Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love
“The greatest thing you’ve ever learned is just to love and be loved in return.”
This message of transcendent love carries the musical “Moulin Rouge!” from its opening notes to its closing refrain: The bone-deep belief that no matter who you are, what your status might be, where you were born and when you might die, the most important lesson you’ll ever receive is to love.
Set in turn-of-the-century Paris, a time when the ancient city embraced art and science simultaneously, the play brings together a motley cast of characters within the walls of the world’s most famous nightclub, the Moulin Rouge.
On one end of the spectrum, we have Christian — the tragically poor, devastatingly naive poet — who gets swept up with members of the Bohemian movement who espouse the ideals of Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love. On the other side, we have The Duke, antithesis of the Bohemians, a ruthless aristocrat who believes love is a thing that can be owned. Delicately poised in the middle is Satine, the beautiful courtesan with aspirations of acting, on whom Harold Zidler — owner of the Moulin Rouge — has hung all of his capitalistic hopes.
“Moulin Rouge” will take the Bass Concert Hall stage May 13 - 25, Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Tickets start at $35 and are available at texasperformingarts. org and BroadwayinAustin. com, by phone at (512) 477-1444, or from the Texas Performing Arts ticket office at Bass Concert Hall.
Check out next week’s SMTXLife for a review of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” and its timeless message of Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love.
