They Discovered Their Superpowers Playing Iconic Roles In ‘Moulin Rouge!: The Musical’
Moulin Rouge! The Musical has a new dynamic duo. Just last month Solea Pfeiffer and John Cardoza took on the roles of Satine and Christian in the ten-time Tony-winning musical set in Monmartre, Paris in 1899.
Playing at the Al Hirschfeld Theater, since 2019, Moulin Rouge! tells the tale of two artists, Satine and Christian, who long to be together, but are faced with big time roadblocks. Satine, the star of the Moulin Rouge just might be able to save the theater from financial ruin if she falls for the Duke of Monroth. But her true love is for Christian, a penniless composer. Even while they value truth, beauty, freedom, and most importantly, love, life's realities pull for their attention.
Directed by Alex Timbers, with a book by John Logan, choreography by Sonya Tayeh and music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements by Justin Levine, the sultry show is inspired by the 2001 Oscar-winning film. Moulin Rouge! features an eclectic score including songs from the Police, Rihanna, Sia, Adele, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and on and on.
For Pfeiffer, who has starred on stage in Almost Famous, Hadestown, Hamilton, Hamlet, Evita and most recently in the world premiere of Florence Welch and Martyna Majok's Great Gatsby, the role of Satine had been on her radar for years.
"Early on, people told me, 'that would be a great part for you.' So in the back of my mind I wondered if it would ever happen. When you are 5'10" and sing really big, there's an element of larger than life-ness that this role requires," says Pfeiffer. "If I think about all the roles that I've played in my life, Satine is a bit of an amalgamation of all of them."
Meanwhile, Cardozo had a different journey to the show. He remembers seeing Moulin Rouge! when it opened and being amazed. But it didn't cross his mind that the musical could be right for him. "At the time, I felt too small and young. I didn't believe I was taking up a lot of space in my life, but have since come to find that Christian is also coming into his own in the world," says Cardoza who most recently created the role of Younger Noah in the Broadway musical the Notebook and made his broadway debut in Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill.
After working on several other shows he got a text message from David Harris, who plays the Duke of Monroth in the show and had worked with Cardoza. "Have you ever thought about doing Moulin Rouge!?," asked Harris. Ultimately, Cardoza was cast in the national tour where he played Christian for six months.
"I had the absolute blessing of opening the Notebook on Broadway this past year. But I hoped that someday I would have the chance to return to Christian and continue the excavation of character that I had begun on the road," says Cardoza. "And lo and behold, the opportunity arose."
For Pfeiffer it also seems like the ultimate time to play Satine. "Everything that I've done thus far has perfectly prepared me for this moment," says Pfeiffer. "I get to explore many pieces of myself in this role and show what I can do."
She's also completely enamored with the character. "Satine is someone who shows up for the people she loves. She is tasked with the kind of impossible situation of choosing the person who makes her happy versus the person who will allow to keep the lights on. There's something very valiant about trying to pursue both," she says. "Satine is so imperfect and flawed. But at the end of the day, she wants simple things—for people who she loves to be safe and aim for happiness. And that is a beautiful way to live my life too."
Pfeiffer and Cardoza also find their working partnership to be beautiful. They deeply rely on and respect one another "It's a blessing to be in a high pressure opportunity like this with someone who has the same philosophy towards life, people and work," says Pfeiffer. "We came into this with the utmost seriousness, but we also love having a good time and could get a martini on a Wednesday night if that's what we need."
Cardoza agrees. "It's important to me that the art of what we do is respected. But that can become very weighty. So Solea walks this perfect line of taking things seriously and also reminding me how unserious it can be," he says. "I'm grateful to have a partner who I respect and respects me in turn. I feel lucky to share this moment with her."
Jeryl Brunner: What was one of the first times you sang?
Solea Pfeiffer: From the moment that I started singing, it became the main compass in my life. When I went to summer camp and sang a little bit I thought, oh I like this and would sing for my parents. At 14 I started taking lessons and was lucky to have amazing programs and teachers who kept pushing me. I would sing songs from Beyoncé, Mariah Carey and the Queen, Audra McDonald.
John Cardoza: I didn't start taking voice lessons until I got to college, which felt like a real unlocking of so many things. But when I was younger I would sing anything that I heard. My greatest hits were "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "My Heart Will Go On."
My dad worked at a middle school in our hometown in Southeastern Massachusetts and during summers he would have to go to work and bring my sister and I, who were very young. We would wreak havoc around this empty middle school. One day a teacher came into his office saying, "we can't find any of the custodial staff." It turned out that I rounded them up and brought them into the auditorium to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for them.
Brunner: You both have such expressive and powerful voices when you sing. How does singing make you feel?
Pfeiffer: I'm so happy that my life gets to revolve around singing. It's crazy to think that for the past decade I have paid my rent doing this. If only I could tell my 10-year-old self, you get to do what you love every day.
Singing connects soul to air. One of the coolest things about musical theater is getting to connect songs to real emotion in life and storytelling. Also, I love that I can make people feel deeply with this thing that we all have in us. It can be very stressful when your livelihood revolves around this delicate part of your body. But then I take the time to hone my technique.
Cardoza: There was a time when I was going from school into the professional world and singing became more stressful than it was joyful. Your livelihood begins to depend on this very delicate part of your voice and what people think of it. There was a period where I had to take a step back and remember why I fell in love with it when I was younger.
There is a part of your soul that you can share through singing that can't be shared any other way. I this image in my head, and it's very woo woo, but I lean into it whenever I'm feeling stressed about my voice. The most joyful thing that I can think about is sitting around a campfire with a group of friends, throwing my head back and letting out sound. That is what I want to feel when I'm singing—whatever it is you are feeling in your body, mind and heart. Just let that fly. Singing is a superpower and I want to share that piece of myself with anybody who happens to be listening.
Brunner: What qualities do your characters have that you adore?
Pfeiffer: I love that Satine is a fighter. This is a character who came from a really rough upbringing and made herself something untouchable. Also, for anyone who loves glamour, makeup and getting dressed up there can be power or armor in that femininity.
Cardoza: I love Christian's approach to life and his sense of wonder and curiosity. He believes that his vulnerability and truth is his power. Christian fights against a world that is becoming disenchanted and jaded. There's a line at the top of the show where Toulouse-Lautrec says to him, "The world will always try to grind you under its feet. We mustn't let it. We must rise up."
To hear that now and lean into that energy is something I really admire and strive to lean into—no matter how dark the world around me feels. And I love Christian's dedication to community, revolution and the pillars of bohemian values: truth, beauty, freedom, and love.
