Rangeview High School Graduate Excited To Return To Denver In 'Moulin Rouge! The Musical'

By Kate Housand

DENVER (CBS4)- "Moulin Rouge! The Musical" is taking the stage at the Denver Center of Performing Arts. While theater-goers may be looking forward to seeing the Tony-Award winning musical, one of the performers is likely the most excited to be returning to his hometown.

Rangeview High School Graduate Andrés Quintero is touring with the show and talked with CBS News Colorado about how special it is to be entertaining audiences where he grew up.

"I feel like it's going to be a pretty wild three weeks for me because I grew up in Colorado. I grew up going to the Buell Theatre... [it's] where my love for theater started, where it was cultivated, and to go back to Colorado and to perform on that iconic stage is going to be crazy. So I'm very, very excited."

Quintero shared that there are some differences between the musical and the popular 2001 film of which it's based, but if you loved the movie, the musical is sure to also be a favorite. The movie had an enormous impact on Quintero growing up, so for him, performing in the show is a dream come true.

"It was one of my favorite movies from the moment it came out. I used to watch it literally every single day of my life for the first three years and just being on stage singing these iconic songs, telling the story... I constantly am pinching myself and telling myself 'Is this even reality?' And having to do it in Colorado in front of people that I've known since I was a little kid is going to be my favorite part of this whole experience."

Even more, he says he's eager to visit with the people he loves and make new memories in the area during his downtime.

"Colorado for me, it's family and friends, I still stay in touch with everybody that I went to Rangeview High School with. And, you know, it's about family time. I try to go to Colorado at least twice a year, I'm based in New York, but usually I go during the holidays. It's very rare that I go during the summertime. So this time I'm planning on doing some crazy hiking and I'm going to go to Red Rocks for the first time and see a show for the first time ever."

You can see Quintero in 'Moulin Rouge! the Musical' at the Buell Theatre June 9 through June 26. For tickets, visit https://www.denvercenter.org/.