Moulin Rouge: Red hot, ridiculously good and covered in glitter

Twenty-five years after Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! dazzled the cinema, its stage offspring has arrived in Plymouth — and, whisper it, this might actually be better than the real thing.

This is Moulin Rouge! with the volume turned up, the glitter dial set to overdrive, and the brakes firmly removed.

For those who don’t know, it’s the story of boy meets girl in turn-of the-century Paris. The girl, Satine (Verity Thompson), is a courtesan and star performer. The boy, Christian (Nate Landskroner) is a penniless romantic who dreams of writing hit love songs.

Thompson is a sensational Satine, bringing the necessary combination of star quality, vulnerability and vocal firepower. But singling her out almost seems unfair, because this touring production’s greatest strength is its casting. From top to scantily-clad bottoms, it is a company that can sing, dance, act and — crucially — sell the sheer spectacle of what is happening around them.

The film’s soundtrack has been expanded into a deliriously clever musical mash-up, retaining the emotional heavyweights Come What May and Your Song while throwing an astonishing array of newer material into the mix. I didn’t count the musical references - but I’ve heard it claimed there are 74 song snips crammed into this two-and-a-half hour masterpiece. It’s like Ken Bruce’s Pop Master on acid.

And then there are the visuals. They are enormous, outrageous and unapologetically theatrical: it’s Montmartre as seen through a kaleidoscope after several glasses of champagne.

Sets, costumes, lighting, and choreography combine to create something less a recreation of the film and more a spectacular live assault on the senses.

The result is romantic, ridiculous and ravishing. A night at the theatre that leaves you breathless, buzzing, and bouncing straight back to the Box Office to book to see it again.

Moulin Rouge is at Theatre Royal Plymouth until September 19