The actor and comedian Gad Elmaleh was chosen by the courts to buy the business of the emblematic Parisian transformist cabaret “Chez Michou”, in liquidation, according to the judgment consulted Tuesday by AFP.
By taking over this iconic place in Montmartre and tourist Paris, Gad Elmaleh “will make it a place of comedy and humor, while keeping the soul of the place”, explained to AFP the actor’s communications department , which however did not buy the “Chez Michou” brand.
The founder of the establishment, nicknamed Michou, died at the beginning of 2020. The transformist cabaret then experienced financial difficulties, and was put into liquidation in mid-July.
Gad Elmaleh, 53, was chosen by the Paris commercial court to take over the premises, closed since the end of June before their 68th birthday, and whose 23 employees, artists and room staff, were dismissed.
For Catherine Catty-Jacquart, Michou’s niece, “Gad Elmaleh will continue to keep +80 rue des Martyrs+ alive, having fallen into good hands as Michou would have liked. We would have been unfortunate if the place became anything other than a cabaret”.
“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 told AFP.
The cover by Gad Elmaleh seems logical: a figure of French humor, the artist interpreted the character of “Chouchou”, a colorful and exuberant transvestite.
Created on stage, it earned him one of his biggest theatrical successes with the comedy “Chouchou”, where his character frequents a cabaret in the northern suburbs, “L’apocalypse”. The film attracted 3.8 million spectators when it was released in 2003. For this role, Gad Elmaleh was nominated for the César for best actor.
Gad Elmaleh is not the only comedian to have his own theater. Before him, Fary, Jamel and Kev Adams launched their “comedy club”.
– “Blue Prince of Montmartre” –
With the business of “Chez Michou”, Gad Elmaleh offers himself an internationally known address, whose emblematic founder, nicknamed “the blue prince of Montmartre”, inspired “La Cage aux Folles” for the actor in the 1970s. and author Jean Poiret.
Among the most popular icons of Parisian nights, Michou and his cabaret had become French symbols, as popular as the Moulin Rouge, Le Lido and Crazy Horse.
“The Michou cabaret is a big family. We stick together as much as we can but we feel a lot of bitterness,” Michou’s niece, who had taken over the reins since the death of her uncle, told AFP. .
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 such as Sylvie Vartan, Annie Girardot, Johnny Hallyday, Mireille Mathieu or Dalida.
In deficit for three years, the cabaret was confronted, according to its former director, “with strikes, demonstrations and parking problems, especially for coaches”, causing the collapse of reservations.
However, drag queen shows and transformist shows have seen a resurgence of interest in recent years, driven by establishments which have been able to target more of a young and trendy audience, such as Madame Arthur, also located 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 finally changed his mind under pressure from the “Michettes”.
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