The stage of the historic Al Hirschfeld Theatre is washed in neon red light, transformed into the bohemian underworld of 19th-century Paris. An enormous elephant perches above house right; the iconic windmill spins above house left. The curtain rises in time with the opening snaps of “Lady Marmalade,” revealing four cabaret dancers in lace and feathers. Harold Zidler emerges, chest puffed and arms wide, to welcome the audience to the Moulin Rouge.
In a dressing room on the seventh floor, Tamrin Goldberg ’12 is watching the show on a monitor in real-time, prepared — at the drop of a hat or the twist of an ankle — to step into one of 10 roles onstage. She is a “swing” for Moulin Rouge! The Musical, the theater term for someone who covers multiple roles in a show if a performer is unable to go on. Her responsibilities include all six “Heels,” the group of high-heeled dancers in the ensemble, as well as all four “Lady Ms,” the famous quartet that bookend the show.
It’s a pressurized position made up of razor-sharp instincts and split-second decisions that not all performers are equipped for. In fact, none have ‘swung’ quite like Goldberg — she is the first in any production of the show to cover the roles of Le Chocolat, Nini, Arabia, and Baby Doll at the same time. In 2024, “Heel Five” planned an absence, and Goldberg took her place onstage, marking her first Broadway performance. 25 people in the audience were there to watch her debut.
“It felt like a culmination of all the work that I’ve done in my career,” Goldberg said. “To be back in New York, where I’ve lived since 2009, and to be able to tell my friends and family to come see this show that’s been such a big part of my life — it was so special.”
Goldberg, a Seattle native, started performing in the basement dance center at her local shopping mall at three-years-old, moving into traditional ballet training at eight and musical theater at 14. She transferred to Barnard as a sophomore, eager to be in New York and to return to the rigor of concert dance. In the department, Goldberg worked with world-class choreographers like Brian Brooks, Sidra Bell, and Kyle Abraham, seizing opportunities to perform at Miller Theater and New York Live Arts.
Katie Glasner, Senior Associate in Dance, still has vivid memories of Goldberg’s creative senior thesis from over a decade ago. At the Minor Latham Playhouse, Goldberg swirled and contracted, taking up all the space she could in the theater, willing to take risks and commit herself fully to the artistic choices she made. “I admire her work as an artist, as an advocate, and as a creative wonder,” Glasner said. “I’m thrilled with the path she’s forging. She's one of the gems of the Dance Department at Barnard, and we’re lucky to have her energy in the performing arts field.”
After graduating with a double major in dance and philosophy, Goldberg embarked on what she calls a “winding road” of small and eclectic shows, teaching gigs, and choreographing stints. In 2013, she co-founded a dance company with fellow alumna Adrianna Aguilar ’13, a chance for the two to cultivate some artistic independence. And then there were the “survival jobs” to make ends meet — becoming a certified yoga instructor; hostessing at a downtown French restaurant; spending summers as a camp counselor at the 92nd Street Y. She met her husband catering, a rare moment of love via food preparation.
It would take another six years for Goldberg to land her first national tour, booking an ensemble role in SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical in 2019. But what felt like the beginning of a new chapter turned out to be a fit of stops and starts — the tour was cut short in spring 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread, throwing most live performances into indefinite pause. Just before the tour was cancelled, Goldberg had auditioned for and booked another national run, Moulin Rouge!, which was set to begin fall 2020. That, too, was shut down.
Rehearsals finally began for the Moulin Rouge! tour two-and-a-half years later. For Goldberg, who had never booked a swing position before, that meant two-and-a-half years of “swing nightmares.” “When my agent called me and offered me this job, I said, ‘That’s great, but will you please call them back and tell them that I’d really rather not swing?’,” said Goldberg. “The production said, ‘She’ll be fine. She can do it.’”
Five weeks of rehearsals taught Goldberg how to prepare for almost anything. For instance, during the tour, there was a show Goldberg was confident she was in the clear for. It was nearing the last 20 minutes, well past the usual point of unexpected problems, so she settled into the green room to eat cookies with the other swings. Then she heard over the intercom: For the rest of the show, Tamrin Goldberg will be playing Heel 2. “I ran to the dressing room,” she remembers. “The wardrobe supervisor was already there. The dance captain comes and is glueing false eyelashes to my eyelids. I got out on stage in three minutes.”
Moulin Rouge! strikes Goldberg on a different, more personal level to most productions. The great tragedy in the show is (spoiler alert) Satine’s “consumption,” a historic term for tuberculosis. Her father, Dr. Stefan Goldberg, is a retired TB researcher, and she grew up feeling a sense of urgency about the disease, which, according to the World Health Organization, is the world’s leading cause of death from an infectious agent despite being both preventable and curable. Through her role, Goldberg has advocated for greater TB awareness, hosting the Treatment Action Group’s “Research in Action Awards” for the last three years.
When the opportunity arose to join Moulin Rouge!’s Broadway cast in 2024, Goldberg — a newly converted swing enthusiast — jumped at it. These days, she comes to the theater in Midtown for the show’s six evening performances, plus two matinées. Goldberg believes she is at the top of her game, despite being in an industry that can feel like a “race against the clock” for dancers. For one, she knows how to take care of herself better, making time for yoga, ballet, and pilates classes, eight hours of sleep, and the New York Times Wordle in the mornings. These wellness routines are essential, she said. After all, Moulin Rouge!’s opening sequence involves doing the can-can in three-inch heels.
Behind the most glittering success stories in the performing arts are often mountains of self-doubt, false starts, injuries, and disappointment. But Goldberg credits an expansive view of what success means with her drive to keep going, even amidst challenges and setbacks. “I feel like I’m an artist that created my own path, not a dancer who needs someone to tell me I’m good enough,” she said. “That’s how I keep doing this. That’s how I feel fulfilled.”