INTERVIEW: Pepe Muñoz comes out of retirement to dance at the ‘Moulin Rouge’
Photo: From left, Pepe Muñoz and Samantha Dodemaide star in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Photo courtesy of Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade / Provided by BBB with permission.
NEW YORK — When Pepe Muñoz left the world of dance and theater in 2016, he thought his retirement was going to be permanent. He had a wonderful career performing in high-profile shows, including Chicago in the West End and Cats across Europe, but his body was hurting a bit after so many years of dancing. And he wanted to direct his attention to other creative pursuits, including a burgeoning career as a fashion illustrator.
But years after that decision, the pop beats of Moulin Rouge! The Musical transfixed him, and now he finds himself making his Broadway debut in the role of Santiago at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on 45th Street.
“It’s been something that I had put in a box years ago because I thought it would never happen,” Muñoz said in a recent phone interview. “I stopped performing in 2016. I swore that I would never dance again, so suddenly to get this opportunity, it was just very, very unexpected.”
Here’s how the actor made his way back to the stage. Muñoz’s husband, Brayden Newby, earned a spot on the national tour of Moulin Rouge!, a super successful musical, based on the hit film, which tells the story of love and hope at the famed Parisian nightclub. For the national tour, Muñoz would travel with Newby on select dates, enjoying various performances and seeing the different cities of the United States.
“I went to visit him many times, and I promise you, not once I went to see him going, ‘Oh, I wish I was in the show,'” he said. “I was just a proud husband visiting. I was a +1. But then one day, I was unemployed, times were tough, and he said they were looking desperately for a swing to join the tour because one of the swings was leaving. And he covered Santiago, the Argentinian, and they needed somebody who spoke Spanish. So I said, ‘Oh my gosh, am I auditioning for a show? Can I even still dance?’ So I went to the audition, and I got the job. And I toured with my husband for a year.”
Santiago is a key member of the cast, someone who dances his way across the stage of the Moulin Rouge and choreographs the elaborates numbers for the other performers. He’s part of a trio of Bohemians who are trying to have their original show mounted at the nightclub.
“It was a dream,” Muñoz said of the tour. “I mean, we made it together through COVID and through touring together. I think we’re good. We’re set for life. That was so intense. But then in February 2024, I said, ‘You know what. Touring was fun. It was great.’ [Brayden] got transferred to the Broadway company, and I said, ‘You know what, he’s on Broadway. … So we’re all good. It’s time to move on.’ Fast forward to summer 2024, and my agent called and said they were still looking for a Santiago for Broadway. I said, ‘Dammit.’ I said, ‘I’m never going to perform again.’ But I went to the audition, and I got it.”
Now Muñoz can be seen beneath the marquee lights eight times per week, and Newby is also part of the Broadway company. So together the two married performers are making many Broadway memories. That doesn’t mean everything has been easy; performing live this many times per week is still demanding on the body, which is the reason Muñoz retired in the first place.
“It’s been hard because I remember a dancer friend of mine used to say, ‘I wish I had the stamina that I had when I was 18 but the brain that I have right now,’” he said. “So it’s always a fight in the dancing world, in the performance world. You want to have the body of a 20-year-old, but a 20-year-old doesn’t dance like a 40-year-old. It’s just a fight, trying to find that balance, but for me what’s hard is trying to keep it fresh every day because we do eight shows a week. So [in retirement] I went back to having a normal life where I would have dinner with my friends. I had my weekends off, and now it’s back to that performance schedule, which is what I find the most challenging. But I get to play with a ridiculously talented cast that makes me laugh until I cry, so I get to work and laugh and have fun.”
Muñoz has brought a unique approach to the Santiago character. Although Muñoz is from Spain, and the character is from Argentina, the actor sees them as cousins, and he tries to rely on his own knowledge and experiences to inform how he portrays the character on stage.
“It’s super interesting because Santiago is Argentinian; however, some of the music in the show is very flamenco inspired,” he said. “South America is heavily Spanish influenced, so I feel that I’m trying to pay tribute to a wonderful country that is Argentina and their culture, but also bringing a little bit of the Spaniard in me because I was born and raised in Spain. … So I try to put on an Argentinian accent, which is very specific. Spanish-speaking people will understand. There are very specific sounds they make, so I try to do that. … Even the costume, I look like my dad. There’s a picture of my dad in a bolero jacket from years ago. I put on the costume, and I go, ‘Oh my goodness. I’m like my dad.’ So I just try to put in my heritage and my culture, even though I wasn’t born in Argentina, but I think somehow all of us countries are cousins in a way.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Moulin Rouge! The Musical, featuring Pepe Muñoz, continues at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Broadway. Click here for more information and tickets.
