The Parisian drag cabaret club Chez Michou closes its doors after 68 years

By Niamh Kennedy, CNN

(CNN) — A Parisian drag cabaret club that has hosted singers such as Liza Minnelli and Serge Gainsbourg is closing its doors due to financial difficulties.

Chez Michou, located in the hilltop Montmartre district of the French capital, announced in a Facebook post on Monday that it would close its doors with “great regret” for “financial reasons”.

The club said it had held its last performance on Sunday evening and thanked the last audience in its Facebook post for “making the evening so festive and moving.”

Chez Michou was founded in 1956 by cabaret artist Michel Catty, known simply as Michou. Michou’s colourful drag performances made him a household name in France and he was known for regularly dressing in flamboyant blue outfits.

Michou was still running his club when he died in February 2020. French President Emmanuel Macron was one of many prominent figures to pay tribute to him, saying after his death that “the skies of Montmartre will be a little less blue from now on”.

His historic club was the inspiration for the 1978 French film classic “The Cage of Fools”, which was remade in 1996 in the Hollywood film “The Birdcage” with Robin Williams in the lead role.

However, the club has run into financial difficulties in recent years and will now be unable to fulfil its bookings for the coming months. Just last week it announced its participation in a Pride event in Liege, Belgium in August.

The owners hope to have a liquidator appointed in the next two weeks to help find a buyer for the property, they said.

“We deeply regret having to cancel our performances and for any inconvenience this may cause,” the club told its guests on Facebook on Monday.

Catherine Catty-Jacquart, Michou’s niece who took over the business after his death in 2020, had previously told French news agency AFP that life as the director of a cabaret was “difficult”.

“We live day by day,” said Jacquart, adding that bookings for July are not yet full despite the Olympic Games in the French capital.

In its announcement, the club paid special tribute to its regulars, whom it described as “part of the Cabaret Chez Michou family,” adding: “Whatever happens, you will always have a place in our hearts.”

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