The first show on Broadway Courtney Reed saw was the one she was cast in.
“I auditioned in Chicago, and I thought it was for the touring company of ‘Mamma Mia!’ and it was for the Broadway company,” she said. “The agent called me the next day essentially after my callback and said “Do you want to be on Broadway?’
“I think I proceeded to jump up and down and scream for like an hour and call every person that I knew. I moved to New York two weeks later and was at my first rehearsal at the Winter Garden Theatre in the center of Times Square.”
Since then she has had other roles on the Great White Way, including originating the role of Jasmine in the stage version of Disney’s “Aladdin.” Now though, the former Elgin resident is back home in Windy City, starring as the courtesan Satine in the touring production of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” which opened March 19 and runs through May 14 at the James M. Nederlander Theatre in Chicago. The stage music is adapted from the 2001 film starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.
“I am such a fan of (the film’s director) Baz Luhrmann and his work, the visuals are so stunning, and I think ‘Moulin Rouge!’ does such a good job at honoring his vision for the onstage musical,” said Reed, who grew up watching Luhrmann’s “Strictly Ballroom” and “Romeo + Juliet.” “I also feel, I’m like ‘pinch me, I can’t believe I get to play Satine in the first national tour.'”
Reed said she feels like the cast and crew are creating a new show together, even though it already exists. Some slight changes to the set and blocking are necessary for the touring version, which opened in Chicago.
“If you’re a big ‘Moulin Rouge!’ movie person, you’ll hear a lot of the same classics from the film, which are ‘Come What May,’ ‘Your Song’ by Elton John. ‘The Elephant Love Medley,’ a lot of it’s sort of the same, but then they add all of these new artists,” she said. “Sia, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Rihanna. They’re all represented in the show. A lot of these tunes are very familiar. Then you also have ‘Roxanne’ from the film.
“So you’re getting the best of both worlds. If you don’t know anything about this musical or the movie, you’ll love it because you’ll recognize all of the tunes. It’s not random indie stuff. It’s big, No. 1 smash hits that are morphed into this really incredible love story. It’s so feel good, I love it so much.”
The 37-year-old Elgin native earned her first stage credit when she was 6 years old. After seeing her sister Tiffany Kendziora in a Children’s Theatre of Elgin production of “Snow White,” she asked her parents if she could get involved.
“I just wanted to do everything she did.” Reed said.
Her first role was playing a mouse in the Elgin troupe’s “Cinderella,” a role that, coincidentally, Reed’s niece is currently playing in the Children’s Theatre of Elgin production of “Ella … A Modern Cinderella Story.”
“I did Children’s Theatre of Elgin, which really had me falling in love with being an actor. That was the moment I knew I wanted to be an actor for the rest of my life. My poor parents, they were like, ‘What?'” she laughed. “I did community theater for many years and fell in love with it.”
Allison Cherry, artistic director with Children’s Theatre of Elgin, grew up with Reed and they were childhood friends through the troupe. She remembers Reed playing Abu in “Aladdin,” Sebastian in “The Little Mermaid” and the title role of “Annie.”
“She was always very humble about everything and I have memories of at an ‘Annie’ audition her pulling me into the bathroom at ECC (Elgin Community College) and asking me ‘does this sound good for my audition?'” Cherry said.
“Courtney was your typical theater kid like we all were — sweet, funny, goofy, talented,” Cherry said. “And you see it in these kids now. Theater kids are definitely a brand of silliness.”
Cherry noted there is actually another former Children’s Theatre of Elgin member in this touring production of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical.” Denzel Tsopnang is a member of the ensemble.
“It’s kind of cool that there’s two CTE alumni in this traveling Broadway production,” Cherry said.
After Children’s Theatre of Elgin, Reed later went to Larkin High School Visual and Performing Arts Academy in Elgin. From there, she went to the theater conservatory of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
“It was Chicago where I had my first big break. I auditioned for “Mamma Mia!” and it took me to New York and I had never seen Broadway show and I had never been to New York City and here I was, moving two weeks later to the Big Apple to make my Broadway debut,” she said. “That’s kind of where it all began.”
It was in 2014 that Reed originated the role of Princess Jasmine in the Broadway adaptation of Disney’s animated film “Aladdin.” She would play the role for four years and later reprise it in London’s West End production.
“It was so, so exciting, yet also very scary at the same time,” Reed said. “Because I think that was the first time I was really in the limelight in that way and I really wanted to honor this beloved character in such a way that everyone felt like it was being portrayed accurately.
“I do realize that, you can’t make everyone happy. I learned a lot of life lessons during that show. I think overall the show is such a success and people just loved it. I actually got to see it recently in New York, because when I was there, a friend of mine had taken over for Jasmine and I went and saw the show,” she said.
“So many memories and still moved by the story. And it’s got such a good life lesson: be true to yourself, don’t lie, know who you are and appreciate who you are. I feel so lucky to be a part of the history of that show.”
After 11 years in New York, Reed moved back to Chicago a few months after the pandemic shut down Broadway theaters.
“It feels very surreal,” she said of being living and performing where she grew up. “I haven’t been in the theater scene here since college. That was a long time ago. So it does feel very surreal and just so right at the same time. I’m just so grateful.”
Reflecting back on her time with Children’s Theatre of Elgin with fondness for “the community culture of it,” saying “it becomes your second family almost” that comes together to make a show.
“I loved the onstage moments, but I loved the offstage moments as well. The dressing room shenanigans, putting the makeup and costumes on, singing with the orchestra for the first time. It’s all of those things that I still really enjoy,” she said
It’s the same with those involved in this production of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” she said.
“All of this company, this team, has to work together to make the show work. If you lose one person, that’s it, it doesn’t work. It takes a whole team to put together and make it happen. I love that part. I love the family and community of it all.”
Last summer she gave back to Children’s Theatre of Elgin, taking the time to meet with a student who was playing another Disney princess.
“We just did ‘Beauty and the Beast’ over the summer and she had a one-on-one with my young actress who played Belle, just to help get her into that Disney princess — to find herself, to find her Belle. One Disney princess to another,” Cherry said. “It was really neat for the young girl who was a junior or senior in high school just to be talking to somebody who (played) a Disney princess. That was a really neat experience for her, and she’s always been willing to do stuff like that.”
Asked what kind advice she would give to those in children’s theater, she stressed the importance of being kind.
“Working really hard on your craft is one thing and I think that’s sort of a given. I think if you’re really driven and you really want to pursue acting as a career, I think the drive is already there,” Reed said. “But you can’t forget about being a good person.
“A lot of this business relies on connections and knowing people and word-of-mouth. And if it gets around that you’re not a nice person and you’re not easy to work with or you’re kind of a diva or whatever that is, it gets around and I think that would prevent you from really moving forward in your career …
“At the end of the day it’s more than your talent. You are more than your talent and if you spread positive energy and you’re a good person, that is really going to get you so far. Because at the sort of level we’re at, everyone is ridiculously talented.
“What’s going to put you above the rest is how you are as a person and how you behave backstage and onstage. But really backstage and how you interact with everyone. You want to spread your light and not the darkness.”
‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’
When: through May 14
Where: Broadway in Chicago’s James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph, Chicago
Tickets: Start at $52.50
Information: 800-775-2000; broadwayinchicago.com
Kathy Cichon is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.