I think this is the best production I have seen in the last couple of years. It was totally different from Death of a Salesman which I saw last week. The Regent Theatre on Collins Street was the perfect venue for Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge The Musical with its gothic styled lobby and Louis XVI style auditorium. Built in 1929, the Regent was designed by Charles Ballantyne and was a movie theatre or as they were called in those days, a picture palace. It's one of six theatres that make up Melbourne's East End theatre district. The whole place was decked out in red to recreate the famous Moulin Rouge nightclub and take the audience back in time as soon as they stepped off the street and through the doors.

We arrived early and saw some of the actors come out on the stage and start lounging around the incredible set. One of those times when it pays to be early! This production was magnificent. The sets were fantastic, the costumes sublime and the actors brilliant. The choreography was incredible (those dancers, those moves!) and the songs were fabulous - snippets of everything from The Sound of Music to A-ha's Take on Me and Adele's Rolling in the Deep. The lines were used to great effect and the timing was impeccable. It was funny, poignant and heart wrenching. The musical had it all.

I walked out on a post-show high like I haven't experienced since I was in my twenties and first saw Slava's Snow Show in London's West End. If you've got some cash to spare or a birthday coming up, grab tickets fro this brilliant production before it ends in mid November.