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Aaron Tveit and Jojo in Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Aaron Tveit and Jojo in Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Aaron Tveit & Jojo on Returning to Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Welcome back to Moulin Rouge! The Musical! Tony winner Aaron Tveit and pop star Joanna “JoJo” Levesque have both returned to the celebrated jukebox spectacular for a limited time. Tveit originated the role of leading man Christian when the film-to-stage transfer opened on The Main Stem in 2019. And JoJo reprises her performance of leading lady Satine after playing the character last year.  Entertainment journalist for Spectrum News NY1 Frank DiLella recently caught up with the pair following their first show back to talk headlining Broadway’s biggest party at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.


You both went back to the Moulin Rouge on July 23. How does it feel to be back home?

AARON TVEIT: It was really special. I’ve been so fortunate that I’ve gotten to do this a couple of times. And this might have been the longest time that’s passed since my last time at Moulin Rouge!, so it was that more meaningful.

JOJO: I love it here. The fans of this show are unbelievable. I love everybody who makes this show possible.

Aaron, you keep coming back to Moulin Rouge! What keeps bringing you back?

AT: I’ve never had a show that I was part of the creation of that I had the opportunity to return to, so that has always been interesting and attractive to me. I feel very fortunate that I’ve gotten to do a lot of different things. So to have something like this, where I can go in for a little bit and return, is awesome.

JoJo, why come back for more after your Broadway debut in 2023?

JOJO: Aaron was a big part of my deciding factor to come back. I got the chance to sing with him for one show last year. A crazy thing happened: Derek Klena [Christian at the time] wasn’t feeling well, and both understudies were also out of the show. Aaron happened to be in town, and we ended up doing the evening show together, and it was really fun. So, when I heard he was coming back, I thought it would be so fun to sing with him and have this experience of playing Satine opposite his Christian.

One year strong on Broadway is rare; five years on Broadway and going strong is almost unheard of. What’s the secret behind the longevity of Moulin Rouge!?

AT: I did some concerts recently and I spoke about musical theater as an art form and the escapism that can happen. Some shows are much more realistic and are trying to hold a mirror up, but when it’s escapism in its purist form, I think it’s kind of unmatched. I think not only because people know what the property is and are familiar with the movie, but I think our show also delivers at the same time.

Aaron Tveit and JoJo in <i>Moulin Rouge! The Musical.</i> Photo courtesy of <i>Moulin Rouge! The Musical.</i>
Aaron Tveit and JoJo in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Photo courtesy of Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

Aaron, you’ve been performing in Moulin Rouge! on and off over the last five years. What moment do you look forward to every night?

AT: There are a lot of moments that are wonderful. I walk out in the beginning of the show —it’s the end of the preshow — and every time I step onto the passerelle, I get to take in the audience. The energy that’s in that room every time I step onto the passerelle is palpable. There’s a buzz in the room every single time.

How about you, JoJo?

JOJO: I love when they’re all singing “Chandelier” and I’m the green fairy and I taunt Christian and show what’s going on inside his mind.

Aaron, you’ve been open about how much of a pop fanatic you are. What’s your favorite JoJo song?

AT: “Get Out.” I remember thinking, “How is the girl singing like this?” She also covered an SWV song that I just thought was like — I was like, “OK, here we go! Here we go!” [Laughs.]

JoJo, I need to point out that your entrance is pretty thrilling in this show: You descend from the ceiling on a swing!

JOJO: [Laughs.] That’s really one of the reasons why I wanted to play Satine. I thought, “When will I get to come through the ceiling from any venue?” The moment is so beautiful. Everything about this production — the lighting, the costuming, the grand entrances that Satine gets to have — it’s so much fun and beautiful. It’s still a thrill.

And Moulin Rouge! isn’t your first experience with theater. It’s safe to say you were a “theater kid.”

JOJO: Yes. Theater was my first foray into entertainment. I played young Tommy in a local production of The Who’s Tommy. And I did A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Boston. I’ve always loved theater and the community that comes along with it.

This show is a playlist-slash-jukebox explosion in terms of the tunes that are in the musical. So in keeping with that theme, what’s on your current playlist?

AT: I have lots of Noah Kahan. I’ve been into the new Zach Bryan album. But I also have a summer pop list that’s getting a lot of play, with Hozier, Dua Lipa, Sabrina Carpenter — it’s an eclectic mix.

How about your playlist, JoJo?

JOJO: When I’m getting closer to showtime, I listen to Édith Piaf. I like to get into a French frame of mind. In my personal Joanna time, I’m listening to an artist named Sunni Colon — he’s my favorite artist. I love what he’s doing. It feels so summery, and it puts me at ease.

JoJo, would you say Broadway has made you a better artist?

JOJO: Wow. Absolutely. There’s beauty and madness in repetition. When I think of someone who has been in a show for years, it’s an incredible challenge and skill to keep it fresh. So, for me to come in for 12 weeks, I find joy getting the chance to do the show twice today, matinee and evening, and to do it again several times this week. Doing this reminds me to allow myself to be human. For a lot of my life, I stopped myself short from trying things because I thought if I can’t do it perfectly, I can’t do it. But this aspect of entertainment really sharpens me by being around such amazing performers.

Aaron, it was just announced that you’re part of a new TV series called Earth Abides for MGM+.

AT: I shot it right after I did Sweeney Todd. It’s based on a novel from the late 1940s. And the novel was the first of its genre, this postapocalyptic genre that we’re so familiar with now. The show is about a global pandemic that happened then and that affected humans around the world.

JoJo, speaking of new projects, your memoir, Over the Influence, is coming out in September. Can you explain the title?

JOJO: Addiction has been a thread throughout my life with the way I grew up. Both of my parents identifying as addicts and meeting in AA and coming in and out of that program and struggling, I got to see a lot. And I thought I would never struggle with the same things that they struggled with. I started to look at addiction not as one thing pertaining to one substance, but actually speaking to the root of it, which is this feeling of not being enough or never being able to fill this emptiness inside. It can show up in a bunch of different ways, and it has throughout my life and career. I’ve been — as we all are — influenced by so many different things and people and systems in my life, and including that hungry ghost inside myself that was always hungering for something different and more and never feeling like I fit in. This book is putting that feeling and tying it up in a bow and saying I’m no longer living for the way other people think I should live or think what my career should look like. It’s really all about what sparks joy and what makes me feel alive.

Where does Moulin Rouge! fit into your memoir?

JOJO: It was really a big part of me feeling like I was coming back to life by finding a community and finding an inspiration again and feeling challenged by something, and just having fun.

Aaron, you’ve been with Moulin Rouge! since day one. Is it safe to say this show has changed your life?

AT: I do think the show has changed my life. If you work on something over the course of six years, your life changes too. I think I learned so much about myself as a performer and how to manage the workload of a show like this. But it’s also been interesting to me to come in and out of this show because every version of the show I’ve done, I’ve been a different person. The show has changed my life in a lot of ways, and at the same time, I’ve changed over that time.


Header photo courtesy of Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

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