Paris finally returns to the night and the party.
The famous "Chez Michou" cabaret, an institution in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, will reopen its doors on September 11 after six months of closure.
Certainly in a special Covid-19 version, with 45 masked spectators only and no more than two artists on stage at the same time, but with the enthusiasm and the joy of finding his audience.
"We will wipe the plasters with a small gauge, but we will do it at a loss ...", says Catherine Catty-Jacquart, Michou's niece, who took up the torch after the death of the founding father last January.
"The important thing is to make people want to return to theaters and accompany them for this return to life and to party".
The establishment of distancing was more difficult than elsewhere: the cabaret in the rue des Martyrs is the smallest in France, with 80 spectators maximum, shoulder to shoulder, in normal times.
But the new director ensures that all security measures have been taken.
"All the staff has been tested. The temperature of the customers will be taken on arrival. Security will be maximum, without harming the spirit of the place", promises Ms. Catty-Jacquart.
Social distance for the "Michettes"
Distancing also concerns the artists, in the boxes and on the stage, one of the smallest, of only a few square meters.
Usually six artists can perform there at the same time.
Health protocol requires, they will be only two.
The final, colorful, has been revised accordingly: the artists will evolve between the tables, in serpentine.
Not enough to discourage artists.
Thursday afternoon, the "Michettes", these artists disguising themselves to imitate celebrities, readjusted their make-up under the halos of light, during the final rehearsals after six months of hiatus.
To celebrate the reopening, Oscar, the artistic director, called new "Michettes" including one, amazing, in Johnny Hallyday.
They are as eager to find their audience as the audience to come back.
"The spectators want to come back. The reservation book is already full," says Michou's niece.
Morning performances are planned to limit losses.
During confinement, the cabaret benefited from the guaranteed loan from the state and partial unemployment, which is still in place for artists and servers excluded from the reopening by distancing.
"We will not be able to hold months with negative accounts ...", warns Catherine Catty-Jacquart, however.
"Need to dream"
The cabaret will be the first nightclub in Paris to reopen its doors.
The Paradis Latin and Crazy Horse will follow, while the Moulin Rouge and Le Lido await the end of the year celebrations to bring out feathers and glitter.
"We need to live, to laugh, to sing and to dream", estimates the leader of the Paradis Latin, Walter Butler, forced to halve the gauge, which goes from 700 to 350 customers.
He has no hope of achieving a financial balance at this stage, and estimates the losses "at several million euros" since the start of the epidemic.
The troop and indoor staff will be tested regularly.
Only artists will not wear a mask.
For its part, the Crazy Horse, famous for its dancers dressed only in light, will reopen on October 1, weekends to begin with.
The sanitary protocol reduces the usual capacity of 270 seats to 100 places.
For the Moulin Rouge and the Lido, no reopening scheduled before December, at best.
These two cabarets have a capacity of nearly 1,000 spectators and two daily shows;
they consider that the current distancing (400 spectators maximum for the Mill) makes a recovery impossible, especially since most of the customers are foreign and provincial.
With AFP
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