A West End spectacular is closing out its UK tour with a stop in Southampton.
Moulin Rouge! The Musical will take to the stage at the Mayflower Theatre this September, featuring Verity Thompson in the lead role as Satine.
Ms Thompson said: "When I got that phone call from my agent, I remember just my heart just burst. It's a role of a lifetime, and I'm so lucky to be doing it."
The high-energy production, known for its glittering costumes and high emotional stakes, features 150,000 gems worn on stage each night.
Ms Thompson said: "I enter the stage descending from the sky, completely covered with diamonds.
"I mean, you cannot get any better than that. It's every girl's and boy's dream. It's a massive pinch-me moment every single night."
She revealed her favourite moment comes during a quieter scene with the song Firework.
She said: "It's a moment where Satine is just by herself in front of a mirror, no fancy costumes, no set, and I just get to sing out to 2,000 people every single night, belting my heart out."
Satine, the glamorous cabaret star at the centre of the story, is a complex character who evolves through the show.
Ms Thompson said: "She learns that love is messy and unpredictable and just crazy.
"And I think that navigating that, where she lets down her guard and lets herself be free, she can just love who she wants to love."
She said the challenge of the role makes it deeply rewarding.
Ms Thompson said: "Because she is such a complex woman, and it's such a difficult track, like it's just like you're on stage all night. She sings, I think, 14 songs, and she has 14 costume changes, and she goes through a whole love story, and she's poorly, and it's just this whole crazy life she's had in the span of two and a half hours.
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"Because it's so challenging, it's so rewarding."
The touring cast has become close throughout their time together.
She said: "We've formed a really fantastic bond together. You just feel so safe up on stage when you have a fantastic on-stage relationship and off-stage relationship."
Nate Landskroner plays Christian, Satine’s love interest, and has played the character since 'day one'.
She said: "These people that we're on tour with are our family.
"So we've got a very, very special bunch of people that just are super, super close."
"I just can't believe I'm here doing this. Little Verity wouldn't even imagine where she is right now."
After Southampton, the Moulin Rouge! tour will continue internationally, beginning with dates across South East Asia.
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