CONVERSATIONS André Ward - Moulin Rouge! The Musical - Broadway in Chicago
ANDRÉ WARD – FEELS LIKE HOME!
by Ed Tracy
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, winner of 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical, opens the inaugural 2022 North American tour at Broadway in Chicago’s James M. Nederlander Theatre on April 6. With book by John Logan and musical supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Justin Levine, Moulin Rouge is directed by Alex Timbers, choreographed by Somya Tayehis and features an all-star cast including Courtney Reed as Satine, Conor Ryan as Christian, Austin Durant as Harold Zidler and André Ward as Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.
André Ward, who has played at the Nederlander in multiple touring productions dating back to 1998’s Ragtime, joined the CONVERSATION by telephone before a two-show preview on Wednesday to talk about playing Toulouse-Lautrec and the exhilarating reception from preview audiences for the highly anticipated show set in 1899 that infuses a tender love story with original and pop songs, all within the spectacle of the iconic Paris nightclub.
Ed Tracy: How long have you been in Chicago?
André Ward: We got to Chicago on February 27th. This is our second week of previews.
ET: And this is the launch of the first national tour, which has been put off for several years due to the pandemic. Have you been on board for awhile?
AW: I have. Since April 2020. We were delayed and I'm so lucky and blessed to be launching the show here in Chicago. This is my fifth time playing this theater in Chicago and I'm so excited to be here with Moulin Rouge! The Musical. It's like a full circle moment for me. I was in the cast of Ragtime that reopened the Nederlander (formerly The Ford Center) in 1998. Then I came back with Cinderella starring Eartha Kitt, The Producers and then I was here in 2018 with Escape to Margaritaville Jimmy Buffett Musical. So it feels like being home again.
ET: Ragtime is a show that has played a lot here in Chicago recently. All terrific productions, every single one of them. I imagine the 1998 tour was a highlight.
AW: It was absolutely a highlight! For me, Ragtime was one of those shows I watched on Broadway and then got the opportunity to be in it. Just thrilling. And I can say that Moulin Rouge! The Musical is the same for me. When I saw the show, I was immersed in this amazing theatrical experience. I was thrilled. It has comedy, operatic tragedy… and when we started rehearsals and performances, I was like, this is the same.
ET: So, you had seen the show before you were cast?
AW: I saw Moulin Rouge back in 2019 before I was even auditioning for it. I had some friends in it and I fell in love with it, never thinking that I would ever be in it.
ET: So take us through how that all happened back in April 2020.
AW: I started auditioning after my agent got a call saying that they are auditioning for all of the productions of Moulin Rouge. This could be for the tour. It could be for Broadway. It could be for the UK. It could be for Australia. Auditioning for all of the roles. And they wanted me to come in for Toulouse-Lautrec. And I thought, how wonderful. I went through several rounds of auditions and then got the call that I was being offered the role and it went from there.
ET: The show was pushed back a bit and twisted around in the schedule somewhat. But it seems like things are back on track for everybody right now.
AW: And isn't that fantastic! Yes. I was not prepared for how overwhelmed I'd be with the energy coming from the audiences in Chicago. As a company, we are absolutely cohesive. It's one of the most beautiful companies I've had the pleasure to be a part of. Audiences are ready to be entertained… to be enveloped in theater again. And we certainly felt that from the downbeat of the show. It's been marvelous here in Chicago, just marvelous.
ET: So let's turn to the show. The through line of Moulin Rouge incorporates original songs and a lot of pop songs and medleys in the dynamic atmosphere of the club. Give us an idea of how your character Toulouse-Lautrec fits into the musical story.
AW: The pop tunes are absolutely amazing. They are brilliant. The audience is not prepared for when they come and that's the beautiful surprise. It's set in 1899 in this indulgent, beautiful, extravagant world that is Paris at that time. Toulouse-Lautrec is a starving artist who brings together Satine, the muse of the Moulin Rouge, and Christian, an artist and songwriter from America… their love story. Toulouse-Lautrec has unrequited love for the Satine that he's never really told her about.
ET: You have, in my mind, one of the most beautiful songs in the show. Talk about “Nature Boy.”
AW: I first heard the song years ago, a version by Nat King Cole. It is absolutely one of the most beautiful songs. When I got the chance to sing it, I felt it was like a gift to me. In the context of the show, Toulouse-Lautrec sings it to Christian. It’s a bit about Satine. A bit about himself. A bit about Christian. It's sort of a memory... a little pause in the show… all the pop tunes have come at you and then there's this lovely little nugget of a song to say this is where Toulouse-Lautrec’s heart lies.
ET: Tell us something about the Toulouse-Lautrec, the person himself, that we might not know.
AW: He was a starving artist but had come from an aristocratic family. Toulouse-Lautrec broke one of his legs at 13 and one of his legs at 14 and they stopped growing. He was five-foot, five-foot one, maybe. A short man. He wasn't a little person. That's a common misconception. He fits into the show as this Bohemian artist that travels to Paris as a boy. He finds Santiago his best pal—the greatest tango dancer in all of Paris—and they need the last piece to their puzzle in writing the show. That is where Christian comes in. Christian is this wide-eyed, lovely American man who believes love can conquer all. He helps them write the show, Bohemian Rapsody.
ET: So, they've taken this multiple Tony award-winning production, which transformed the entire theater in New York, and are moving it to venues across the country with Chicago’s Nederlander Theatre as the launch of the national tour.
AW: The Nederlander is a theater that fits a lot of people, but it's so intimate. You still feel when you're sitting in the audience like you're involved in the production. Especially our production. The set is absolutely gorgeous! And you feel like you are in it and it's so perfectly well-suited for this huge spectacle, the extravaganza that is Moulin Rouge: The Musical.
ET: In terms of entertainment set at the turn of the century and recreating that for a new audience, it must feel very fulfilling to be in the middle of that excitement, enthusiasm and music that is blending the original concept of Moulin Rouge with this hip, upbeat pop culture.
AW: Most definitely. The costumes and the sets are so colorful and so of that time, but you fill in with pop music and the language and it's for a modern audience. It is the perfect blend.
ET: Do you think that the story is driving the music, or the music is driving the story?
AW: What an amazing question. I have done a lot of catalog shows and it's really unbelievable and uncanny how the script of Moulin Rouge fits with the music. Even when I was learning the show, I would start to sing a song that came out of a scene and I couldn't believe how well-crafted it is.
ET: Hopefully sometime during the run of the show, or very soon, all of this business will be behind us and you will be able to see faces and hear laughter out loud as the audience enjoys Moulin Rouge! The Musical Rouge.
AW: Thank you so much. The audiences have been so fantastic! To hear the laughter from the house has been so fulfilling. I will say that we need theater! We need the live theater and I'm so grateful to be back in Chicago.
Comments have been edited for length and clarity.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical plays at the James M. Nederlander Theatre through May 14, 2022.
2 hours 35 minutes with an intermission
For a complete tour schedule visit: Moulin Rouge Tour
Broadway in Chicago
presents
2022 National Tour
MOULIN ROUGE! The Musical
James M. Nederlander Theatre
WEBSITE
TICKETS
MOULIN ROUGE! The Musical
James M. Nederlander Theatre
24 W. Randolph
2022 National Tour Creative Team
John Logan|Book
Alex Timbers|Director
Justin Levine|Musical Supervision|Orchestrations|Arrangements
Somya Tayehis|Choreography
Derek McLane|Set Design
Catherine Zuber|Costume Design
Justin Townsend|Lighting Design
Peter Hylenski|Sound Design
David Brian Brown|Wig and Hair Design
Sarah Cimino|Makeup Design
2022 National Tour Cast
Courtney Reed (Satine)
Conor Ryan (Christian)
Austin Durant (Harold Zidler)
André Ward (Toulouse-Lautrec)
David Harris (The Duke of Monroth)
Gabe Martínez (Santiago)
Libby Lloyd (Nini)
Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer (Satine Alternate)
with Nicci Claspell, Harper Miles, Andres Quintero, Adrienne Balducci, Andrew Brewer, Jack Cahill-Lemme, Sam J. Cahn, Darius Crenshaw, Alexander Cruz, Alexa De Barr, Tamrin Goldberg, Alexis Hasbrouck, Jordan Fife Hunt, Justin Keats, Tyler Logan, Tanisha Moore, Brayden Newby, Kent Overshown, Amy Quanbeck, Adéa Michelle Sessoms, Jenn Stafford, Denzel Tsopnang, Travis Ward-Osborne, Sharrod Williams, Jennifer Wolfe and Ricardo Zayas.
Special Thanks Damara Anderson|Broadway in Chicago
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