Enlarge imageBy Joelle Diderich
PARIS (Reuters) - Seated at a brightly lit dressing table backstage at the Lido nightclub in Paris, dancer Shay Stafford applies a heavy coat of make-up for another night under the spotlights of the world’s most prestigious cabaret.
The 30-year-old Australian is a member of the Bluebell Girls, the mythical showgirls with a reputation for seducing aristocrats during the Lido’s post-war heyday, when regular guests included the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
These days, there is little chance the long-limbed beauty will be wooed by a millionaire after an evening parading topless in her giant feather headdress.
"Roses at the stage door, that sort of thing, I think that’s something of the past," she said.
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"I think in the old days it was sort of an era of glamour where the clientele were here perhaps to meet a Bluebell, but now we’re kept very separate from the audience."
French cabaret has come a long way since the 19th century, when the cancan dancers at the Moulin Rouge were immortalised by painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
After World War Two, the Lido launched the dinner show and its signature rows of scantily-clad chorus girls, exporting the production to Las Vegas where it ran for a record 32 years.
Back in Paris, however, locals increasingly shunned what they considered a kitschy tourist attraction.
Now the club on the Champs Elysees is back in favour, thanks to a German singer who has electrified audiences at the helm of the Lido’s new revue "Bonheur" ("Happiness").
"Paris is still living a lot from its past, and eventually it has to change," leading lady Sabine Hettlich said in her dressing room, where richly embroidered gowns sparkle on a rack.
"That’s what we’re trying with this show and that’s what I try with my part, to bring something new," she said.
NO VOICE IN A CAN
With her closely cropped blonde hair, the 34-year-old singer could pass for a student in her casual stripey sweater and cargo pants. Onstage, she transforms into a glamour goddess with a voice like Barbra Streisand and legs to rival Marlene Dietrich.
"I think I partly play a diva, but on the other hand I make fun of the diva. I can laugh about it," said Hettlich, who opens the show by swooping down from the ceiling wearing angel wings.
She may take a playful approach to the part, but Hettlich is deadly serious when it comes to her singing.
A jazz singer and former star of musicals such as "Cats", she accepted the role provided she could sing live, instead of lip-synching to pre-recorded vocals as is the usual practice.
"I think it is a betrayal of the audience, unless you lose your voice and you have an emergency. But in Paris, in the cabaret shows, nobody is singing live and the people who are miming to the playback are not even singers," she said.
"It’s a matter of protecting my genre. There are amazing singers out there and great performers, and it is possible to sing and dance at the same time."
To prove it, Hettlich has been belting out two shows per night, six nights a week, for the last year.
Paris has embraced her -- the French make up 55 percent of the audience and other Europeans 20 percent, replacing the predominantly Asian clients of the last two decades.
Fashion designers like John Galliano love the retro-glam allure of the club, where patrons can sip champagne in cosy red booths. Pop singer Kylie Minogue, researching her upcoming "Showgirl" tour, dropped in last month to glean some tips.
"We did talk about the challenge of going out there and being in shape," said Hettlich, who like all the performers in the show follows a strict health and fitness regime.
ELEPHANTS AND SWIMMING POOLS
The female dancers, who have to measure at least 1.75 metres (5 ’9"), have their weight written into their contracts and are banned from gaining or losing more than 2 kg (4.4 lbs).
The 42 Bluebell Girls run through some 10 costume changes per show, generally involving G-strings, towering heels and for one scene, a metallic headdress weighing 13 kg (29 lbs).
A team of dressers makes sure the jewel-encrusted outfits, which account for a third of the show’s budget of 9 million euros, end up on the right performer.
Despite the gruelling routine, joining the Lido is a dream for dancers from Australia to Ukraine. Artistic director Pierre Rambert receives 30 to 40 audition requests per week and travels regularly to London, New York and Las Vegas to scout for talent.
Rambert spent almost two years developing "Bonheur", the story of a woman searching for happiness that takes the audience from the fashion salons of Paris to a magical Indian temple.
The show features 23 sets, including an ice rink, an articulated elephant and an 80,000-litre (17,600-gallon) pool -- all on a stage just 14 metres (yards) wide.
Hettlich said that despite the mind-boggling logistics, working at the Lido has been like a fairy tale.
"At the end (of the show) I’m standing in front of the audience saying, ’I’ve found happiness’ and I have to say, as tacky as it sounds, I do feel that."
