Jean Paul Gaultier Is Officially a Cabaret King

TOP OF THE POPS: Jean Paul Gaultier‘s post-runway career in cabaret-style revues is going swimmingly.

On Tuesday, Berlin’s Friedrichstadt-Palast said its current Grand Show, titled “Falling | In Love” and curated by Gaultier, just became the top performer in the theater’s 100-year history, both in terms of attendance and revenues.

Over the weekend, the show recorded 804,000 paying guests – and the show doesn’t close until July 5. To date, the occupancy rate is 93 percent for the 1,900-seat theater, which boasts the largest stage in Europe. The show debuted in September 2023.

“Falling | In Love” already smashed the previous sales record of 47.2 million euros last February, and the tally now stands at 57.4 million euros, surpassing by more than 10 million euros the haul by the “Arise” show, which ran from 2021 to 2023.

In terms of attendance, “Falling | In Love” bumped out the previous record holder, “The One,” a Grand Show for which Gaultier had designed around 500 costumes in 2016, fulfilling a childhood dream.

Berndt Schmidt, general director and producer of Friedrichstadt-Palast, allowed that “these are incredible numbers, especially given the challenging national and international situation we are facing.”

He credited an ensemble cast “who bring rousing, premiere-worthy quality to the stage during every single performance” and the loyalty of its Berlin fans.

As curator and visual design director of “Falling | In Love”, Gaultier conscripted the alien-looking Canadian couple known as Fecal Matter, and the Russian performance artist Sasha Frolova, synonymous with latex and abstract forms, to design costumes for certain scenes. He took care of roughly 400 costumes himself, reprising his cone bras, caged tailoring and sailor silhouettes with a flashy disco gloss.

Part Moulin Rouge, part Cirque de Soleil, part rock concert, the Grand Shows served up by Friedrichstadt-Palast involve more than 100 performers, including singers, dancers and acrobats.