France: comedian Gad Elmaleh takes over an emblematic Parisian cabaret – 10/08/2024 at 4:14 p.m.

The actor and comedian Gad Elmaleh will buy the transformist cabaret “Chez Michou”, an iconic place in tourist Paris, at the foot of the Butte Montmartre, placed in liquidation in July, according to the judgment consulted Tuesday by AFP.

The 53-year-old actor was chosen by the Paris commercial court to take over the premises, closed since the end of June before his 68th birthday, and whose 23 employees, artists and room staff, were dismissed.

It will make the famous cabaret which brought to life the spirit of the music hall and transformism with shows mixing humor, burlesque and glitter, “a place of comedy and humor, while keeping the soul of the place”, explained at AFP a communicator.

The founder of the establishment, nicknamed Michou, died at the beginning of 2020. The cabaret then experienced financial difficulties, and was put into liquidation in mid-July. Icons of Parisian nights, Michou and his cabaret were French symbols as well known as the Moulin Rouge, Le Lido and Crazy Horse.

– “In good hands” –

By taking over the business, Gad Elmaleh – who did not buy the “Chez Michou” brand – offers himself an internationally known address, whose emblematic founder, nicknamed “the blue prince of Montmartre”, inspired the actor and author Jean Poiret in the 1970s the play “La Cage aux Folles”, then adapted for the cinema.

“Gad Elmaleh will continue to keep the +80 rue des Martyrs+ alive, having fallen into the right hands as Michou would have liked. We would have been unfortunate if the place became something other than a cabaret,” Catherine Catty told AFP -Jacquart, Michou’s niece who had taken over the reins since the death of her uncle.

“It will no longer be called +Chez Michou+, but Gad will make it a very beautiful place. It’s a very good thing to turn the page, by taking a turn,” she added.

The cover by Gad Elmaleh seems logical: very popular in France, the actor and comedian who starred in the Netflix series inspired by his life “Huge in France” and appeared on stage in the United States for three years, also performed a colorful and exuberant transvestite, “Chouchou”, especially in the cinema.

– “May this house disappear with me” –

Other French comedians have launched their “comedy club”, such as Fary, Jamel Debbouze and Kev Adams.

Cradle of transformism and the smallest cabaret in Paris, “Chez Michou” presented a dinner show with extravagant transvestites nicknamed the “Michettes”, imitating stars of song and cinema like Dalida, Johnny Hallyday or Mireille Mathieu.

In deficit for three years, the cabaret had been confronted, according to its management, with strikes, demonstrations and parking difficulties, causing the collapse of reservations.

However, drag queen shows and transformist shows have seen a resurgence of interest in recent years, driven by cabarets which have managed to target a young audience, like Madame Arthur, also in Montmartre.

In his memoirs published in 2017, Michou estimated that his cabaret should not survive him. “I want this house to disappear with me. It may seem pretentious but the cabaret will not survive me,” he said at the time. A few months before his death, he changed his mind under pressure from the “Michettes”.