Moulin Rouge! The Musical announces new West End cast as it turns five
by Best of Theatre Staff on in Cast Changes and Announcements
Moulin Rouge! The Musical turns five at the Piccadilly Theatre this autumn, and marks it with a substantially refreshed company. From 12 October, James Doherty takes over as Harold Zidler and Daniel Fraser as The Duke.
Global Creatures has announced a new West End company for Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which reaches its fifth birthday at the Piccadilly Theatre this autumn. The changes take effect from Monday 12 October 2026.
Karis Anderson and Alistair Brammer stay put at the top of the bill as Satine and Christian. Around them, two of the production's biggest supporting roles change hands: James Doherty, whose credits include Come From Away, becomes the club's impresario Harold Zidler, while Daniel Fraser, seen previously in Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, plays The Duke.
Richard Lloyd King continues as Toulouse-Lautrec, with Ivan De Freitas as Santiago and Lindsey Tierney as Nini. Joining them are Nick Len (Matilda the Musical) as Baby Doll and Billie-Kay (Kinky Boots) as Arabia, alongside Athena Collins as La Chocolat and Angela Marie Hurst as Alternate Satine.
Completing the company are Gabriela Acosta, Andy Barke, Callum Bell, Alexandros Beshonges, Emily Bolland, Taylor Bradshaw, Robson Broad, Lucy Campbell, Bethany Chan, Lucia Coleman, Katie Deacon, James Davies-Williams, Kelly Downing, Onyemachi Ejimofor, Myles Hart, Annabelle Laing, Holly Liburd, PaddyJoe Martin, Jacob McLay Reid, Jago Mottart, Marios Nicolaides, Ben Rutter, Hassun Sharif, Jamie Shields, Risha Tavernier, Kalila Khan, Hakeem Tinubu and Tija Tkalcevic.
The musical is drawn from Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film, which premiered at Cannes and went on to eight Oscar nominations, Best Picture among them, winning two. Its story turns on Christian, a penniless American writer who falls for Satine, the star attraction of the Montmartre nightclub, and on the two men standing in the way: Zidler, who runs the place, and the Duke of Monroth, a patron accustomed to buying whatever catches his eye. The writer's answer, hatched with the painter Toulouse-Lautrec and the tango dancer Santiago, is to stage something spectacular enough to rescue the club and win her.
Alex Timbers directs, from a book by John Logan, with choreography by Sonya Tayeh and music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Justin Levine. The design team is Derek McLane (sets), Catherine Zuber (costumes), Justin Townsend (lighting), Peter Hylenski (sound), David Brian Brown (wig and hair design), Sarah Cimino (make-up design) and Matt Stine (music producer). Casting is by Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting.
The show has now played to more than 14 million people across 15 productions worldwide and holds ten Tony Awards. Besides London it is running in New York, on a North American tour, in Germany, Korea and the Netherlands, on a world tour, and in non-replica stagings in Scandinavia and Italy. Hamburg opens in November 2026, and the production returns to Sydney in March 2027.