My wife and I are going to Paris soon, and she looked into seeing a show at the famous Moulin Rouge. It turns out that the show alone is €100 and dinner is another €40. At about $1.35 to the euro, this is more than I’ve ever paid for a show, and it’s a pretty pricey meal, too.
I was happy to pay about $100 for Cirque du Soleil’s O in Las Vegas, but I have a hard time believing that the cabaret at Moulin Rouge is 35% better. And is the food there worth that much?
Have you been there recently? Did you enjoy it and find it worth the price?
The Moulin Rouge dancers were a special guest on the Craig Ferguson show a month or so ago. It was exactly what I expected and nothing more. The two Cirque du Soleil shows I saw (O and Mystere) far exceeded anything I expected. So unless there is something really astounding that they didn’t even hint at in their guest appearance, I doubt it would be worth it.
The Can Can dancers are only a small part of the Moulin Rouge performance, they usually finish the show. Think more along the lines of a mix of variety acts with a lot of nudity, a lot of tits and risque jokes, as it is “adult” entertainment.
Ms. tanstaafl and I went there about 10 years ago. I’d rate it about the same level as an off-strip Vegas show; entertaining but nothing extrodinary.
About the only thing I really remember about it is they had what was basically a large aquarium on stage with a nude woman swimming in it along with several dozen snakes. The snakes were more interested in swimming along the glass than her, so every now and then she would grab one and pull it to the center of the pool, at which point it would slither away back to the glass.
So I’d say no, unless you just want to be able to say you went there.
Just out of curiosity, but how much of a connection does the contemporary Moulin Rouge have to the club that operated back in the 1800s and was the subject of the movie? Is this a club that has been in operation continuously for more than 100 years?
Yep, save for a couple of years to rebuild from fire damage, and later for WW2. Of course, there have been changes of ownership and even more so of business management and of artistic direction, as well as makeovers, renovations and expansions of the facility, with corresponding changes in the “focus” of the venue and the shows, but it’s been there all that time.
It’s one of those touristy things you do there just because you are there. It’s not like I did not enjoy it, but I felt I would not have really missed much if I skipped it. After all, there are so many things to see in Paris and presumably you have limited time there. As for the food, it was terrible. Definitely overpriced for the quality.