearsals, the Duke continues to involve himself in the show's creative aspects to playwright Toulouse's frustration. Toulouse argues with the Duke and the tension increases. It becomes clear that Bohemian Rhapsody is a metaphor for Christian, Satine, and the Duke, resulting in an outburst by Christian. The Duke, enraged, threatens to reconsider his investment entirely. Zidler reminds Satine that she alone can fix the dilemma with the Duke. Satine's terrible illness worsens, but she urges her colleagues not to share that she is ill; she wants to fight to keep the Moulin Rouge alive and for the play to go on. But behind the stage, a dancer named Nini falls in love with the choreographer (Santiago) of the performance. Nini then talks to Satine and tells her to be careful with her relationship with Christian so it keeps the Duke happy. Toulouse and Santiago tell Christian he needs to forget about Satine and move on. At his castle, the Duke threatens Satine from being with Christian ever again, saying that he will have Christian killed if she chooses him. Christian interrupts their conversation to try to save Satine, singing their secret song that occurred in Act 1. Knowing that Christian would be killed if she says otherwise, Satine tells Christian that she doesn't love him. Christian leaves feeling heartbroken and destroyed. Christian decides that without Satine's love, he will load a prop gun with real bullets and commit suicide on stage during the clubs opening night. Meanwhile, Satine's illness dramatically worsens. Together, she and Toulouse stand up to the Duke, who leaves the Moulin Rouge before the performance begins. As Satine performs, Christian enters and asks her to face him as he turns the gun his way. Before he pulls the trigger, Satine sings their secret song, all at once saving his life and revealing to him that she loved him the entire time. After a final song together in which the two affirm their love one last time, Satine tells Christian to "tell our story" and subsequently dies in his arms. Over a year later, Bohemian Rhapsody is a success, and Zidler regains control of the Moulin Rouge. Christian affirms that his and Satine's story will forever be told.