Courtesy Matthew Murphy for Murphymade
“Moulin Rouge! The Musical” opens at the Smith Center on January 19.
Monday, Jan. 16, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Opening Thursday for a three-week run at the Smith Center’s regal Reynolds Hall, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” is an energetic expression of Baz Luhrmann’s celebrated film from 2001. The stage spectacular has won 10 Tony Awards since premiering in Boston in 2018 and has been performing recently on Broadway, London’s West End and in Australia while touring productions have roamed North America, Europe and Asia.
André Ward
The Las Vegas shows will be extra-special for veteran actor André Ward, who plays the famed French painter and count Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Ward is a Las Vegas native who graduated from Bishop Gorman High School before embarking on a stellar career onstage and in films and TV, and he’s never performed in his hometown before.
Coming from a family of gospel singers, preachers and teachers, performing on the Las Vegas Strip wasn’t something that was considered in his household, Ward explained. When he first got into theater and started singing outside the church, he learned about the community of performers beyond Las Vegas, making a living telling stories through music in a different way.
“I remember watching the Tonys when I was young, and ‘Dreamgirls’ was on, and [thinking], ‘People that look like me are onstage? Broadway, what’s that?’ And I always wanted to pursue that,” Ward said from the tour’s recent stop in Portland, Oregon. “I never played house; I always played New York City apartment, pretending to be an actor. I’ve never performed in Las Vegas so it’s nice to be going back this way. My grandfather moved there in 1941 so my family has deep roots in Las Vegas.”
Ward’s impressive resume includes Broadway roles in “Margaritaville,” “Rock of Ages,” “Xanadu,” “Something Rotten” and “The Producers,” as well as parts in touring productions of “Pippin,” “Ragtime,” “Cinderella” and “Dreamgirls.” He’s also appeared in movies and TV shows including “Pose,” “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” “Murphy Brown,” “Master of None,” “Elementary” and “Difficult People.”
He saw “Moulin Rouge” for the first time in 2019 and was amazed by “this beautiful, exuberant show,” he said, but didn’t think he’d ever get a chance to be a part of it. “In the last few years, I’ve worked mostly in TV, and to be back onstage and feel the live audience again, nothing compares to that,” he said.
With a book written by John Logan, music supervision and arrangements by Justin Levine and choreography by Sonya Tayeh — all Tony winners — “Moulin Rouge” has been hailed as one of the most glamorous and over-the-top stage productions of recent years. That might make it a natural fit for Las Vegas as well.
“For me, it’s the part and the show of a lifetime. It’s just so big and bold and brash, and full of so much heart,” Ward said. “It’s not often you get to do something that’s so beautiful and also full of heart. The taglines are ‘Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love,’ and who can’t get onboard with that?”
Tickets for “Moulin Rouge” are available at thesmithcenter.com.
