SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 7, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — As “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” continues its run at the Eccles Theater, we spoke to Utah native Libby Lloyd, who plays Lady M dancer Nini in the show.
“Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” which is the winner of 10 Tony Awards®, goes through Sunday, Dec. 11 and tickets are available here.
Baz Luhrmann’s revolutionary film comes to life onstage, remixed in a new musical mash-up extravaganza. Directed by Tony Award winner Alex Timbers, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” is a theatrical celebration of truth, beauty, freedom, and love.
You can read Gephardt Daily’s review of the show here.
Lloyd was born and raised in Kaysville, Utah, as the youngest of five kids. She played a variety of sports growing up, and in her teens, found her love of dance. She enjoyed countless hours of training in ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, tap, and modern at her local studio, while also assisting at dance conventions nationwide.
She spent two years dancing with the Cougarette Dance Team at Brigham Young University, winning three national titles, two in the Open Dance category and one in Hip Hop. At the end of her sophomore year she honed her technique at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, before returning to BYU to complete her BFA in the Music Dance Theatre Program.
Lloyd has since appeared as a member of the original cast of “Diana” as the understudy for Diana and the swing, understudying the female ensemble roles. Off-Broadway, Lloyd appeared in “The Wrong Man” at the MCC Theater, has done shows at Tuacahn Amphitheater and Musical Theatre Wichita, and was also featured in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” on Amazon Prime Video.
To see the podcast, click below.
DAISY: I wanted to ask you, first of all, just being a Utah native, how did you get your love for theater and dance? How did that come about?
LIBBY: Oh man, so my family has always been very musical, like whenever we would have road trips, we would be singing “One Day More” from “Les Mis.” Like every child; I’m the youngest of five kids, so every child and parent had their own part. So it’s always been a part of our family. But I didn’t start actually doing musicals until junior high. I went to Fairfield Junior High in Kaysville, Utah. And yeah, my sister did the school musicals, and I was like, wow, I really want to do that, that looks like so much fun. So yeah, there was a really great theater program; my first theater teacher, Janet Loureiro, she was awesome and really instilled the love of theater in me. Yeah, so I’d say that’s how it probably started.
DAISY: I also read that you spent a couple of years dancing with the Cougarette Dance Team at BYU and I wondered, now you’re a professional, did that experience prepare you pretty well, to kind of go pro?
LIBBY: Oh, 100%, Cougarettes was so challenging, in all the best ways. We would learn halftime routines for like basketball games or football games the same day and then we would perform it that night. So just being able to pick up choreography quickly and pick it up correctly, and clean, and have all the details immediately so that we could then go like a few hours later and perform it in front of thousands and thousands of people in these massive stadiums. That really prepared me for auditions in musical theater.
If you have a dance audition, often you go into a room of 40 people well, pre-pandemic, we would go into a room of 40 people, and you learn it just on the spot right then and then audition minutes later, like you learn it in maybe 20 minutes and then audition in groups of three. So yeah, Cougarettes definitely prepared me for that aspect and then also just the grind of practices all the time; waking up early for our own practices and nationals but then also simultaneously performing at games and being busy and using your body. You definitely have to learn how to pace yourself and Cougarettes helped me with that for sure.
DAISY: How did how did your upbringing here… what was the journey to being cast in Moulin Rouge and I was also wondering, what was the audition process like for Moulin Rouge? Is it your first tour?
LIBBY: Yeah, first tour. I moved to New York in January of 2019. And in that year, I performed Off-Broadway in a musical called “The Wrong Man.” Beautiful, beautiful show. Our creative team, a few people were from the creative team of “Hamilton” and then after that was the pandemic, world shut down. Really, I felt like what am I ever going to do? Is this going to be my life? Like, this is so sad, and then 2021, so last fall, I was in “Diana: The Musical.”
DAISY: That must have been amazing.
LIBBY: Really, really fun. And I was the understudy for Diana and was a swing for the ensemble; swing, meaning you basically understudy every single female ensemble part. So that was my my job with “Diana.”
DAISY: Did you get to go on as Diana by the way?
LIBBY: I didn’t get to go on as Diana, I still hold some sadness. I didn’t get to do it. But I did get to go on in one of my swing parts on closing night. That was my Broadway debut, was on closing night.
DAISY: Was it amazing?
LIBBY: Yeah, crazy. It was a whirlwind. But yeah, so sadly, “Diana” closed in December of 2021. I came home for the holidays. I was like all bummed out. And then when we went back to New York, me and my husband went back to New York. I had an audition for “Moulin Rouge” come up. And it was like, really last minute. I auditioned on a Tuesday, and we started rehearsals on Monday. So six days later. Part of the the tour, cast as Nini.
DAISY: Oh my gosh. That must have been really exciting.
LIBBY: Oh, yeah, very exciting. Very big news, and I was originally auditioning for the Broadway company to be a swing and understudy Nini. So it’s really special that my audition went well enough they wanted me to play the role in the tour.
DAISY: And so who will the show appeal to? It seems like it’s a great party and probably not for kids.
LIBBY: I mean, it depends on your own point of view, I mean we’ve had plenty of kids in the audience. Just depends on your own thoughts. Some things I think we’ll go right over kids heads, honestly. And it’s more just like it’s a spectacle. So they’re very entertained. We actually had the cutest little kid in the front row in Costa Mesa, he had on like a sweater button-up, just into it the whole time. So, parents’ discretion; it is about the Moulin Rouge! So it’s up to each each individual but it definitely, it’s a fun show. I think everyone can find something that they resonate with in this show, and find someone on stage that looks like them. We have really, really good representation on stage, different body types, different skin types, different backgrounds. It’s it’s a really special show, and it’s so much fun.
DAISY: That’s what I was thinking when I was watching the trailers. I was like, oh, you guys just must have a blast doing that every day.
LIBBY: I tell people this all the time, but it’s like a roller coaster; like you get you get ready and you’re like, oh my gosh, this is this is a lot, like the very beginning me and the three other Lady M’s, Lady Marmalades, we start the show, and we’re always like up there like okay, it’s time to start the show and right before we’re all like okay, like having to pump ourselves up. But then once it starts, you just go, and it’s so much fun and the music is so entertaining and the lighting and the costumes and it really is spectacular.
DAISY: Do you have a favorite moment?
LIBBY: Oh, I have three, three favorites. The very beginning of the show when the bass drops and we start the classic “Lady Marmalade” song, and just that like moment is always really exciting. And then the top of Act Two is my feature, “Bad Romance,” “Backstage Romance.” It’s a really, really fun number that starts with just me and Santiago on stage and builds into this huge group ensemble number that’s like amazing choreography, amazing dancing, great storytelling. The lighting’s crazy. It’s a rock concert. So that’s really fun. And then a special moment for me is “Roxanne.” The first time I saw it on Broadway I was like I want to do that, and now I get to. So, I love “Roxanne.”
DAISY: And what’s touring life like? Do you enjoy it?
LIBBY: Yeah, there’s, there’s positives and there’s negatives. It’s it’s hard to you know, not have like one stable home base. But it’s amazing to be seeing all these different cities and and not just like seeing them for a weekend vacation. It’s like no, we’re here for an extended period of time. So you can really get a feel for what that city is like, would I ever want to live here? And each city has something different to offer which is really cool. Different energy, style. I love to see like the different architecture in every city. Food. There’s always amazing food. So yeah, it’s it’s been really exciting. And I’m really, really lucky and blessed that my husband is able to work remote, so he’s with me on tour.
DAISY: Oh, that’s amazing, how nice.
LIBBY: It’s really, really nice.
DAISY: And I’m assuming because this is your home state that you’re going to have people going crazy in the audience, because your family and friends are coming, I would have thought?
LIBBY: My parents got a group together for next Wednesday, of like 40 plus people, oh my gosh, there’s gonna be so many people. But yeah, every single night I have somebody that’s told me they’re going to be there so gotta give it every every performance is going to be good.
DAISY: And then when when that when you come off this tour, what what are some of the other roles that are on your bucket list that you’d like to play?
LIBBY: People always ask me this and it’s so hard for me to say. Nini is a bucket list role, it really is, to get to do all three things like to really dance, to really sing, and have these scenes, like intimate scenes. So this one, has been amazing. I’m like, where do I go from here? But I’ve always said that I would love to originate a role, in a like original Broadway show. So hopefully there’s something that’s being created. That’s right for me and I can put my own spin on it that that’s the ultimate goal. Yeah, there’s always new shows coming to Broadway and I hope to be a part of one of those. I mean, “Diana,” I got to be part of it. But to like, be the main part or a featured part in the new musical would be amazing.
DAISY: And I should mention, so for tickets, I’ll just reiterate. You’re at the Eccles Theater through Sunday, December 11. And tickets at saltlakecountyarts.org or at 801-355-2787. And it’s so nice to talk to you Libby. Enjoy the rest of the run.
LIBBY: Awesome, awesome. Thanks for taking the time to talk.
DAISY: Yeah, absolutely. Have a great day and enjoy the show tonight.
