History Daily - Opening Night at the Moulin Rouge

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

October 6, 1889. For the first time, the now world-famous Moulin Rouge in Paris opens its doors. This episode originally aired in 2022. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

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on October 6th, 1889. A young artist stands in the middle of an excited crowd on Place Blanche, a small plaza in the suburb of Paris. He's waiting for the opening night of Montmartre's newest open-air cafe, the place where singers and dancers perform and customers have the opportunity to wine and dine in comfort. The young artist has been looking forward to tonight's grand opening for days. The new venue has been the talk of the town. In no small part because of the eye-catching structure located just above the cafe's entrance. A large red red... windmill, or as it's called in French, a Moulon Rouge.

The young artist pushes his way through the crowd as the nearby church bell tolls 8 o'clock. He reaches the front just as the Moulon Rouge opens its doors for the first time. The artist pays his fee and walks through the entrance with a flood of customers behind him. Doorway leads into a garden, and there the young artist stops, staring in disbelief at the larger-than-life stucco model of an elephant. The young artist's eyes light up when he sees a scantily dressed woman standing underneath the model. She beckons to the artist and cuts her eyes over to a doorway built into one of the elephant's legs. But the young artist doesn't go inside.

He's not certain, but he's heard rumors that in the belly of this elephant is an opium den where one can smoke for as little as one frog. But the artist isn't here for drugs or women. He's here for the show. He's jostled onwards by other customers pushing past him. keen to secure the best tables in the garden with the best views of the stage. The artist joins them, makes his way to a table near the front. As he takes his seat, a waitress bustles over to take his order.

With a sheepish smile, the artist asks for a cheaper glass of wine. He'd order something fancier, but he only has a few coin in his potty. All around him, he hears wealthier gentlemen calling for bottles of champagne. But the young man isn't too embarrassed. He's just glad to be here at all. and grateful he has a decent view for the show that's about to start as an orchestra begins to play. The young artist fidgets in his seat, too excited to keep still.

And when the first performance at the Moulon Rouge is about to begin, he and the rest of the crowd leap to their feet and erupt into applause. The young artist doesn't know what to expect from this evening's festivities. All he knows is that he feels like he's part of something special, and that after tonight, the city of Paris will never be the same. When the Moulon Rouge opens its doors for the first time, construction is not yet complete. Among other unfinished touches, the venue is missing its crown jewel, an extravagant ballroom located right next door to the open-air garden.

Still, the opening night of the Moulon Rouge is a resounding success. Hundreds of wealthy Parisians sit side by side with artists and craftsmen who live and work in the Bohemian semi-rural suburb of Montmart. Soon the Moulon Rouge will emerge as the most famous night spot in person. Harris. Its name will become synonymous around the world with Cancant, Cabaret, and controversial risque performers. A reputation the club began to earn when it opened its doors for the first time on October 6, 1889. When the show continues in just a few seconds, I'm going to repeat our catchphrase. History is made every day, and it's true. All around us, history is happening, but I want to make

a little history of my own, so I've been planning something exciting. A History Daily live show, and I want you to make history with me. So to be the first to hear about tour dates, which cities I'll be visiting, special VIP opportunities, and to get a discount on tickets, head to historydailylive.com. That's historydailylive.com. This is going to go down in the history books, so go to historydaily live.com. Salku X, we'll tapament, we're again, five numbera, five vhietta, Arvauxia Poveria

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in airship I'm Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily History is made every day on this

podcast every day we tell the true stories of the people and events that our world. Today is October 6, 1889, opening night at the Moulon Rouge. It's the evening of

October 26, 1890, one year after the Moulin Rouge opened its doors. The performer named Louise Weber stands at the side of the Moulin Rouge ballroom, waiting for the MC to finish building up the audience's anticipation for her act. As the Moulon Rouge's biggest star, Louise is used to making a spectacular entrance during each floor show. Normally, she isn't nervous, but she's a lot of But today, she's about to perform for a man who is heir to the most powerful nations in the world, Edward, the Prince of Wales. A few weeks after the Moulin Rouge's grand opening, construction on its ballroom was finally complete. Now, after one year of business, the Moulin Rouge has developed a reputation for its spectacular riotous concert balls. That's in no small part thanks to Louise and her chauteurs, or the unruly girls, and their new dance, known as the Cancant.

This high-energy romp involves dancers and long, flowing skirts, kicking their legs into the air repeatedly before falling to the ground and landing in the splits. The Can-Can Cray's has helped the Mulan Rouge sell tickets, and it's turned the unruly girls into local celebrities. Louise Viber is the most famous of them all. Still, Louise knows that for many conservative Parisians, the Can-Can is all too shocking. It's not as risque as what goes on inside Paris's many brothels, but the sight of garters and ruffled undergarments is highly controversial.

Rumors abound that the powers that be in Paris might try to put the Moulin Rouge and Louise out of business. But that's unlikely to happen tonight, with the Prince of Wales in attendance. Like the rest of Paris, Louise knows all about the Prince's playboy reputation. It's quite a contrast to that of his dour mother, the stodgy Queen Victoria. But Louise is a smart woman. Making an impression on the Prince would be good for business, so she hopes to win him over with her vivacious routine.

Louise ears prick up as she hears the MC call her stage name, Lagulu, meaning the glutton. Louise strides toward the dance floor and demonstrates the trick that earned her the name. She picks up a glass of wine from a customer's table and downs it in one gulp. Louise hears the audience roar with laughter. The dance floor is empty apart from Louise, but the tables and chairs surrounding it are packed with patrons eager to watch the Moulon Rouge's headliner perform. But there's only one patron Louise is thinking about tonight. She squints through the limelights

to find the table where 48-year-old Prince Edward sits with his friends. Soon, the orchestra starts to play an upbeat tune, and Louise begins to dance in the middle of the floor. As the music picks up speed, Louise lifts her skirt, allowing her straight-leg kicks to reach above her head. She drops to the ground in the splits, one leg in front of her, the other behind, before leaping back to her feet, jumping and kicking in time with the music. She even cartwheels across the dance floor. The audience claps along, cheering every high kick and low split. Louise drops to the floor in the splits again, and the rest of the troop follow her in sequence. Each dancer's splits marked by the clash of symbols from the orchestra. Then the dancers rise up and turn to face the middle of

the floor. They bend over, pulling their skirts over their heads while wiggling suggestively at the audience. The crowd cheers every move, and Louise is thrilled that they're loving the show. Next, the dancers form a circle and whirl around, lifting their skirts and kicking their legs in time for the music. Louise's billowing skirt brushes the tables at the edge of the dance floor, and as she approaches where the Prince of Wales is watching the show, she kicks even higher and shouts, hey, whales, the champagne's on you. In the stuffy courts of Britain, it would be a stunning breach of etiquette to speak to the heir to the throne in such a disrespectful way. But in the Moulin Rouge, where the upper classes rubbed shoulders with commoners, those rules

don't apply. Louise whirls onward and glances back. The prince and his friends are laughing, and once again Louise has proven why she is the star of the Moulin Rouge. The Prince of Wales is delighted, and he leaves a club with a smile on his face, ready to tell the who's who of Paris about this can't miss experience. The Prince of Wales's visit gives the Moulon Rouge a royal seal of approval, even as the club's performers and patrons pushed the boundaries of socially acceptable behavior. But as time goes on, the venue's increasingly risky offerings will draw even more attention until one particular performance is so provocative that it ends in a riot.

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Kyudist. It's quartered to 11 on the evening of January 3rd, 1907, 17 years after the Moulon Rouge opened its doors. Tonight, an old man shuffles uneasily in his seat as a hush descends over the crowd in the Moulin Rouge. The old man isn't here to enjoy the show. He's joined a group of his fellow Parisians here to protest this evening's performance. In 1903, the owners of the Moulon

Rouge converted the ballroom into a cabaret hall. After the shift, the venue's offerings grew increasingly more scandalous. Dancers, singers, and actors take part in extravagant burlesque shows. One performer, Zosuf Pujol, goes by the stage name Le Petoman. He specializes in breaking wind at will. He uses his unusual talent to blow out candles and even play the French national anthem from his backside. At a recent private party at the Moulin Rouge, students from the National School of Fine Arts allegedly stripped down naked and convorted around the stage. But to the old man, none of that compares to what he's heard about tonight's show.

Part of the evening's billing is a 20-minute play that the old man has been told includes women dressing up as men and kissing each other. A scandal he thinks goes too far, even for the Moulin Rouge. Soon the curtain rises, and the old man sees an ancient-looking sarcophagus on one side of the stage and an actor in a brown suit reading a book on the other. The old man squints to get a better look, and when his aging eyes focus, he sees that the rumors he's heard are true. The person in the suit is a woman with short hair,

Mottilde de Morley, the controversial author of this play. The old man and his fellow protesters begin to whistle, heckle, and jeer, trying to drown out the sound of Matilda's words. But she continues to recite her lines, even though someone starts a chant, ordering her off the stage. The old man enthusiastically joins in. He stamps his feet to the rhythm of the chant as it grows louder. The sound echoes around the packed auditorium,

No one can hear a word of the show. But regardless, Matilde continues the performance. Soon the sarcophagus opens, and a mummy slowly emerges, dancing erotically and shredding bandages to reveal a woman in an Egyptian headdress and jeweled underwear. It's Sidon E. Gabriel Kulet, a penniless author-turned burlesque performer. The old man has read about her in the Parisian newspapers, too. The gossip rags say that both Sidini Gabriel and Matil have left their husbands and our now in an intimate relationship with each other.

The old man sees a woman on the front row fling a wilted turnip onto the stage. It lands at Cedonye Gabriel's feet, but she just brushes it out of the way with her foot and continues dancing. But soon, other fruit and vegetables litter the stage, as more protesters fling items that they've hidden under their coats. But again, the two women press on with their show. The old man watches in disbelief as the play reaches its shocking climax. Matilde bends down and kisses Sidney Gabriel.

It's scandalous enough that Matilde is playing a male role, but the sight of two women kissing on stage is too much. And he's not alone. As the women passionately kiss, furious shouts fill the air. But not everyone in the audience is angry at what's happening on stage. Some are furious that the show is being interrupted. One of these patrons, a well-dressed gentleman in a private box,

stands and shakes his fist, cursing at the hecklers for ruining the beautiful piece of art. But the old man can't hear what the wealthy patron is shouting. His words are drowned out in the uproar from the hecklers in the crowd. And some of them make their way up into his box, storm inside, and throw the patron to the ground to silence him. Soon the entire club breaks out in violence. In the midst of the chaos, the old man hears a high-pitched whistle.

Police officers rush into the theater and began pulling people out and onto the street. But despite the riot, Sidney Gabriel Colette returns to perform the show the following night, but this time with a male actor in Matil's place. Still, the hecklers interrupt the show again, and the theater owners are forced to drop it from the bill. But the riot will make headlines all across Europe, further establishing the Moulin Rouge's reputation for pushing the boundaries of acceptability. In the end, though, it won't be a riot that takes down the Moulin Rouge,

but rather an accidental fire that threatens to close the doors of Paris's most infamous nightclub for good. Tapar we're again. Weiss number, five vhietta, arvokesia,

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KauttaX. Don't jay-kydista. It's 5 o'clock in the morning in Montmart on February 27, 1915, 25 years after the Moulin Rouge opened. Marcel Somba, the French Minister of Public Works, rises from his bed. Although it's a Saturday, Marcel is used to early starts and long workdays, even on the weekend. He walks to the window and opens the curtains, and immediately he knows something isn't right. He can smell something burning. He peers through the window into the pre-dawn darkness and can just make out smoke.

drifting on the wind. Marcel runs downstairs and out into the streets. There, just five doors down, he sees flames devouring the Moulin Rouge. Marcel calls for help, and soon the police arrive on the scene. Marcel pleads with them to extinguish the blaze before the flames reach his own house. They've already spread from the Moulon Rouge to a shop and artist studio next door. Firefighters arrive and use 15 hoses to douse the Moulon Rouge, and slowly but surely the flames died down. down. By 8 o'clock, three hours after Marcel first raised the alarm, the fire is finally extinguished. When the police declare it safe, Marcel picks his way through the Moulon Rouge's entrance. The famous red windmill has survived the fire, albeit blackened by the smoke.

But when Marcel walks into the cabaret hall, he gasps. The once dazzling and iconic venue is a mess of charred brick and buckled metal. The roof is collapsed, and the auditorium is soddened with wet ash. Yet the racy can-can and risque cabaret of the notorious night spot is not forgotten. In 1921, seven years after the fire, the Moulin Rouge is rebuilt and reopened. Its new iteration draws performers and customers from around the world. And although originally built to entertain the artists of Montmartre, the legendary decadence and excess of the Moulin Rouge inspires its own stories and works of art. From the paintings of Henri de Toulouse-Lat-Trek and Vincent van Hoche to Hollywood movies

and a musical currently running on Broadway. The nightclub was a place that pushed boundaries, welcomed controversy, and always put on a good show. Beginning when the Moulin Rouge opened its doors for the first time on October 6, 1889. Next, on History Daily, October 7, 1571, the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League face off in the last great naval battle before the age of sail.

From Noisor and Airship, this is History Daily. Hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham. Audio editing by Molly Bach. Sound design by Derek Barron's. Music by Lindsay Graham. This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves. Executive producers are Stephen Walters for airship, Pascal Hughes for Noisor.

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