New York 2019 - Day 3, Part 2: Moulin Rouge! The Musical

After our Central Park adventure we cleaned up and rested in our hotel room.  At 6:30 we roused, I ironed our shirts, splashed some water on my face and at 7:15 we left the hotel to walk to the theater for Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

Fun fact:  We later found out that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had been in the audience with us that night, but we didn't see her.

Artwork from the Boston preview

Artwork from the Broadway run

Teaser videos from the official website:

Truth!

Beauty!

Freedom!

Love!

Welcome to the Moulin Rouge!

The Al Hirschfeld Theatre was 9 blocks away on 45th and we had a relaxing walk.  Doors opened at 7:30 and the show started at 8pm.  We got there just after the doors opened - there was a small crowd, but it only took a couple of minutes to enter.  I had read to get there early in order to take in the theater and the ambiance, and I'm glad we did.

The theater looked amazing decked out in rich reds with hearts, neon, a turning windmill and a blue elephant.

We made it

The view from our excellent seats - ORCH, Row L, seats 107-108

The namesake red windmill

Photo from mashable.com

The iconic but lesser-known elephant

Photo from rarehistoricalphotos.com

Theater panorama, resulting (since it's constantly turning) in a droopy windmill blade :(

About 15 minutes before the show started various characters slowly appeared and disappeared throughout the theater, posing, prowling and vamping, culminating in a double sword-swallowing feat that started the show.  It was great way to change the mood of the room and build to curtain up.

The show was fantastic!  Karen Olivo as Satine was one of the best performances I've ever seen.  The sets and costumes were incredible, and the well-known songs made it fun (soundtrack now available).  I've never been a big fan of the jukebox musical form, but this show is a game-changer.  I highly recommend it.

Moulin Rouge!  L'amour

It was pouring rain outside as the audience left the theater.  We hung back so Todd could purchase a t-shirt and by the time we left the rain had stopped.

We had a nice walk back to the hotel while discussing the show.  Originally we had planned to go to Joe Allen afterward, but decided we didn't want to eat that late and so went back to the hotel instead...where I promptly ate Halal Guys leftovers.  We would go to Joe Allen the next night as our New York farewell dinner.