by Jonathan Gramling

While Reneé Marie Titus, who plays Le Chocolat in the musical Moulin Rouge now being performed at the Overture Center, was drawn to the sciences as a field of study, it was the performing arts that eventually won her heart.

Born and raised in the Caribbean nation of Trinidad & Tobago, Titus naturally was a part of community rhythms and life.

“I was in choir all through school,” Titus said. “We had these things called Storytelling competitions. They were basically monologuing. And I have just been doing that my entire life.”

Titus headed to New York City for college, not with dreams of performing on Broadway but with dreams to become a scientist.

“I didn’t go to school for musical theater,” Titus said. “I went to John Jay College to study forensic science. But I have been singing and acting my whole life. I took a music class naturally and my professor there, I guess, saw my talent. She was like, ‘What are you doing? I think musical theater would be a great field for you.’ She was an opera singer and she took me under her wing. I trained privately with her for many, many years. I was just immersed in everything Broadway and musical theater. And I fell in love with it honestly.”

Apparently Titus didn’t do the starving artist route for she landed a role in The Festival of The Lion King in Hong Kong Disneyland.

“It was so awesome to be in the Lion King production in Hong Kong,” Titus said. “I was there for six months doing The Lion King out there. It was so amazing. I portrayed The Storyteller, which is basically like the Rafiki characters. You get to sing Circle of Life and all of that stuff.”

Titus came back to be a part of the national tour of The Color Purple to be the Swing actress, someone who prepares for several roles in case they are needed to fill in for one of the regular cast members.

“I covered six of the female casts,” Titus said. “It was a beast. I respect anyone and everyone who does it. I actually loved it. I had to be ready to do six different characters at any given time. You have to be ready to go. The first time that I had to go on as a swing, I actually went on as Celie, which is the lead role. And I didn’t have a put-in or anything. A put-in is when they have a rehearsal as you go into the role and you get to do everything basically run the entire show with costumes and everything. I didn’t get the opportunity to do that. I just had to go on and do the costumes on the go. It was great. It was nerve-wracking and exhilarating all at once.”

Titus has remained gainfully employed. She has done some  regional theater like a production of The Rock of Ages, Head over Heels, and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. And then she got a request to audition.

“I actually got the self-tape request,” Titus said. “My agent sent me the self-tape request because they were looking for a La Chocolat. It was really such a quick process. I sent in the tape and got the call back. Call back was like a dance movement call back. And then I got the offer like a day or two after that. It was like a week or two.”

Moulin Rouge is a love story and tragedy set in a Parisian cabaret at the dawn of the 20^th Century.

“Moulin Rouge is a love story between Christian and Satine,” Titus said. “And also the love of Moulin Rouge and everyone who loves this place and what it means to them. We don’t stray too far from the movie, not far from that plot. But we do like to think of ourselves as our own thing. But in its essence, it is just a beautiful love story.”

Titus plays Le Chocolat, one of the four Lady Ms who are cabaret dancers in the play and help create continuity for the play.

“They are like the personification of the Moulin Rouge,” Titus said. “They start the show. They start it off with a bang. They introduce you to the world of Moulin Rouge so you know what you are in for. And then they end the show and tie everything into a nice little bow. La Chocolat I feel is Zidler’s — Moulin Rouge’s manager — right-hand woman. She is kind of like the business woman of the group. She handles the day-to-day work and the money. She collects the money and pays the girls. She is almost like the mother figure of the group.”