Stories from RhyDin & The Rings

Moulin Rouge - The Ballet
Shanachie Ballet Company
February 17th to March 7th

Cast

Nathalie - Josette Wheeler / Camille Bellerose
Matthew - Jamie Willis / Farren Ainsley
Zidler - Dante Alvarez
Toulouse - Alexei Barinov
La Goulue - Cygnet Rassveta / Eeva Cohen
Gypsies/Laundresses/Can-Can Dancers - Pearl Fand & the Shanachie Corps de Ballet

Casting Note: Casting for Moulin Rouge will be split into two sections. The first dancer listed will perform the role for the first ten days (2/17-2/26), followed by the second dancer who will perform the role for the last ten days (2/27-3/7).

Synopsis

The most famous cabaret in history, the Moulin Rouge has been the subject of many books, paintings, movies and musicals–birthplace of the Quadrille, the Cancan and home to a cast of outrageous dancers known as the Diamond Dogs. When the Moulin Rouge opened, Paris was a city of exquisite contradiction; art was both elevated and abused, pomp and excess ran hand in hand with poverty and hardship, and the heady elixir of personal freedom bred lifestlyes that were often reckless and addictive. Drawn to Paris by the city’s passion, a flame fueled by the hearts of lovers and the souls of poets, Matthew nad Nathalie tempt the fates as they seek love and destiny in the famed cabaret…The Moulin Rouge.

Act One

As Paris awakes for another day, Matthew enters and is immediately robbed of his belongings by Gypsies. Nathalie is waiting for the other launderettes to arrive when she sees Matthew for the first time. As the couple dance together, the spark of love ignites. Zidler, the owner of the Moulin Rouge enters and everyone knows that he is the man who can take you from the streets to the spotlight, so the women dance for him, hoping to attract his attention. Nathalie pretends to be not too interested but she is exactly what Zidler is looking for. He offers her a position at the Moulin Rouge! Nathalie says goodbye to her friends and leaves with Zidler, but gives Matthew her red scarf as she is leaving. Toulouse arrives and sees Matthew sketching. Intrigued he asks to see Matthew’s work and critiques it rather harshly. Matthew does not know who Toulouse is and gets quite upset. Toulouse offers a paintbrush to Matthew and the dueling paint off scene begins.

Zidler brings Nathalie into a cold dark and somewhat frightening rehearsal space, where she is told to wait before rehearsal begins. The other dancers are not impressed that Nathalie is there and try to intimidate her. La Goulue enters and challenges Nathalie to a Cancan competition. At the end Nathalie is victorious. She win’s Zidler’s approval and the tower dressing room.

Toulouse and Matthew are in front of the Moulin Rouge cabaret with their paintings. Toulouse invites Matthew to the cabaret for the evening but Matthew is broke and underdressed, so Toulouse brings in tailors who transform Matthew into a gentleman in a tuxedo. After the first Moulin Rouge show, Nathalie sees Matthew and the two of them rekindle the spark from their first meeting.

Matthew shows her the scarf she gave him and she whisks him away to be alone with him. Zidler notices that Nathalie is gone and is jealous; after searching the Moulin Rouge he closes it down and leaves to find her.

As people are leaving the cabaret, Nathalie and Matthew are on their way to the bridge. Zidler comes searching for her, but Toulouse distracts him to help the couple escape to the bridge where they dance a romantic pas de deux.

Act Two

Toulouse is painting while drinking absinthe, and as the painting continues we see a green fairy appear. She dances with Toulouse and inspires him to finish the painting.

Meanwhile, Nathalie is getting ready to meet Matthew at the Tango Café. She is happy and in love. Zidler has now become obsessed with Nathalie and does not want her to go out. He tries to seduce Nathalie and only Toulouse entering saves her. Zidler has no idea she is meeting Matthew at the Tango Café but follows and finds the couple together. Zidler threatens to kill Matthew so Nathalie leaves with him in an attempt to appease the tyrant and save Matthew from harm. But Matthew is left heartbroken and confused. He drinks absinthe with Toulouse and encounters the green fairies. After he wakes up, Toulouse creates a plan for Matthew to pretend to be a waiter and get back into the cabaret.

At the show that evening, Matthew finds Nathalie and they try to escape through the mayhem of the Cancan. Zidler discovers them together and becomes enraged, stopping the show. He intends to kill Matthew, but Nathalie is mortally wounded instead. Matthew holds Nathalie as she takes her last breath.

((Feel free to post for your characters below and remember to have fun with it! ))

As the curtain rose on opening night of Moulin Rouge, the theater itself transported in time to the decadent age of La Belle Époque in Paris. Where bohemian artists chased the heady high of the green fairy’s euphoria between the crumpled pages of their sketchbooks, while maddening Muses played coy with come hither fingers and dangled inspiration just out reach with a bewitching enticement of just one more.

Old money elite rubbed elbows with the nouveau riche, social circles eclipsing one another as they gathered together for the kind of debauched escapism only Paris’ famed cabaret could provide. Those covetous eyes widening through monocles like so many jewelers loops as they eyed the resplendent shine of Zidler’s Diamond Dogs. Pretty creatures that only fully came alive once the sun went down upon the summit of the hill of Montmartre.

The pious might ascend the steps to pray at Basilica of Sacré-Couer, but once they descended, it was the dancers of the Moulin Rouge that truly brought them to their knees for a chance play.

Josette’s Natalie first appears as the long legged launderette, effortlessly playful with her fellow dancers and Jaime’s Matthew upon their first encounter. There is an innate vivacity to Josie’s dancing, as she moves in such a way that brings the choreography learned behind the closed doors of the rehearsal rooms to fresh new life on the stage.

A carefully trained eye might spot subtle nuances each night, as no two performances were ever alike to the petite ballerina—the present moment was all that existed once she took the stage. It might come in the form of a peekaboo peek added over a freshly laundered sheet in a tender tease before she tossed it her partner’s way, only to playfully pirouette away, or the way she smiled over the curve of a slender shoulder.

On certain evenings, the red scarf was given to Matthew with a passionate urgency of a secret token of love before Zidler whisked her away to the dark underworld of his cabaret. The next night, there might be a lingering poignancy, a hesitation to leave as she slowly unwound the scarf from her hand to pass to his own—as if afraid to release it like a red thread of Fate that connected the pair.

Where there was innate trust in Jamie as a partner, sparks flew of an entirely different nature between Dante’s Zidler and Josette’s Natalie. The notorious “Black Eagle” truly the perfect casting choice to play Zidler—a man driven to a certain jealous, egoic madness when faced with something which he could not ultimately possess or control.

The pair had danced together before when Josette was just starting out at The Paris Opera Ballet, but there was a certain kinetic energy that was palpable between the two now—a push-pull between the dancers in a slow build towards the climactic ending as Josette challenged Dante with a fierce meeting of wills each night onstage until Natalie’s death scene.

The combination of the two was as volatile as it was oddly magnetic to witness on stage. It lent itself to the story of the ballet and the feeling of a growing threat towards the couple.

A flowering bloom of bruised blue tinged with black appeared on the pale skin of her wrist as it was held a bit too firmly one night when Zidler simply refused to let go. The look in the ballerina’s gaze served as a warning that she’d truly send “The Black Eagle” flying if he pushed it. She felt the energy vibrate within her till she regained control; there and gone in a conducted beat of the Maestro’s arm.

Josette’s favorite part of the show was of course the Can-Can with her fellow dancers! Though petite, the girl is all leg and elongated neck. She was mercilessly teased for these physical attributes in her youth, often called “giraffe” or “ET” in school. However, once she grew into herself, they became a blessing that helped create those lovely ballerina lines. Those lithe legs could kick to dizzying heights and she simply adored the frothy frivolity of the costumes and the lively music that whipped everyone up into the spirit of the dance.

Josie came offstage each night flushed with the pleasure of that certain intangible rush at the end of the Can-Can. With the echoes of the audience still cheering, she laughed with pure delight as left the stage with Pearl and the other girls. “That was so much fun!” Though it was always a touch bittersweet, as it also came with a certain pang of longing as well that made her miss Paris.

When she was not performing as Natalie, Josie donned a pair of delicate wings to become a Green Fairy Muse to the artist, Toulouse. She was delighted to ignite the artist’s inspiration like a little green flame and set his imagination dancing. An ethereal being which winked in and out of consciousness like the rarest of stars in The City of Light.

(Excerpts that mention Dante’s character, were worked out with the writer beforehand and posted with permission!)

It was completely natural and even to be expected, at least in the mind of Dante Lorenzo Domíngues-Álvarez, that the Black Eagle would play the role of Zidler—the boss and brain behind the Moulin Rouge. Who else would bring the necessary charisma and savoir-faire to the central role? Who else could summon the proper passion essential to the ballet’s ultimate conclusion? The role required unparalleled talent to properly breathe life…vida…into the French impresario. The role demanded the skill of el águila negra.

Dante took to rehearsals with the same method approach he did all his roles. The ballerino wrapped himself in the spirit of Charles Zidler, his dance a choreographed séance to summon the essence of the man. And so, he conducted himself as the owner of the Moulin Rouge off stage as well. Quick with demands, orders and his famous snap of fingers with an insistence that his fellow dancers only refer to him as “Zidler” during rehearsals as well as backstage. The man owned the haughty attitude of one who controlled the future success for those fortunate enough to share the stage with him. Such an attitude was reined in only after the ballet mistress Irina pinned him with that fierce gaze, though that smug smirk lingered.

The critics praised his talent but predicted the dancer’s attitude offstage would be the death of his career. Dante simply ignored the ignorant words of weak minds who had no unique talent themselves. What could his detractors possibly know of what it took to excel at the highest levels of dance? Their critical voices were drowned out by the legions of fans that supported the Bad Boy of Ballet as one British tabloid’s headline described him during the very public scrap between the Black Eagle and the head choreographer at the “esteemed” Royal Ballet. It wasn’t long after that that Dante had chosen to challenge himself beyond the conventional performances normally offered by such a stifling ballet company and chose to perch in the captivating world of Rhy’Din instead; the unique setting feeding the man’s insatiable appetites.

And so, when the curtain lifted on opening night, the cocoon that had been Dante Lorenzo Domíngues-Álvarez was shed and his own unique take on Zidler emerged. One could not lead a pack of Diamond Dogs without having a raptor’s keen eye for talent. He emerged onto the stage with all the pomp, flair and dramatics of a man long used to having all eyes on him. Where Josette’s Nathalie was iconic for fresh nuances that kept the ballerino on his toes each night, Dante’s Zidler was the same night after night, a performance filled with transcendent technical talent. It was what the audience paid to see…pure perfección.

The Black Eagle soared in his performances with first Josette and later Camille. Dante embodied the exquisite, lopsided back and forth balance of France in the closing years of the long nineteenth century where artists like Monet, Renoir and Manet transitioned the world towards Impressionism where the inclusion of movement lay at the heart of the style while industrialization raced to make the modern. When he saw the character of Matthew with his exquisite Nathalie, he would threaten to kill the man with all the passion and energy contained within the spirit of Revanchisme.

Of course, Josette would challenge him on stage—he expected nothing less from her. Like Zidler, he liked to think he had a hand in the young ballerina’s success when her star was on the rise at the Paris Opera Ballet. Her unparalleled shine surely cultivated under the proper pressure applied of working with the very best - like Dante. Though it annoyed the man to no end that the girl rolled her eyes and stubbornly refused to refer to him as Zidler during rehearsals. Held tightly within a jealous talon night after night, el águila negra rather enjoyed that the ballerina was no easy prey as she matched him onstage—pushing her to the brink and only releasing her a moment before that vibration threatened to explode. ¡Qué fuerte! It enhanced the performance and captivating duel of wills between the pair—made all the more tragic as the ballet reached its conclusion.

As the curtain swept across the stage, Dante returned and Charles Zidler receded back beneath the perfectly chiseled Llanito façade of Gibraltarian stone and Valencian fire. The dance would continue in the hottest clubs once obligatory press and autographs to adoring fans had been attended to. The revolutionary fires did not dim within iconoclasts and rebels simply because the stage had gone dark and the audience had returned to their homes.

Al hombre osado la fortuna le da la mano.

((Many thanks to Josette's writer for being a good sport!))

Pearl adored the Can-Can! It was one the most energetic dances ever created. Having been blessed with long legs was a definite advantage for this performance! She hooted and hollered along with others in the Corps as they cartwheeled, twirled, and kicked their way across the stage. Something about this dance demanded that spark of playful energy and she let it run loose.

She'd been fortunate enough to accompany her Harker grandparents and younger sister, Catie, on a tour of Paris. As a student of the Central School of Ballet in London, Catie had been allowed backstage at the club, Moulin Rouge, to speak to the performers. Pearl had to translate some of the saltier terms for her sister. Unlike the refined setting of the Sorbonne, where the younger Harker had learned French, Pearl had learned some of the more colorful phrases from the legendary Porthos during one of his juants to Rhydin.

After the matinee show, a note was tacked on the board in the Green Room and placed in the local papers:
Violinist and member of the Corps de Ballet at the Shanachie Theater, Pearl Fand, would like to announce her engagement to Velen Ilnarnen, her longtime love, partner in mischief, and dearest friend since childhood. No date has been set at this time.

Below the formal announcement in the Green Room was the following:
In honor of this happy and long awaited event, the bride's family would like to provide the catering for the cast party at the end of the current production's run.

(( Minus the wedding gear, this is what I picture that party will be like! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc4NoFZUZkA ))