Théâtre_des_Variétés

Théâtre des Variétés

Théâtre des Variétés

Paris theatre open since 1807

The Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7–8, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in Paris. It was declared a monument historique in 1974.

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History

It owes its creation to the theatre director Mademoiselle Montansier (Marguerite Brunet). Imprisoned for debt in 1803 and frowned upon by the government, a decree of 1806 ordered her company to leave the Théâtre du Palais-Royal which then bore the name of "Variétés". The decree's aim was to move out Montansier's troupe to make room for the company from the neighbouring Théâtre-Français, which had stayed empty even as the Variétés-Montansier had enjoyed immense public favour. Strongly unhappy about having to leave the theatre by 1 January 1807, the 77-year-old Montansier gained an audience with Napoleon himself and received his help and protection. She thus reunited the "Société des Cinq", which directed her troupe, in order to found a new theatre, the one which stands at the side of the passage des Panoramas. It was inaugurated on 24 June 1807.[1]

The liberalisation of the regulations of Parisian theatres in 1864 led the management of the Variétés to stage several key works by Offenbach.[1] The composer siezed the opportunities in the new legal framework to present his work to different audiences beyond the Bouffes-Parisiens, and the final six years of the Empire marked the high-point of his career with La belle Hélène and La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein premiered there. The theatre also witnessed the first successes in operetta of Charles Lecocq.[2]

The theatre plays a prominent role in Émile Zola's 1880 novel, Nana, as the theatre in which the title character achieves celebrity with the premiere of La Blonde Vénus at the Théâtre des Variétés in April 1867 in the opening chapters.[3]

Other activities

In 2012 the theatre began to host technical conferences such as dotJS or dotScale.[4]

Premieres at the theatre

The théâtre des Variétés in 2012

Directors

  • 1807–19 : Mlle Montansier
  • 1820–30 : Mira Brunet
  • 1930–36 : Armand Dartois
  • 1836 : Jean-François Bayard
  • 1837–39 : Philippe Pinel-Dumanoir
  • 1839 : Jouslin de la Salle
  • 1840 : M. Leroy
  • 1840–47 : Nestor Roqueplan
  • 1847–49 : M. Morin
  • 1849–51 : M. Thibeaudeau-Milon
    (M. Bowes, proprietor)
  • 1851–54 : M. Carpier (M. Bowes, proprietor)
  • 1855 : MM. Laurencin & Zacheroni (M. Bowes, proprietor)
  • 1855 : Hippolyte & Théodore Cogniard
  • 1856–69 : Hippolyte Cogniard & Jules Noriac
  • 1869–91 : Eugène Bertrand
  • 1892–1914 : Fernand Samuel
  • 1914–40 : Max Maurey
  • 1940–43 : Émile Petit
  • 1944–45 : Max Maurey & Émile Petit
  • 1946–47 : Max & Denis Maurey
  • 1947–75 : Denis & Marcel Maurey
  • 1975–89 : Jean-Michel Rouzière
  • 1989–91 : Francis Lemonnier
  • 1991–2004 : Jean-Paul Belmondo
  • since 2005 : Jean-Manuel Bajen

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Charlton, David. Paris. In: The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Macmillan, London and New York, 1997, 4, vii, p.873 'Théâtre des Variétés'.
  2. [2]
    L'Epine, Bérengère de and Girard, Pauline. Rire et subversion ? L’opérette sous le Second Empire. In: Les spectacles sous le second Empire, ed J-C Yon. Armand Colin, Paris, 2010, p.322-323.
  3. [3]
    Joyce, John-Pierre. Enfolding the Action - Zola at the opera. Opera, July 2023, Vol.74, No.7, p.798.
  4. [4]
    "DotJS".
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