Getting Your Kicks at the Moulin Rouge! Is this Paris Must-Do Really a Must?

A night getting your kicks at the Moulin Rouge in Paris’ red-light district, Pigalle, is a must-do experience for many travellers visiting Paris if the nightly long lines on Boulevard Clichy are any indication. It certainly wasn’t our first trip to Paris – we’d been visiting Paris since way back in 1999 and wrote a guidebook to Paris for Lonely Planet – yet it was the first trip we went to the Moulin Rouge.

Why? The postcards of Toulouse Lautrec’s paintings of the Moulin Rouge, which we were seeing on postcard stands as we strolled through Montmartre every day fascinated us. We were curious to see if there was any resemblance between Toulouse Lautrec’s Moulin Rouge and the modern-day spectacle of the Moulin Rouge, one of Paris‘ most popular attractions.

On our art walk around Montmartre with artist Marie Theres, she described the first cabarets held in tents that Toulouse Lautrec had painted in the leafy gardens of the old mills that had dotted the hills of Montmartre – our home away from home (a charming Montmartre apartment!) for the Paris leg of the yearlong global grand tour dedicated to slow travel, local travel and experiential travel that Grantourismo.

Moulin Rouge means ‘red mill’ and Marie Theres’ vivid descriptions captured our imaginations. The Moulin Rouge played a pivotal role in the history of Montmartre, which at various times has been considered bohemian, fashionable, touristy, tacky – and now arty and cool again if you know where to go. I wondered if the Moulin Rouge might have actually become hip again since burlesque had taken the world by storm.

And seeing we’re on a quest to get under the skin of the places we’re visiting this year, it made sense to see a show at the Moulin Rouge. It’s one of the most popular things to do in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, so we were intrigued. Admit it, you’re curious too.

Getting Your Kicks at the Moulin Rouge! Is this Paris Must-Do Really a Must?

Opened in 1889 by Joseph Oller, the Moulin Rouge is regarded as the birthplace of the French cancan, the exuberant dance where rows of healthy-looking girls in petticoats scream and shriek and vigorously kick their long legs high into the air.

Disappointingly, with the Moulin Rouge show we saw, called Féerie, the cancan made only a brief appearance and not until the end the cabaret. For the most part, the risqué revue was a cross between French cabaret, early burlesque, a Las Vegas extravaganza, and a Eurovision song contest, which will satisfy lovers of kitsch.

The Moulin Rouge show we saw shifted between surprisingly brilliant (the juggler, puppeteer, ventriloquist, and those can can kicks!), astonishingly bad (the pirate dancers, snake woman, gay Musketeers, and ‘boogie woogie’ routine), a cute kind of weird (the Shetland ponies act), and just plain weird (the topless clowns, which were more eerie than Feerie. What is it about clowns that makes them so scary?).

The Moulin Rouge show is lots of fun – if you pretend you haven’t seen a musical since 1985. The women are absolutely gorgeous (many are Australian!) and the costumes are fabulous. However, there’s a lot of synchronised strutting about the stage in little else but feathers and sequins (and not enough of those high kicks), the songs are mostly cringe-worthy, and the show is dated.

Despite the burlesque craze of recent years, the Moulin Rouge show we saw was less about nostalgia and satire, and is more about skin. Essentially, with its topless girls and fey dancers, it’s still a show aimed squarely at men, and desperately needs a revamp.

So do we recommend spending a night at the Moulin Rouge? Well, it depends…

Is a Moulin Rouge Show a Must or Not When You’re in Paris?

A Moulin Rouge show is expensive so buying tickets to a dinner show is not a decision most travellers would take lightly. If money is no object or this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Paris, go for it. It’s not? Skip the dinner show and go to the champagne show. We went as guests of the Moulin Rouge to the 11pm show, which included half a bottle of champagne, and is much more affordable.

So who should see a Moulin Rouge show? Go if you enjoy a dazzling spectacle with a bit of Busby Berkley-inspired choreography, you’re Paris completists, you’re staying in Montmartre-Pigalle and you’re keen to get a taste of some of that bohemian history and experience all that the neighbourhood offers. You’ll definitely get a kick out of a Moulin Rouge show.

There’s still plenty of turn-of-the-century France in the retro décor which will take you back in time. We loved the dimly-lit cabaret atmosphere, with small tables illuminated by lamps, just light enough so we could see our flutes of bubbly. And there’s loads of nostalgia-value – after all, Édith Piaf, Josephine Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Liza Minnelli, and Frank Sinatra all performed here.

However, a show might not be for you if you loved Australian director Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film Moulin Rouge starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. You might be disappointed that the present-day Moulin Rouge doesn’t quite match the flamboyance, exuberance, lavishness, and bohemian spirit of the Moulin Rouge depicted in Luhrmann’s film. The modern-day Moulin Rouge is not like Toulouse Lautrec’s Moulin Rouge either.

There’s hope, though: each show runs for around 10-12 years, so it’s time for a change. By the time you read this, there might be a new show. If the organisers have any sense they’ll be hiring Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin to produce the next new show.

Images supplied by the Moulin Rouge. If you see a show we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.