Description
The Moulin Rouge is the cabaret with the red windmill on its roof, on Boulevard de Clichy at Place Blanche, at the foot of Montmartre in the Pigalle district: the birthplace of the modern can-can, and a byword for Belle Époque Paris nights since 1889.
The first thing to see is outside, and free: the red windmill on the roof, set on a facade with oval dormer windows, designed in the 1920s by a set designer of just 20, Gesmar, and the venue's emblem ever since.
Inside, the show is a grand revue of music, dancers and quick changes of scenery, built around the French cancan, which has stayed at the heart of every show. Since 1963 every revue has had a title starting with F, from Frou-Frou to Féerie, on stage since 1999.
The auditorium keeps much of the romance of Belle Époque France: its decor, designed in the 1950s when the hall was renovated, has survived almost unchanged. Over the years it was enlarged and even fitted with a giant aquarium for aquatic ballets.
The Moulin Rouge opened in 1889 as a place where workers, artists, businessmen, elegant women and tourists could mix. In its garden stood a huge elephant, and its dance floor launched the can-can, an energetic dance born from the quadrille and danced in costumes thought provocative at the time.
Its stars became legends: La Goulue, Jane Avril, Valentin le Désossé. Toulouse-Lautrec, a regular, drew its dancers in posters and paintings that spread its fame around the world. In 1890 La Goulue spotted the Prince of Wales in the audience and greeted him with "Hey, Wales, the champagne's on you!"
The original building burned down in 1915 and reopened ten years later. Mistinguett, Maurice Chevalier, Édith Piaf, Yves Montand, Josephine Baker and Frank Sinatra all performed here, and the venue has inspired films from John Huston's to Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!
In 2024 the windmill's sails fell into the street one day in April, without hurting anyone, and were back in place by July, in time for the Olympic torch relay.
The first thing to see is outside, and free: the red windmill on the roof, set on a facade with oval dormer windows, designed in the 1920s by a set designer of just 20, Gesmar, and the venue's emblem ever since.
Inside, the show is a grand revue of music, dancers and quick changes of scenery, built around the French cancan, which has stayed at the heart of every show. Since 1963 every revue has had a title starting with F, from Frou-Frou to Féerie, on stage since 1999.
The auditorium keeps much of the romance of Belle Époque France: its decor, designed in the 1950s when the hall was renovated, has survived almost unchanged. Over the years it was enlarged and even fitted with a giant aquarium for aquatic ballets.
The Moulin Rouge opened in 1889 as a place where workers, artists, businessmen, elegant women and tourists could mix. In its garden stood a huge elephant, and its dance floor launched the can-can, an energetic dance born from the quadrille and danced in costumes thought provocative at the time.
Its stars became legends: La Goulue, Jane Avril, Valentin le Désossé. Toulouse-Lautrec, a regular, drew its dancers in posters and paintings that spread its fame around the world. In 1890 La Goulue spotted the Prince of Wales in the audience and greeted him with "Hey, Wales, the champagne's on you!"
The original building burned down in 1915 and reopened ten years later. Mistinguett, Maurice Chevalier, Édith Piaf, Yves Montand, Josephine Baker and Frank Sinatra all performed here, and the venue has inspired films from John Huston's to Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!
In 2024 the windmill's sails fell into the street one day in April, without hurting anyone, and were back in place by July, in time for the Olympic torch relay.