Moulin Rouge (2024)

FAQs

What's the storyline of Moulin Rouge? ›

A young Englishman in the Paris of 1899, becomes infatuated with Satine, a singer at the Moulin Rouge. However, she has been promised by the manager to a Duke in return for funding his next production. As the young lovers meet in secret, Satine's wedding day draws closer but she hides a fatal secret from both Christian and the Duke.

Moulin Rouge / Film synopsis

Moulin Rouge is best known as the birthplace of the modern form of the can-can dance. Originally introduced as a seductive dance by the courtesans who operated from the site, the can-can dance revue evolved into a form of entertainment of its own and led to the introduction of cabarets across Europe.

All the stories behind the Moulin Rouge

Established on the grounds of the former Bal de la Reine Blanche, businessmen Joseph Oller and Charles Zidler transformed the original locale into what they boasted to be “the first women's palace, the largest, most elegant and most luxurious temple of dance.” And indeed it was.

A cabaret in Montmartre, Paris, a favourite resort of poets and artists around the end of the 19th century. Toulouse-Lautrec immortalized its dancers in his posters. In French, the literal meaning of the name is 'red mill'.

The use of opium and absinthe by the red-lit theatre's celebrity patrons also contributed to its popularity, and, at the same time, unpopularity with large parts of the Parisian public. Rumours of the Moulin Rouge being nothing but a glorified brothel only made the controversy worse.

The film stars Nicole Kidman as Satine, a star dancer who has a deadly secret; she is dying of tuberculosis. This is not a secret from the audience, which learns it early on, but from Christian (Ewan McGregor), the would-be writer who loves her.

Famed as the birthplace of the French cancan, the cabaret dates back to the end of the 19th Century. Originally named Le Bal du Moulin Rouge, it opened its doors on 6 October 1899. The flamboyant shows provided much needed entertainment and decadence for Parisians after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.

This type of show is not for everyone, the price of tickets is pretty high. I really love seeing all the gaudy costumes and craziness of the show. The performers aren't the most talented entertainers, but they are fun to watch if you can admire the spectacle of it.

Please note : Our show is for all ages. Children are accepted from age six (6) and must be accompanied by an adult. Please note, however, that the “Féérie” show includes passages with nudity.

After the curtain closes, however, Satine succumbs to tuberculosis. She and Christian affirm their love before she dies. A year later the Moulin Rouge has closed down, and Christian is writing the tale of his love for Satine, a "love that will live forever" (Nature Boy (Reprise)).

Is Moulin Rouge a tragedy? ›

The plot of Moulin Rouge is clearly cast after a classical Tragedy, and it works admirably this way. Satine is our central character and protagonist, who faces inevitable catastrophe brought on by her violation of the social order.

She has, and died of, a disease called "Tuberculosis". She died in the arms of her lover, Christian. The first time Christian saw Satine, she was singing "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend".

The cabaret has gone down in history; the Guinness Book of Records states that Moulin Rouge dancers were able to lift their legs 29 times in the space of 30 seconds during the cabaret's 125 year anniversary celebration! And then to top it off, a Féérie solo dancer lifted his leg above his head 30 times in 30 seconds!

The Moulin Rouge Elephant

As explained in the podcast, there was a mega elephant in the gardens of the Moulin Rouge. For a franc, gentlemen were welcome to climb up into a room for an opium den with belly dancers. It's long gone today, but here's a picture showing you where it was located.

At the Moulin Rouge, the elephant served as a luxurious opium den where for a single franc, gentlemen could enter by way of a spiral staircase inside the leg and be entertained by belly dancers (inside the belly of the beast).

Actually, what Luhrmann has done here is to take an historical locale (the Moulin Rouge did exist around the turn of the last century, in the heart of Monmartre) and a few real people and drop them into an entirely fictional production that uses pop hits (primarily from the '70s and '80s) to populate the soundtrack.

At the 2021 Tony Awards, Moulin Rouge! The Musical won 10 awards – the most of any production that night – including Best Musical. With more than 70 songs encapsulating 160-plus years of music history, the musical mashup extravaganza will have you tapping your toes and clapping along the beat.