“Moulin Rouge!” has announced the addition of two new principal actors. Austin Durant will take over the role of Harold Zidler and Hailee Kaleem Wright will become the new alternate for the role of Satine. Both will join the long-running musical on May 14 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Durant and Wright will succeed outgoing actors Boy George and Oyoyo Joi, respectively, who will depart the production on May 12.
Zidler, fictional owner of the real-life Moulin Rouge nightclub, is familiar territory for Durant. Durant opened the national tour of “Moulin Rouge!,” having already played Zidler for a monthlong tenure in the Broadway production in 2019. Following his 2011 Main Stem debut in “War Horse,” Durant appeared in the 2013 revival of “Macbeth” and the 2014 mounting of “You Can’t Take It with You.”
Wright made her Broadway debut in 2022’s “Paradise Square” in the role of Sarah, and recently completed a tenure as Catherine of Aragon in “SIX.” Additionally, Wright was seen in the ensemble of the national tour of “Beautiful.”
In addition to Boy George and Joi, the current cast of “Moulin Rouge!” includes Courtney Reed as Satine, Tony Award nominee Derek Klena as Christian, André Ward as Toulouse-Lautrec, David Harris as the Duke of Monroth, Ricky Rojas as Santiago and Sophie Carmen-Jones as Nini. Casting is by Jim Carnahan and Stephen Kopel.
“Moulin Rouge!” features direction by Alex Timbers and choreography by Sonya Tayeh. In John Logan’s book based on the 2001 film of the same name, Christian, a writer newly arrived in Paris, falls in love with the star attraction of the Moulin Rouge nightclub, Satine. The musical opened on July 25, 2019, and went on to win 10 Tony awards, including Best Musical. The production recouped in 2022.
“Moulin Rouge!” is produced by Carmen Pavlovic and Gerry Ryan OAM for Global Creatures and Bill Damaschke.
