Academic writing, draft 2

Why is the Moulin Rouge so Famous?

The Moulin Rouge has a history as a cabaret dating back to the 6th October 1889 when Joseph Oller opened it.
The cabaret has, throughout its time been a crowd puller.

“As soon as the cabaret opened it attracted crowds, appealing to Parisians who were looking for the extravagant.” Anne Rohan, 2009.

“ For 110 years, the most legendary cabaret in the world has welcomed millions of spectators who have come to admire the famous shows”
www.123europe.com

Today the cabaret is world famous, but what are the factors that have attributed to that fame?

The Moulin Rouge is famous for being the birthplace of the French dance, the cancan.
People wishing to see this dance in it’s original home have been coming to the cabaret for the past century and it is still possible to see the cancan today.

“This dance is still the main feature of the shows today.” Wikapedia.

The cancan has been drawing people to the cabaret and it is one of the main attractions of the cabaret.

It is also known that the French artist Henry Toulouse-Loutrec{1864-1901} immortalized the French cancan and according to Rohan{2009} “was himself a faithful customer.”
Toulouse-Loutrec was a post-impressionist painter and The Moulin Rouge along with the Parisian area of Montmartre where the cabaret is based are the subject of many of his paintings.
As well as being publised by the Lautrec paintings, the cabaret has boosted it’s publicity by inviting famous people to perform on it’s stage.
Dating back over 90 years ago Misinguett, {real name Jeanne Borgeois} who was famous for her risqué cabaret routines, she first appeared at The Moulin Rouge in 1907, going on to become the highest paid female performer in the world at the time. {Independent.co.uk} In 1919, her legs were insured for 500,000 Francs.{Traveltipz.com} Her signature song was “mon homme” recorded in 1916. Barbra Streisland made the English version “my man” famous in the “Funny girl” movies.
La Goulue {real name Louise Webber} was known as the queen of Montmatre. Her speciality was to drink the customers’ champagne between high kicks, which is why she was named the La Goulue {the glutton}. La Goulue was the subject of one particular Toulouse-Lautrec painting “One evening in December 1891, about three thousand copies of this poster were pasted on walls across Paris.” The poster advertises the Moulin Rouge dance hall and its featured performer La Goulue. By advertising a specific celebrity rather than anonymous beauties, Lautrec infused his poster with star power. The poster created a sensation, and fuelled the popularity of both La Goulue and Lautrec. {National gallery of art,2005} The fame of these two performers and the publicity they brought the cabaret has attributed to its fame.

More recent stars that have performed on the stage here have included French singer Edith Piaf. Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, Ella Fitzgerald, Elton John and Josephine Baker. {Travel tripz.com 2009}

There have also been in total six movies made with the title “Moulin Rouge”. These movies have raised awareness of the cabaret aiding in its fame. Edward Andre Dupont directed the First in 1928. The following movies were released in 1934. 1939,1944,1952 and not forgetting the smash hit directed by Baz Luhrmann, staring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor released in 2001.

The movie was released worldwide in 70 countries, and made $177 million. {IMBD} The name Moulin Rouge became household and the cabaret become known by millions more.

The cabaret used the release of the film to show the world what they could do, travelling around and showing excerpts of the show.

“We travelled a lot for the premiere of Moulin Rouge, the movie - In Cannes, in London - for Prince Charles, Vienna, gala in Canada with Air France, Hong Kong in May, we are going to Australia in August.” Fanny Rabase, 2003, publicist, The Moulin Rouge.

Since the film was released in 2001, the cabaret has become more of a household name but the cabaret have worked towards publicizing itself since it opened, firstly with the help of the paintings by Toulouse-Lautrec. And with the continuous performances of famous guests aimed at boosting the profile of the cabaret.


References

WWW.MoulinRouge.FR ,2009, “Histoire>sommaire”. Available at http://www.moulinrouge.fr/html_fr/historic_sommaire.htm [accessed 05/12/09]

Wikapedia ,2009, “Moulin Rouge” Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moulin_Rouge [accessed 05/12/09]

www.123europe.com 2009. “The moulin rouge cabaret” available at
http://www.123europe.com/europe/france/paris/cabarets/mou-roug.htm [accessed 05/12/09]

Gorokhovich, M,2003. “what does it take to be a Dorris girl?” Explore dance.com 20/03/2003. Available from www.exploredance.com/moulinrouge32003.html [accessed 05/12/09]

www.Cometoparis.com ,2009. “Le Moulin Rouge” Available at
http://www.cometoparis.com/interact4/www/come6.php4?doc=50 [accessed 05/12/09

Dugan, E, 2007, “Christie’s auction: show girl with $1m legs” .The Independent UK (online). 18/05/07. Available from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/christies-auction-showgirl-with-the-1m-legs-449360.html [accessed 30/12/07]


Rohan, A, 2009. “History of the Moulin Rouge cabaret”. Paris sweet home (online) Available at http://www.parissweethome.com/parisrentals/art_uk.php?id=91 [accessed 05/12/09]

National gallery of art, 2005. “Cafes, cabarets and dance halls” N.G.A (online) Available athttp://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2005/toulouse/cafes.shtm [accessed 05/12/09]

www.Traveltripz.com 2009. “Paris isn’t Paris without a show” Available at http://www.traveltripz.com/2009/05/09/paris-isnt-paris-without-a-show-moulin-rouge/ [accessed 05/12/09]

The internet movie database, 2009. “Moulin Rouge, 2001” Available athttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203009/releaseinfo [accessed 06/12/09]