Triad City Beat | Q&A with actor Andrew Brewer, who plays the Duke in the musical Moulin Rouge

Featured Photo: Andrew Brewer as Duke of Monroth (photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade)

Actor Andrew Brewer, 36, plays the Duke of Monroth in the North American Broadway tour. red Mill, which opens Tuesday at the Tanger Center in Greensboro and runs through April 28. The musical, which debuted in 2018, is based on Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film starring Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman. In the film, McGregor plays Christian, a poet who falls in love with Kidman's character, a cabaret performer and courtesan named Satine. During our conversation, Brewer talked about imposter syndrome, self-care, and his favorite role as the show's main antagonist.

How did you get started in musical theater?

I'm from a small town in Indiana and started musical theater in college. I had experienced musical theater before, but I went to a very, very small high school where we had a graduating class of six people, so we didn't really have any shows or anything like that.

When I went to college, I went from teaching math to vocal performance and then to musical theater.

Then I moved to New York in 2011 and started auditioning. The first show I had was Magnificent: Carole King's musical, we actually came to Greensboro on this tour. And then in 2020, the pandemic hit and I started thinking about my career and what I want.

Tell me about this period of your life.

Well, I reevaluated everything in 2020 and decided to go all out. I decided that after the pandemic, I was just going to say yes to everything. I was asked to audition for red Mill in 2019 and didn't hear anything for about six months. But one day I got an answer and I've been on the road since the series started in 2022.

It sounds like you took a non-traditional route into the industry. How has this affected your career?

Yeah, so I was halfway through college and I hadn't played at all. I felt a little late; I wasn't as advanced as my peers. And the other thing about musical theater is that your work ends; whatever show you watch, it has an end date.

We generally work between 8 and 12 weeks in terms of performance. Broadway shows are tricky and can last for years or just a few weeks. There has never been this security. So to have a show like this where they're scheduled over a few years is rare.

Between Beautiful And red Mill, I did not do anything. It was almost four years with nothing, so there's always a bit of imposter syndrome in this business because there's no higher mobility. Your last job is your last job and your career trajectory is not a steady climb; it's always kind of up and down.

When I lived in New York, it was the cliché to be a waiter/actor. It's something I've been doing for a while because it's a job you can float through. I did temporary work, I worked as a night porter, I worked in catering, at conferences; it’s a constant grind. But the trade-off is that I can do what I love; I trade security for joy.

It still seems like extremely difficult work. What do you do to take care of yourself?

We're really lucky, especially with this company, they give us a mental health allowance. We have an HR team; we have an EDI team. So there's a lot of different aspects to this production team and this general management team.

But being on the road is hard, it's constant change. We do eight shows a week and we work on public holidays because those are the busiest times. So you are constantly busy, moving and traveling; you're missing out on a lot of things.

I'm lucky my fiancé is on tour with me and I have my cat. I've given up on flights so we're hitting the road. I have access to an Airbnb instead of a hotel and I cook instead of having to constantly eat out. So as much as I can make it feel like real life and create a constant state of togetherness, that's what I needed to maintain my mental health.

Tell me about the character you play, the Duke of Monroth.

It's really fun for me; I've never really been the bad guy before, so it's a fun ride.

Whenever we talk about the Duke, we discuss the idea that he's not really a bad guy. He has some negative aspects, like the first line he sings is “I got money, that's what I want”. His motivation is to own things. He is attracted to Zigler who wants to find someone who will take care of Satine. But my character has his own ulterior motives, like trying to own the Ziglers club and all its members.

It's great to play. When I auditioned, this was the role I was looking for. There's such a fun aspect to trying to push the audience and make them wonder who to root for.

What is your favorite part of the series?

The technical aspects of the show are really, really amazing. The lighting, the costumes, the set. As an actor, I think playing a character can be made so much easier when you come in and put on this amazing costume. Plus, my entrance is the coolest entrance I've ever had. It makes my work easier.

He won 10 Tonys for a reason. They spared no expense to truly make it an experience.

Then there is the music. There are over 70 best songs, especially for Millennials, many of them are in my wheelhouse, from Fun to Britney Spears to Katy Perry. But there's also some older stuff like Nat King Cole and I singing a Rolling Stones medley. The music makes me smile and it spans 100 years. There is a multitude of music, genres and eras. So it’s as fun an experience for us as it is for the audience.