In a world ablaze with cultural division comes a timeless Broadway production whose characters consistently demonstrate that deep within the heart of zany chaos, it’s truly all about our search for love.
Based on a book about a Parisian cabaret, circa 1889, by Tony-Award winner John Logan, the Moulin Rouge story has already accumulated 10 Oscar nominations, with two wins (based on Baz Luhrmann’s film), 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, two Drama League Awards, five Drama Desk Awards and 20 Outer Critics Circle Awards based on the stage play.
Pop the cork because Moulin Rouge! The Musical is coming back, remixed with a celebration of 160 years of music, from Offenbach to Lady Gaga, and with a stellar cast directed by Tony Award winner Alex Timbers.
Tickets are going fast for the limited, two-week run in SoCal as the touring production of the Broadway musical opens at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa (October 28–November 2, 2025) and then the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles (November 4–November 16, 2025).
“Euphoric! In Moulin Rouge! The Musical, life is beautiful,” raves The New York Times.
And after a long and brilliant career on the way to center stage, New Jersey-born Bobby Daye will step into the white-hot spotlight of velvet dreams as Harry Zidler, the host of the Moulin Rouge, during its run at Segerstrom this week.
Set in the turn of the century Montmartre Quarter of Paris, Moulin Rouge! The Musical brings to life a world of “indulgent beauty and unparalleled extravagance, of Bohemians and aristocrats.”
Zidler takes center stage under the scarlet and gold marquee with the challenge of managing the constant chaos, as the musical explores the fictional story of Christian, an ambitious yet lovesick writer, and dazzling Satine, a beautiful singer who works at the club.
Daye, as Zidler, must relate to it all, including interspersed appearances from time worn characters like Toulouse-Lautrec, the greatest tango dancer, and gigolo, in all of Paris, Santiago, the tempting Nini, and the billionaire Duke of Monroth, the wealthy and entitled patron of Moulin Rouge who believes he can use his money to buy anything he wants, including love.
“The main message about Moulin Rouge is about finding true love and recognizing true love,” Daye said in an interview this week with ENE.
“A true love doesn’t come from just trying to find somebody who’s rich or, you know, just trying to get out of a city,” he said, “you never know when love is going to hit you. That’s what happened with Satine and Christian. They didn’t know this was going to happen. Love will happen when you least expect it,” said Daye.
“And I think that’s a message that people, you know, people gravitate to because a lot of people are searching for love, you know, and even when they’re in love, they want to love like that (Christian and Satine), that is just pure, and they want to find where that is in their relationships.”
Daye has prepared well for this leading role in one of Broadway’s most enduring productions. In 2019, he was the understudy of Danny Burstein, who won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Zidler and said the role was “one of the most challenging” he had ever undertaken.
“I watched what Danny did in the show, I watched what he did, you know, physically but emotionally, but I can’t do what Danny does. He is an original person. He can only bring what Danny Burstein brought to that character. I can only bring my life experiences to the character,” said Daye.
In fact, Daye now teaches in his off-stage moments. He is famous for telling young actors that “the most original thing you can bring to an audition is yourself.”
Daye has much to offer. An accomplished songwriter and recording artist, he and his writing partner, Michael Feinstein have written songs for “The Young and The Restless” and many other shows, and he often performs concerts when not acting on stage.
As soon as he was old enough, Daye left New Jersey with a dream of his own. Although he’s finally at the top of the bill, it wasn’t always like that. In fact, he remembers, it was rarely like that.
“I wound up playing piano bars on 41st Street in New York for a long time,” he said. When finally offered a tryout for an off-Broadway production, “I didn’t even have a headshot. I literally had to draw one (Daye is an artist as well). “Seriously, I drew mine and got the part.”
As his career began to grow, his dad and mom were still there for him.
“It helps to have a good support system,” he said, noting that his dad just passed away in June. Daye says even when he got an early part as a woman, his dad would charter a bus, round up all his retired policemen friends and their wives and bring them to see his son performing.
“That’s just the way he was.”
As he steps into the spotlight, Daye said he will focus less on the audience than the chaos going around him as he becomes immersed in juggling the beautiful confusion that is Moulin Rouge.
In a world full of chaos and meanness, Daye says the hit Broadway play will again resonate with those desperately searching for love. Moreover, says Daye, he is living proof to others that one should never give up on their dreams.
“Sometimes you just have to follow your own instincts and follow your own dreams, even if you have to draw your own headshot.”
Ticket info available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (714) 556-2787.