Will Accor put the sparkle back into Parisian cabaret?
Future of the famous Lido on Champs-Elysées in doubt after purchase by hotel group
For almost 75 years the Bluebell Girls have kicked up a storm at the Lido Cabaret on the Champs-Elysées. But the future of Paris’s celebrated showgirl troupe may hang in the balance after news that hotel group Accor is to buy the iconic venue from catering services company, Sodexo.
The first question that springs to mind after the news, first revealed by France’s Les Echos, is what on earth was Sodexo doing with the Lido in the first place? The two brands couldn’t be more different — one is a feast of feathers, diamanté costumes and, let’s be honest, partial nudity. The other is a provider of the office canteen cuisine we all love to hate.
The second question might be, what on earth is Accor doing buying the Lido? No matter how glorious the show and talented the artists, isn’t there something distinctly passé about the concept? How do bare-breasted dancers fit in with a modern, global brand such as Accor?
But scantily clad dancers have been integral to Paris’s great cabarets for more than a century and the Lido’s statuesque Bluebell Girls, with their feathered headdresses and glittering costumes, are its trademark.
In recent years the Lido has struggled, however. Terrorism, national strikes, and now Covid have all taken their toll on the international tourism that delivers at least 50 per cent of the Lido’s clientele.
There has also been an image problem. Some six years ago, Sodexo invested roughly €25m to modernise the programme and the premises. The aim was to boost annual turnover from €38m to €50m and double the audience to 1m within 3 years, according to reports in Les Echos. Paris Merveilles, the new show created by former Cirque du Soleil director Franco Dragone, was indeed more modern, using cutting edge staging technology, but it drew fire from cabaret aficionados for its paucity of feathers, the introduction of hip-hop sounds into the musical numbers and a lead singer covered in tattoos. “Sodexo did not understand the DNA of the Lido,” says one longtime cabaret owner.
Insiders insist many shows continued to sell out — at least when there were no strikes or pandemics. If so, maybe there is a problem with its pricing power.
The question now is why should a hotel group fare any better? “When you consider Accor’s knowledge of dynamic pricing and inventory management from their hotels business, moving into theatre seat sales is potentially a logical extension of their brand,” says Robin Cantrill-Fenwick, chief executive of cultural consultancy Baker Richards. “But the biggest question mark for me is how they plan to deliver high quality theatrical productions befitting the space.”
And cabaret does not come cheap. In 1999, the Moulin Rouge spent €8m developing its show Féerie and its reputation has been boosted by the 2001 film starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.
Accor argues that the Lido will “expand its augmented hospitality strategy offering unique new experiences to its customers as well as members of its loyalty program”.
But does Accor need to buy the lossmaking Lido to offer its spectacle to their clients? Surely this could be achieved more cheaply through an exclusive partnership or joint venture.
That said, there may be opportunities to expand the Lido brand, which still has some cachet. Evelina Girling, founder of the London Cabaret Club, says hotels have expressed interest in putting on cabaret shows. Her company is also about to open a show in Dubai. Finally, Accor has a record of taking iconic brands and extending the theme to hotels, such as the Orient Express. Why not a Lido chain?
But Accor may be planning something even more radical. According to one person with knowledge of the subject, Parisian theatre director Jean-Luc Choplin has been identified as the Lido’s new boss. Choplin has a passion for Broadway musicals. Paris is awash with rumours that he will transform the Lido into a Broadway-style musical theatre.
“Musical theatre is a huge driver of commercial theatre revenue,” says Cantrill-Fenwick. But that too takes heavy investment.
What this means for the Bluebell Girls is unclear. If Accor’s ownership signals the end of the Lido as a full-time cabaret, that would be bad news for the whole sector, says Philippe Lhomme, head of the national cabaret association, Camulc, and owner of another, more select Parisian venue, Crazy Horse. “It is important there are a number of cabarets to maintain this tradition,” he says. “Paris is cabaret.”