When my mom was in Paris last week, a couple of her bridge club friends were here too so they arranged for a night out at the Lido Cabaret. Le Lido, on the Champs d'Élysées, is one of the most famous Parisian cabaret and burlesque clubs. It's supposedly less risqué than other Parisian burlesque clubs such as the Crazy Horse which doesn't say much as the majority of the outfits worn by the dancers casually stopped before the boobs. Apparently the outfits of the Crazy Horse dancers just consist of accessories, like a bejeweled hat or feathered wings. Also, I guess dancers is somewhat of a relative term as the emphasis was placed on the glitz, glamour, and spandex and not so much rhythm, choreography, and synchronicity. Some of the cast certainly embodied the French attitude of not giving a shit and lifelessly flung the arms and legs in various directions somewhat on time to the music. One guy in particular was quite amusing - you could tell he was a cabaret dancer slash model (quite a common occupation I hear) and he would just pose instead of doing the steps. Having said this, it was a spectacular show, filled with more feathers, rhinestones, and glitter than an arts and crafts table, a Cher concert, and a drag queen's dressing room combined.
We went to the late show which started around 11:45 pm. We had our own table at the front of the second level of seating. Each ticket came with half a bottle of champagne so between the six of us, we were good to go. The show opened with the main singer (we'll call her head diva) being lowered from the ceiling in a white feathered sled thing; she then performed a song while the other dancers paraded around in elaborately feathered costumes. Each number had a theme to it - one was matrix themed, another cabaret themed, another east indian themed, another shopping themed, and another egyptian themed. My personal favourite was an obvious take on Cats but with more drag queen and tran-like cat costumes. The male cats especially were hilarious in both their costumes and their dancing. Another great moment was during a number involving various costumes from around the world and the dancers parading around the stage chanting "Je suis belle". It was during this number that I was able to spot the two men dressed as women amongst the dancers. Sure, they had boobs but their shoulders and adam apples definitely gave away their true gender.
Between some of the numbers, there were performances by a mime clown and this (not intentionally) hilarious man who did tricks with a diablo (spindle thing that one spins around on a string). His tricks were amazing but he obviously thought he was Fabio of the diablo world and after every big move he would slide out on his knees and fling out his arms, waiting for the applause. He also rocked copious amounts of guyliner and a suit that was possibly modeled after the outfits of Las Vegas Elvis.
Le Lido not only had elaborate costumes, but it also had extravagant stage set ups. For one number, an entire fountain was raised up through the stage. Another number was a figure skating number where the stage turned into a skating rink. Also they brought a live horse on stage. So basically the French can incorporate live animals, figure skating, and a huge fountain into a theatre performance yet they are still unable to solve problemes d'informatiques without shutting entire libraries down or allow me to deposit money in a bank atm thereby permitting me to pay my rent on time.
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