Theatre de la Rue Saint Pierre or Le Spectacle de la Rue Saint Pierre, was the first (French-speaking) theatre in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, active in 1792-1810. It opened in 1792 and was known to the Spanish-speaking citizens as El Coliseo and to the French-speaking citizens, La Salle Comedie. It was described as a small building of native lumber near the center of the city. It was located on the uptown side of St. Peter Street between

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or Royalty (disambiguation), royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Ill ...

and Bourbon Streets, in what is now called the French Quarter.

History

Founding

In 1792, Parisians Jean-Louis Henry and Louis-Alexandre Henry purchased a piece of property measuring 64 feet by 128 feet from Louis McCarty.

Building

In a letter dated October 6, 1792, two days after the official opening of the theatre on October 4, Baron Joseph Delfau de Pontalba wrote to ex-

governor, Esteban Miró, the following description of the theater's interior: :"The theatre opened on October 4, Mr. de Carondelet's oyal Governor of Louisiana, 1791-1797 saint's day. Two of the male actors are tolerable, the others bad; the actresses are fit to be run off he stagewith a broom to their backs. The theatre is small, but quite pretty.... There are twelve loges oggiasin the theatre which are all rented at $200 to $300 each per year, and they are reserved a month before the opening. The amphitheatre seats are 6 ''esaclins'' each, and the pit and gallery 4 each.

Activity

A professional French troupe began to perform in the city in the 1790s. The troupe was properly organized in 1794, and performed regularly at the theatre until 1800. At least initially, the staff of the theatre consisted of professional actors led by Louis Tabary, singers and dancers from Saint-Domingue (Haiti), refugees of the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution ( or ; ) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known Slave rebellion, slave up ...

, a group which became very populous in New Orleans at this time. While it is hard to verify from which theatre in Saint Domingue the actors came from, certain things give hints about their origin. From 1793 its new director Madame Durosier announced her engagement of quadroon actresses at the theatre. Durosier was a name connected with the Comédie de Port-au-Prince (which was destroyed two years prior) a theatre which was known to employ quadroon actresses, among them the famous Minette et Lise, who may have been among those quadroon actresses employed at the Theatre de la Rue Saint Pierre. Durosier herself is no longer documented after 1797. Other noted artists were Joseph Destinval from Comédie de Port-au-Prince; Denis-Richard Dechanet Desassarts, who assisted in the re-organization of 1794; and Louis Champigny, who were otherwise a known hair dresser in New Orleans. The principal dancer Jean-Baptiste Francisquy, the two leading actors Jean Baptiste Le Sueur Fontaine and Jeanne-Marie Marsan, Mme. Delaure, Louis-Francois Clerville and the opera singer Mme. Clerville were all from the Comédie du Cap,Juliane Braun: Creole Drama: Theatre and Society in Antebellum New Orleans which had been destroyed in 1793 during the Haitian revolution. When the order of the theatre was established in the contract of 1797, there were fourteen actors employed at the theatre's troupe: Jeanne-Marie Marsan was among the actors granted benefit performances, and together with Clerville and Delaure, the highest-paid actor altogether with a salary of $70. The cast was made up mostly of refugees at least as late as 1804, and probably for its entire duration. On 22 May 1796, the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

'' Silvain'' by André Grétry, became the first opera performed in New Orleans. In 1798, the stockholders of the theatre asked for and were granted a gambling permission to finance the theatre. In 1800, an etiquette argument about reserved seats in the theater led to its closure, officially because the gambling concession was said to have been abused. It was opened again in 1802. In 1803, the theater was closed due to the bad condition of the building. In 1804, the building had been repaired, and the theatre was permitted to open again.

Closure

For a long time, Theatre de la Rue Saint Pierre was the only theater in New Orleans. However, in the face of competition from newer, larger theaters - Théâtre de Saint Philippe (1808) and later the Théâtre d'Orléans - the Theatre of St. Peter Street again went out of business, the building being auctioned off in 1810. The theater burned down in the same 1816 fire which destroyed the first Théâtre d'Orléans.

American premieres

* 1796: ''Silvain'' by André Grétry * 1801: ''Il barbiere di Siviglia, ovvero La precauzione inutile'' by

Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born i ...

* 1802: ''Le desert ou l’oasis'' by Joseph Arquier

References

* John G. Cale,
French Secular Music in Saint-Domingue (1750-1795) Viewed as a Factor in America's Musical Growth
', Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College, 1971 *

' {{coords, 29.95, -90.07, display=title 18th century in New Orleans Opera houses in Louisiana Performing arts centers in Louisiana Theatres in New Orleans Music of New Orleans Rue Saint Pierre 1792 establishments in the United States French Quarter Theatres completed in 1792 19th century in New Orleans