The Théâtre des Variétés is a theatre and "salle de spectacles" at 7–8, boulevard Montmartre, 2nd arrondissement, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. It was declared a monument historique in 1974.

History

It owes its creation to the theatre director

Mademoiselle Montansier Marguerite Brunet, known by her stage name of Mademoiselle Montansier (19 December 1730, in Bayonne – 13 July 1820, in Paris), was a French actress and theatre director. Background At 14 she fled from the Ursuline convent in Bordeaux, s ...

(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. The theatre plays a prominent role in Émile Zola's 1880 novel, '' Nana'', as it is the theatre in which the title character achieves celebrity in the opening chapters.

Other activities

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

Premieres at the theatre

* 1833: ''La Modiste et le Lord'', 2-act opera by Auguste Pilati * 1856: ''L'Amour et Psyché'', 1 act opera by Auguste Pilati * 1864: '' La belle Hélène'', opéra bouffe by

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''T ...

, libretto by Meilhac and Halévy * 1867: '' La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein'', opéra bouffe by

, libretto by Meilhac and Halévy * 1868: '' La Périchole'', opéra bouffe by

, libretto by Meilhac and Halévy * 1869: '' Les brigands'', opéra bouffe by

, libretto by Meilhac and Halévy * 1883: '' Mam'zelle Nitouche'', vaudeville-operette by

Hervé Hervé is a French masculine given name of Breton origin, from the name of the 6th-century Breton Saint Hervé. The common latinization of the name is Herveus (also ''Haerveus''), an early (8th-century) latinization was ''Charivius''. Anglicized ...

* 1907: '' L'Enfant prodigue'', the first feature-length European film, directed by Michel Carré, fils * 1923: '' Ciboulette'', operetta by Reynaldo Hahn, libretto by Robert de Flers and Francis de Croisset * 1946: '' César'' by Marcel Pagnol, after his film of the same name

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 Eugène Bertrand (15 January 1834 – 30 December 1899) was a French comedian, theatre managing director and opera house director. Life Born in Paris, he made his debut in the theatre at the Théâtre des Jeunes-Artistes then at the Théâtre ...

*1892–1914 :

Fernand Samuel Fernand Samuel was the professional name of Adolphe-Amédée Louveau"Fernand Samuel"
Les Arc ...

*1914–40 : Max Maurey *1940–43 : Émile Petit *1944–45 : Max Maurey & Émile Petit *1946–47 : Max &

Denis Maurey Denis may refer to: People * Saint Denis of Paris, 3rd-century Christian martyr and first bishop of Paris * Denis the Areopagite, Biblical figure * Denis, son of Ampud (died 1236), baron in the Kingdom of Hungary * Denis the Carthusian (1402–14 ...

*1947–75 : Denis & Marcel Maurey *1975–89 : Jean-Michel Rouzière *1989–91 : Francis Lemonnier *1991–2004 :

Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...

*since 2005 : Jean-Manuel Bajen

References

External links