The Business End of the Can Can
Ah, the romance of Paris
night clubs…sequins, feathers, flashing thighs. And fancy footwork…not
only on the stage but in the corporate board room as well.After all, the major venues are big businesses. The top names – Lido, Moulin Rouge, Paradis Latin and Crazy Horse – employ in total hundreds of cast members and thousands of support employees. According to a recent article in The Figaro, the Lido is the largest of the four, with 1,150 seats and champagne sales of nearly 300,000 bottles a year. The Moulin Rouge is second in size with 850 seats, but tops in number of spectators - 600,000 spectators and an amazing 95% occupancy rate last year.
Of the four, Paradis Latin is the oldest (established in 1889 in a building designed by Gustrav Eiffel); Crazy Horse is unquestionably the raunchiest; the Moulin Rouge and the Lido have the most lavish productions. According to The Figaro, the current show at the Moulin Rouge had a production cost of over $7 million and the Lido spent more than $4 million for the costumes alone. (The Crazy Horse’s dancers are clothed mainly in colored lights, so I would guess their costume costs are minimal.)
There are differences too in clienteles: the Moulin Rouge does a lot of business with companies that buy blocks of tickets for clients and conference attendees; Crazy Horse is big with Japanese and Americans; the Paradis Latin is a favorite with French cabaret goers, and the Lido has the most international clientele.
All four are family owned, at least for now. The Moulin Rouge and the Lido
are owned by different members of the Clerico clan. The Crazy Horse,
founded in 1951 by Alain Bernardin, is now run by two of his children.
Paradis Latin, which had closed its doors in 1930 and reopened in 1977,
is now owned by the Israel family.But the cabaret business is taking on new dimensions. The Crazy Horse has replicated itself in Las Vegas (in the MGM hotel), and there’s talk of doing likewise in Tokyo and Shanghai. The Moulin Rouge is reported to have a licensing deal with Fox related to the film. There are also rumors of mergers and offers of acquisition. But so far, it’s business as usual – and business is thriving. All four cabarets say they were profitable last year, and there’s lots of potential for growth.
If the four cabarets were to sell out every night in 2005 it would still be under 2 million seats – while Paris gets 25 million foreign visitors a year and an equal number of French tourists. The 15 million people live in and near Paris are also potential clients – or at least those who can afford the tab.
So
the four major cabarets and the dozen or so smaller Parisian venues
would like you to take the advice of the MC in Cabaret: “life is a
cabaret…come to the cabaret.” If you want your life to be a cabaret, book with Paris Visions. They offer packages for all the venues mentioned here, from the basic "show + 2 drinks," right through to Seine dinner crusies followed by the show. Book now!
