'Moulin Rouge' — Desire, Will and Liberation Behind the Sensuality
Creatrip Team
3 months ago
The Korean revival of the musical 'Moulin Rouge' (based on the 2001 film) opened locally in 2022 and returned in 2025. Set in the decadent 1898 cabaret, the production is visually bold and sensual, showcasing can-can, strip dance and tango, and celebrates the exposed bodies and erotic energy of its performers. The plot follows Satine, her lover Christian, and the Duke in a familiar love triangle, with Christian's desire shifting from euphoric love to desperate obsession. Performers Kim Ji-woo and Hong Kwang-ho anchor the show with strong acting and singing. As a jukebox musical, the score blends known pop songs into inventive arrangements that heighten emotional shifts, though some find this mixing can make full psychological immersion harder. Choreography compresses conflict into stark, expressive movement, reinforcing the show's mantra that "the show must go on." Beyond erotic spectacle, the production portrays characters honest about their desires and self-loving, offering themes of freedom, choice, will and liberation that contrast with society's restrictive norms. (Moulin Rouge: a famous Parisian cabaret)
