SEATTLE — It won ten Tonys, including best musical, in 2021. "Moulin Rouge! The Musical," the lavish Broadway show based on Baz Luhrmann's movie about the lives and loves in a decadent Parisian nightclub, is playing now at Seattle's Paramount Theatre.
And this celebration of "Truth Beauty Freedom and Love" is getting so much love from local audiences. Stars like Courtney Reed, who plays Satine — the nightclub’s chief chanteuse and ‘sparkling diamond’ — can feel it from the stage.
“I was just telling my co-star yesterday, doesn't it just feel like a laugh track?" Reed said. “It's so crazy how responsive these audiences are. The city that we were in previously was pretty quiet, so for the first show we were like, ‘Yes!’”
This show is a homecoming for Seattle's Tamrin Goldberg. She's the musical theater version of a pinch-hitter: a "swing."
“I cover six ensemble parts, and La Chocolat, one of the Lady Ms. So I have seven tracks that I know and have to be ready to do at a moment's notice,” Goldberg explained.
Think of a swing as an understudy for all the singing and dancing that isn't done by a main character. They must memorize multiple parts so the show can go on no matter what. During this weekend’s shows Goldberg filled in for a cast member on vacation — and shared some behind the scenes photos with us. But sometimes, her appearances are a surprise.
"It'll be like, we're at intermission, somebody just sprained their ankle, can you be ready in five minutes?” Goldberg said. "It's definitely a thrill, and so fulfilling when you do it right, when you jump in and save the day, it feels really great.”
As the owner of Moulin Rouge says in the musical, the cabaret is a place "where all your dreams come true.”
And the chance to appear in multiple roles in "Moulin Rouge! The Musical" in front of a hometown audience? That is a dream come true for Tamrin Goldberg.
"Coming back to Seattle, coming back to this amazing place, where the people are so cool, where it's so gorgeous, especially when you can see Mt. Rainier peeping through, what a dream," she said. "It's amazing, I'm so happy to be back."
"Moulin Rouge! The Musical" plays at Seattle's Paramount Theatre now through Jan. 1 2023.
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