Aaron Tveit, who originated the role of Christian in “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” will reprise his performance for a 12-week limited engagement at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre beginning on Jan. 17.
Derek Klena, who currently plays the role of Christian, will exit the production on Jan. 15 and return on April 11. Tveit will co-star alongside Ashley Loren, who will continue in the role of Satine.
Also newly announced is that on Feb. 7, David Harris will join the cast as The Duke of Monroth and André Ward will take over as Toulouse-Lautrec. Harris will replace Declan Bennett, who will play his final performance as The Duke on Jan. 15. Dylan Paul will step in as The Duke from Jan. 17 to Feb. 5. Ward will succeed Sahr Ngaujah, who originated the role of Toulouse and earned a Tony nomination for his performance. Ngaujah will exit the production on Feb. 5. Both Harris and Ward are coming to the Broadway mounting from the North American tour of the musical.
Having played Christian in the pre-Broadway run at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre and opening the show on Broadway in 2019, Tveit departed the Broadway production on May 8, 2022. Tveit won a Tony Award for his performance in the Tony-winning Best Musical. He has previously been seen on Broadway in “Catch Me If You Can,” “Next to Normal,” “Wicked” and “Hairspray.”
This will mark Harris’ Broadway debut, though he has starred in numerous productions in his native Australia, such as “Miss Saigon,” “Legally Blonde,” “Wicked” and “Chess.” Ward was most recently seen on Broadway in “Escape to Margaritaville.” His other Broadway credits include “Something Rotten!,” “Rock of Ages,” “Xanadu” and “The Producers.”
The trio will join current principal cast members Eric Anderson as Harold Zidler, Caleb Marshall-Villarreal as Santiago, Jessica Lee Goldyn as Nini and Oyoyo Joi as the Satine alternate.
“Moulin Rouge!” is directed by Tony winner Alex Timbers with a book by Tony winner John Logan, choreography by Tony winner Sonya Tayeh and music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Tony winner Justin Levine. Casting is by Jim Carnahan and Stephen Kopel.
The design team includes Tony winner Derek McLane (sets), Tony winner Catherine Zuber (costumes), Tony winner Justin Townsend (lighting), Tony winner Peter Hylenski (sound), Drama Desk winner David Brian Brown (wig and hair design), Sarah Cimino (makeup design) and Tony winner Matt Stine (music production).
“Moulin Rouge! The Musical” is produced by Carmen Pavlovic and Gerry Ryan OAM for Global Creatures and Bill Damaschke. General management is by Foresight Theatrical.
