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tveitertot · 5 years

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I Saw Moulin Rouge On Broadway (PT 2) — My Fave Moments!

welcome back to my “i saw moulin rouge on broadway” series! in this part, i will be listing my favorite moments of the show!

⚠️ WARNING: this post will contain spoilers of the story of moulin rouge and some of the changes that the broadway production has made. PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! ⚠️

so without further ado... here is a list of my favorite moments of moulin rouge on broadway:

the show starts before the show starts — all of the performers come out onstage in their costume and character one-by-one. they are all doing different things and interacting with each other in their character. it’s like you’re watching people at the real moulin rouge.

aaron tveit’s (christian) epic entrance — i sat in the 2nd row behind the small strip of stage. i can’t speak for anyone else who has seen the show in a different seat, but i had a breathtaking moment when aaron appeared onstage. i think i explained it in my last post, but i was casually talking to my mom and i glanced at the stage to see what other performers had made their way onstage. that’s when i saw aaron (aka the love of my life) standing on the small strip of stage like 2 feet away from me. he came out of nowhere for me, so i was very surprised to casually glance up and see him right there.

“lady marmalade” and the opening act — omigod you guys! the opening act was absolutely incredible. “lady marmalade” slaps and it’s even better to hear the ensemble members and supporting cast members show off their voices and dance moves. i thought it was interesting that they opened the show at the moulin rouge rather than christian starting to tell his story (like they do in the movie), but it worked out really well. changing the opening act really helps the audience get a feel of the environment and it also hypes the show up a lot.

henri and santiago trying to finish “the sound of music” and aaron’s “entrance” — y’all, i cannot listen to “the sound of music” ever again without laughing. the whole show is a satirical comedy by telling a story that is set in 1899 through popular music. obviously “the sound of music” hasn’t been created at that time, so when henri and santiago are trying to finish the phrase “the hills are alive...” i couldn’t help but laugh. aaron then comes in and finishes the phrase, singing “the hills are alive with the sound of music...” with his gorgeous vibrato (ugh swoon) and it’s the best thing ever.

aaron’s little dance when he sings “never gonna give you up” — this whole scene was hilarious, but the way he presents “never gonna give you up” is the most adorable thing ever. i watched him explain this scene multiple times when he did his 54 below concerts and he always did a funky dance and a rick astley impression when he got to this part of the scene, but he actually did that onstage. i thought he was just doing an impression and a funky dance because he was trying to explain that he didn’t think this moment was funny (btw it was vv funny), so i wasn’t expecting him to do the same thing onstage.

“royals” and “we are young” — okay, i literally forgot how much of a BOP “royals” is and aaron’s high belt and riff down in “we are young” (more specifically when he sings: “so let’s set the world on fiiiiiRE, we can burn briiiiightER than the sUUUUUUn”). that’s all i have to say.

karen olivo’s (satine) entrance — again, i can’t speak for another person who saw the show in a different seat, but karen’s entrance was a big moment. karen is on a trapeze/swing and she comes down from the ceiling of the theatre, landing on the small strip of stage. from where i was sitting, i could see her legs and feet dangling above me and i was like, “HOLY S**T!”

“single ladies” — karen olivo is a queen. beyonce is a queen. therefore, it was a queen singing a song by a queen. what more can you ask for?

satine mistaking christian as the duke — hahahaha this was so funny when harold (the guy who owns the moulin rouge) is pointing out the duke, but satine is clearly looking the other way. lowkey, i couldn’t chose between either of the guys... i love aaron with all my heart, but tam (the duke) is also pretty attractive ngl.

christian and satine’s first interaction and the dance mashup — christian was literally so adorable and cute when he was all nervous and flustered talking to satine. honestly, i could see a little bit of aaron’s real life shyness come out during this scene and i loved it. the dance mashup was amazing and it was the first true mashup of the show. i loved the parts they decided to mashup like the lyrics “shut up and dance with me” being sung at the same time as “slam, slam, oh hot damn, wish you’d just freak out.”

christian trying to pitch his song idea to satine — this has got to be one of my top favorite moments of the show. by this point, satine still thinks christian is the duke so she thinks she’s going to have sex with christian, but christian is there to pitch his song idea. so when christian says things like, “you might want to sit down because what i’m about to reveal is pretty long” and “i’m quite nervous, actually. i learned about this in school and i’ve practiced a lot today,” it adds a lot of comedy as it has a double meaning.

aaron singing “your song” — can aaron please sing me to sleep every night with that song? thanks!

satine realizing christian isn’t the duke — harold: “satine, i have the duke here” // satine: “the duke?” *looks at christian* “then who are you?” // christian: “I’M CHRISTIAN!”

pitching “spectacular, spectacular” to the duke — i loved this moment in the movie, and i still loved this moment in the broadway musical. i just think it’s the exact representation of my friends and i putting on shows, trying to find props and set pieces with the resources we have. also, the awkward pause at the end is the funniest thing.

christian, the sailor — when the group is trying to figure out who christian was going to be in the show, they ultimately decided on a sailor who "wears tight pants." one of the actors says, "show me your ass" and christian flips his tail coat up and shows off his butt. we were all blessed by aaron tveit's rear end.

the elephant love medley — there are so many songs packed into one mashup but it’s so good (WHEN DOES THE CAST ALBUM COME OUT?!). christian mimics satine’s movement (flicks his leg, puts his head in his palms) in a small part of this mashup and i was like, “aw... he’s flirting with her... how cute.” also, the UMBRELLA™.

“bad romance” and “toxic” mashup — this is by far the best dance number ever. like wow! when “toxic” starts, there’s a really intense rock groove to it and lots of intense lighting. if this show doesn’t get a tony nomination for choreography, i’m throwing hands.

aaron’s launching across the stage — this happens in “bad romance” but i feel like it deserves it’s own bullet point. i knew this lift was coming, but my parents did not. when it happened, all three of us (my mom, my dad, and i) had our jaws dropped.

after the “bad romance” and “toxic” mashup — after the end of the number, the audience is going wild but the line after the applauding dies down is, “okay! i have some notes!” it’s funny because they are in rehearsal in the show, but the number is also the show (if that makes sense lol). also, there’s a line that goes, “we might have to change some of the lyrics like, ’gaga, ooo la la,’ what does that even mean?” which is literally what i’m thinking.

“come what may” — aaron and karen are both super talented singers and i’m blessed to hear them sing this song.

harold and the razor — this part was hilarious omg. so, they are in rehearsal for the show and harold is supposed to say something like, “i’ll cut you with my razor.” the first time they go through this scene, harold doesn’t have an actual razor prop to work with and he complains about it. then, it transitions to christian and a gun scene where christian has a prop gun in which harold has some words to say about. the next time they rehearse this scene, harold brings in a razor and he goes, “with my razor! HAHAHA razor!”

“only girl in the world” — i was not expecting the duke to sing this song but it was great lol. they changed the lyrics to, “i’m gonna make you feel like you’re the only girl in the world,” so it worked with the male’s perspective.

“chandelier” — this was one of my favorite numbers in the show. i thought it was really cool how they incorporated the green fairy as an alcoholic drink (i think they smoked the drug in the movie, but i’m not entirely sure... someone correct me on that if i got that wrong haha), and they used “chandelier” to correspond with the scene. also, christian still envisions satine as the green fairy and it’s such a powerful moment as people are trying to hold him back, but his eyes are focused on the fairy/satine.

“roxanne” — despite the opinion going around that the broadway show ruined the song, this song still remains my favorite in the show. i agree that aaron sings “put on the red light” one too many times, but i’m a sucker for an intense tango number and aaron’s high belt (god, aaron’s high belt is out of this world and it kills me!). also, aaron’s emotions were spot on and the dancing (done by robyn hurder) was incredible.

“crazy” and “rolling in the deep” mashup — ngl, this moment almost made me cry. during this scene, satine already “breaks up” with the duke as she is still in love with christian. but christian was forced to leave because satine had to lie (saying she didn’t love christian) in order obey the duke’s orders and avoid danger. so this is definitely a really intense number because christian is giving up as he is loading his gun (that he uses as a prop in the show) with bullets and satine is getting sicker and sicker with consumption. at the end of the number, christian holds up his gun (like alexander hamilton lol) and satine holds up her bloody handkerchief that she has been coughing into.

the surprising plot twist at the show — instead of the duke chasing christian around the theatre and trying to shoot him at the performance of the show, like they do in the movie, christian points the gun at himself in the “razor/gun scene.” that makes satine sing “come what may” as she knew that the gun was loaded and christian was threatening to kill himself because he believed she didn’t love him. this is when the tears started coming for me.

satine dying — karen olivo died. aaron tveit cried over her body. yes, ofc i was bawling my eyes out.

finale/curtain call — just how the show started out, the show doesn’t end when you expect it to end. there’s about 5-10 minutes more of spectacular dancing and a final mashup of the popular songs they sang throughout the show. also aaron does a can-can kick line and it’s probably the best thing you’d ever see in your life.

overall, this show is a spectacular ;) show and i want to see it again. honestly, it might be the best broadway show i’ve ever seen. there is never a dull moment and you’re on the edge of your seat the whole time... whether that’s if it’s from a dramatic climax or from the amazing dancing and musical numbers. please, if you get the opportunity to, go see this show! you won’t regret it!

look out for part 3 soon — SEE YOU LATER, CHICKENS!

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