Moulin Rouge! The Musical original cast members Aaron Tveit, Tam Mutu, and Ricky Rojas depart the Best Musical Tony winner May 8, along with Natalie Mendoza. New cast members Ashley Loren, Derek Klena, Declan Bennett, and Caleb Marshall-Villarreal step into their roles May 10. 

Mutu actually left the production May 3, slightly earlier than his scheduled departure due to a case of COVID. The actor shared the sad news on Twitter.

Tveit, Mutu, and Rojas created the roles of Christian, The Duke of Monroth, and Santiago (respectively), with Tveit winning a Tony Award for his performance. 

Mendoza took over the role of Satine from original actor Karen Olivo when the production resumed performances on Broadway in September 2021 after the shutdown. 

Loren takes over the role of Satine, after being the Satine Alternate since the show’s Broadway opening in 2019. Tony nominee Klena plays Christian, Bennett plays The Duke of Monroth, and original cast member Caleb Marshall-Villarreal plays Santiago.

Directed by Alex Timbers with a book by John Logan and choreography by Sonya Tayeh, the musical first opened on Broadway in 2019 following its Boston try-out. The work is based on the film of the same name and continues its run at Broadway’s Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

It includes a score that features covers of “Fireworks” by Katy Perry, “Your Song” by Elton John, and “Chandelier” by Sia, among many others. The story takes place at Paris’ famed Moulin Rouge and follows the tragic love story between performer Satine and composer Christian.

The production’s music team is comprises Justin Levine as musical supervisor, Matt Stine as music producer, and Cian McCarthy as music director. Orchestrations are by Levine, Stine, Katie Kresek, and Charlie Rosen, with dance arrangements by Levine and Stine.

The creative team features Derek McLane as scenic designer, Catherine Zuber as costume designer, Justin Townsend as lighting designer, Peter Hylenski as sound designer, David Brian Brown as hair designer, Sarah Cimino as makeup designer, and creative services by Luhrmann and Catherine Martin. Casting is by Jim Carnahan and Stephen Kopel.

Following its Broadway premiere, the musical has gone on to play nationwide, as well as lead productions in London’s West End and Melbourne, Australia. Additional engagements are being planned for Germany and Japan.

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The Southwark Playhouse‘s spring production of Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim’s musical Anyone Can Whistle, directed by Georgie Rankcom, ends its run May 7. Watch highlights from the London production, which officially opened April 5 following previews that began April 1, above.

Alex Young, who played Young Sally in the National Theatre production of Follies, stars as Mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper with Chrystine Symone as Nurse Fay Apple, Jordan Broatch as J. Bowden Hapgood, Danny Lane as Comptroller Schub, Samuel Clifford as Treasurer Cooley, Renan Teodoro as Chief of Police Magrueder, Nathan Taylor as Dr. Detmold, Kathryn Akin as Mrs Schroeder, Marisha Morgan as Baby Joan, Teddy Hinde as John, Hana Ichijo as June, Shane Convery as George, and Jensen Tudtud as Martin.

The staging also has musical direction by Natalie Pound, choreography by Lisa Stevens, orchestrations by Charlie Ingles, original orchestrations by Don Walker, set and costume design by Cory Shipp, lighting design by Alex Musgrave, and assistant direction by Alex Conder.

With a score by Sondheim and a book by Laurents, Anyone Can Whistle opened at the Majestic Theatre April 4, 1964, with a cast led by multi-Tony winner Angela Lansbury, Lee Remick, Harry Guardino, Gabriel Dell, Arnold Soboloff, James Frawley, Peg Murray, Don Doherty, Sterling Clark, Harvey Evans, Larry Roquemore, and Tucker Smith. Although the political satire played but 21 performances, the Sondheim score contained several exceptional songs, including “Me and My Town,” “There Won’t Be Trumpets,” “Anyone Can Whistle,” “Everybody Says Don’t,” and “With So Little to Be Sure Of.”

The Grey Area and Alex Conder produce the Southwark production.

Click here for more information.

Based on Naoshi Arakawa’s manga, the musical features a book by Riko Sakaguchi and original music by Frank Wildhorn

Presented by Toho and Fuji TV, the musical adaptation of Naoshi Arakawa’s manga Your Lie in April will have its world premiere May 7-29 at the Nissay Theatre in Tokyo. It will be followed by a nationwide tour of Japan in June.

The manga follows the young piano prodigy Kо̄sei Arima and his inability to play following his mother’s death. He strikes a friendship with violinist Kaori Miyazono and she slowly encourages him to perform again. The romantic drama has previously been adapted into an anime television series and a live-action film

“I met a girl under full-bloomed cherry blossoms, and my fate has begun to change,” reads the musical’s tagline.

The musical was originally scheduled to debut in July 2020 but was rescheduled due to the pandemic. It will star Yuta Koseki, Tatsunari Kimura, Erika Ikuta, Fuka Yuzuki, Koka Mizuta, and Takuto Teranishi.

The musical features a book by Riko Sakaguchi, original music by Frank Wildhorn; lyrics by Carly Robyn Green and Tracy Miller and Wildhorn; and arrangements and orchestrations by Jason Howland.

For more information, visit TohoStage.com.