The lido cabaret will become a “musical performance hall”, decided its new owner, the French hospitality giant Accorthus announcing the near end of those magazines with pens, emblem of Parisian nights and attraction for tourists from all over the world.
The management of the Lido presented on Thursday to the representatives of the staff “a reorganization project” that, in fact, will result in the disappearance of its permanent company of dancers.
Instead, it promises “the creation of a revamped musical theater schedule, as well as a revamp of the dinner show and revue model.”
Created in 1946 by the Clerico family, after the WWIIand famous for the “Bluebell girls”, dancers dressed in feathers, who wore colorful garters on their very long legs, the Lido suffered, like the entire sector, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The health crisis caused by the Covid-19 dealt it a severe setback, as restrictions forced it to close temporarily, paralyzed tourism and alienated its main clientele.
Revenue from cabarets and music magazines plummeted 80% in 2020.
Changes in animal welfare legislation also ended the presence of exotic animals, and changes in attitudes towards women and nudity meant that his show was seen as increasingly old-fashioned.
Disappearance of a Parisian emblem
The new project at the Lido aims to “restore to this Parisian hall its prominent place on the French, national and international creative scenes, thanks to an ambitious new artistic line,” the management announced in a statement.
An employment safeguard plan is planned that includes “the suppression of 157 permanent positions” out of the 184 existing ones, “mainly in the room and artistic services”, accompanied by “reclassification and reconversion measures” of the collaborators, he detailed.
This refers in particular to “about sixty people”, a union source told AFP, according to which the majority of the employees of the cabaret of the Elysian Fieldswhich celebrated its 75th anniversary last year, are nearing retirement.
The project “will be carried out with the agreement and in coordination with the social partners”, assured the trade unionist, concluding that “the Lido magazine is over”.
In December 2021, Accor, at the head of 5,300 hotels in 110 countries, had bought the loss-making cabaret for years from the group of canteens in companies Sodexoits owner since 2006.
“It is an emblem of Paris that is disappearing. Also a bit of the image of France in the world,” commented a specialist of the shows.
The Lido will now create original shows under the direction of Jean-Luc Choplinformer director of Châtelet Theateraccording to concordant sources.
The direction assured Thursday to anticipate “important investments of renovation of the facilities”.
Cabaret dances first appeared during the French “Belle Époque”, at the end of the 19th century, when the capital was a hive of artists.
The Moulin Rouge remains the city’s best-known show, revived in recent years largely thanks to publicity for the film of the same name by Bas Luhrman in 2001.