by Kristen Nevárez Schweizer
June 23, 2025
If you want to spark a lively debate at a theatre cocktail party, bring up jukebox musicals.
What started as a creative experiment has become one of the most successful trends on Broadway. Jukebox musicals take mainstream music and artists (think Queen, The Temptations, Adele) and build stories around them. The concept goes back decades. Shows like 1978’s Ain’t Misbehavin’ (based on the jazz tunes of Fats Waller) and 1989’s Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story were early trailblazers. Mamma Mia! exploded onto the scene in 1999 with ABBA’s feel-good hits, and Jersey Boys raised the bar in 2005 (at the La Jolla Playhouse, hooray!) by blending biography with four-part harmony.
In 2025, the industry is split on its feelings toward jukebox’s growing dominance versus wholly original scores. While they are fantastic for drawing new, full-price ticket buyers, some artists argue that something is lost when the theatre prioritizes what is recognizable over what is risky. At the same time, popular music doesn’t guarantee popularity. Over the years, some jukebox musicals have packed houses, such as Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and MJ. While others like Hot Feet (set to Earth, Wind, and Fire) and Holler If Ya Hear Me (featuring the music of Tupac Shakur) struggled to find an audience, despite passionate creative teams.
Jon Caramanica, writing in The New Yorker, challenges the purist view. In his defense of jukebox musicals, he argues that these shows tap into a rich theatrical tradition dating back to 18th-century ballad opera, where popular tunes were stitched into dramatic plots. The emotional resonance of beloved songs, especially when recontextualized, can be just as moving and artistically rigorous as original scores. Caramanica writes, “There is a particular kind of catharsis that only comes when the familiar is made strange again.”
This summer, Broadway San Diego will host the pinnacle of the genre with Moulin Rouge! The Musical, playing at the Civic Theatre from June 24 to July 6, 2025. This show conquered Broadway in 2018, earning ten Tony Awards, including the prestigious Best Musical award.
Based on Baz Luhrmann’s electrifying 2001 jukebox musical film, the musical stage adaptation is a dishy fever dream packed with over 70 iconic pop songs delivered in fresh medleys. The best of Elton John, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, and even The Rolling Stones drive the story with a thrill only found when paired with a tragic love.
The story champions the Bohemian tenets of truth, beauty, freedom, and love while confronting deception, ugliness, poverty, and jealousy. A broke poet named Christian falls for Satine, the star courtesan of Paris’ famous Moulin Rouge nightclub. But the club’s owner, Harold, needs Satine to seduce a wealthy and possessive duke to save the Moulin Rouge from bankruptcy. The popular story takes on new depth thanks to triple-threat talent.
The North American touring company, under the direction of the acclaimed Alex Timbers, choreographed by Sonya Tayeh, stars Jay Armstrong Johnson as Christian and Arianna Rosario as Satine, and features Robert Petkoff as Harold Zidler.
One can enjoy the soundtrack anytime, but it doesn’t come alive until heard in the moment with a full band, with gravity-defying choreography, and the compelling live voices of these wildly talented artists. When I first saw the show on its 2022 San Francisco tour stop, it ended in a four-bow standing ovation. Even as a skeptical purist, I couldn’t deny the electricity in the room. It was theatrical alchemy: pop spectacle fused with cathartic tragedy.
The spectacular-spectacular of Moulin Rouge! The Musical awaits. Is it a fast food ‘Happy Meal’ of the art form or a whole new dish? You be the judge. I say it’s a feast for the eyes, ears, and heart.
Learn more: Tickets are on sale now at BroadwaySD.com, and groups of 10 or more can email Groups@BroadwaySD.com for special access.
