Alphonse Lemonnier, full name Hippolyte Alphonse Lemonnier, (20 August 1842 – 16 July 1907) was a 19th-century French journalist, novelist,

chansonnier A chansonnier ( ca, cançoner, oc, cançonièr, Galician and pt, cancioneiro, it, canzoniere or ''canzoniéro'', es, cancionero) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings o ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Biography

Lemonnier was born in Paris, 6me arrondissement. He made his comedian debut at the Cirque-Olympique before he became theatrical columnist for many newspapers. The founder of the ''Moniteur des théâtres et des plaisirs'' (1869), the ''Parisien illustré'' (1867) and ''La Vie thermale'' (1867), he was the publication director of the ''Paris-mondain'' (1880-1881) and ''Colombine'' (1894-1895) periodics.

Stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

of the

Théâtre des Variétés 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. History It owes its creation to the theatre director Mademoiselle ...

, then successively director of the

Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques Théâtre des Délassements-Comiques is a name that was used for a number of different theatres in Paris from 1785 to 1890. First (boulevard du Temple, 1785–1799) The first Délassements-Comiques was a small theatre on the boulevard du Temple, ...

, the Théâtre du Château-d'eau and the

Théâtre Déjazet The Théâtre Déjazet is a theatre on the boulevard du Temple (popularly known as the 'boulevard du crime’) in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris, France. It was founded in 1770 by Comte d'Artois who later was crowned Charles X. It was then close ...

, he later was managing director of the Alhambra and the Comédie-Mondaine (1906) in Brussels. His

plays Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

were presented on the most important Parisian stages of his time, including the Théâtre Déjazet, the Théâtre de la Gaîté and the

Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques The Théâtre des Folies-Dramatiques was a theatre in Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries. Opened first in 1832 in the site of the old Théâtre de l'Ambigu-Comique on the Boulevard du Temple, under Frédérick Lemaître it became a noted venue ...

. He died in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, 16 July 1907, and was buried in the Paris Batignoles cemetery on 20 July 1907.''Gil Blas''
20 juillet 1907, , Gallica.

Works

*1856: ''Deux vieilles gardes'',

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

in 1 act, with

Ferdinand de Villeneuve Ferdinand de Villeneuve (5 June 1801 – 27 September 1858) was a 19th-century French playwright. Short biography He made his debut in the theatre at the age of 21 by partnering with Charles Dupeuty, and began to be successful from 1823 onwar ...

and

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and '' Sylvia'' (1876) and the opera ''Lakm� ...

*1860: ''Adieu charmants démons !'', ditty *1861: ''La Fête de ma femme'', comedy mingled with

couplet A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...

s, in 1 act *1862: ''Risette et Jacquot, ou les Étrennes au village'', pièce villageoise in 1 act *1865: ''Les Femmes de théâtre'' *1865: ''Les Petites comédies de l'amour'',

one-act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

, mingled with singing, with Félix Dutertre de Véteuil *1866: ''Les Aventures de Rockambolle'', folie-vaudeville in 3 acts *1866: ''L'Affaire Clément-sot, mémoires d'une accusée'', one-act play, with Victor Duteuil *1866: ''La Déesse du bœuf gras'', folie carnavalesque in 2 tableaux, with Élie Frébault *1866: ''La Diva Peripata !'', folie-vaudeville in 1 act, with Duteuil *1866: ''Faut nous payer ça'', grande revue parisienne in 4 acts and 12 tableaux, with Duteuil *1868: ''Tout Paris la verra'', revue in 5 acts and 15 tableaux, with François Oswald *1869: ''Allons-y'', revue in 4 acts and 17 tableaux *1869: ''Concert de l'Eldorado... Petite biographie de Madame Judic'' *1869: ''Le Bien d'autrui'', opéra comique in 1 act, music by Samuel David *1869: ''Le Gaulois-Revue'', revue of 1868 in 4 acts and 10 tableaux, with Alexandre Flan *1871: ''Histoire de la révolution de Paris, avec notices biographiques des membres de la Commune'' *1871: ''Une Noce en visite'', parody of ''Une visite de noces'', in 1 act *1872: ''Les Femmes qui font des scènes'', three-act play, mingled with song, with Monselet *1873: ''Les Femmes qui s'amusent'' *1873: ''Aimer un homme !'', ditty *1876: ''Quand il n'y a plus de foin...'', one-act play *1877: ''Les Femmes des réservistes'', duo comique *1878: ''S. G. D. G.'',

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

of the year *1880: ''Les Dindons de la farce'', comedy in 3 acts 1878, with

Charles Monselet Charles Monselet (30 April 1825, Nantes - 19 May 1888, Paris) was a French journalist, novelist, poet and playwright, nicknamed "the king of the gastronomes" by his contemporaries. He specialised in comedic and romantic novels and his total ou ...

*1880: ''Paris-mondain, ronde chantée tous les soirs, par Mme Dufresny, à l'Alcazar d'hiver'', with de Jallais *1882: ''Cinq filles à marier'', play mingled with song, in 1 act *1884: ''Une date immortelle ! souvenir d'un grand jour'', with

Amédée de Jallais Amédée de Jallais (17 December 1826 – 31 January 1909) was a 19th-century French playwright, operetta librettist and chansonnier. Biography The son of a lieutenant colonel in the guards, he studied at the College Bourbon then entered in ...

*1885: ''Une Maîtresse servante'', comédie-vaudeville in 1 act, with Henri Luguet *1886: ''L'Année scandaleuse'', revue of the year in 2 acts and 1 prologue, with Stéphen Lemonnier *1887: ''La Petite Francillon'', little parody in 1 little prologue, 3 little acts and 2 little intermissions, with

Henri Blondeau Henri Marie Gabriel Blondeau (5 August 1841 – 4 May 1925) was a French playwright, librettist and Chansonnier (singer), chansonnier, famous for his song ''Frou-frou (song), Frou-frou''. Biography A clerk by a stockbroker, he became known i ...

and Hector Monréal *1891: ''Madame la maréchale'', three-act play, with

Louis Péricaud Louis Jean Péricaud (10 June 1835, La Rochelle – 12 November 1909, Paris) was a 19th-century French stage actor, chansonnier, playwright, theatre historian and theatre director. He was the father of actress Berthe Jalabert (1858–c.1935) and ...

*1891: ''Une mère d'actrice'', novel, with S. Lemonnier *1892: ''L'Héritage de Jean Gommier'', five-act play, with Louis Péricaud *1895: ''Les abus du théâtre ; Quelques directeurs en robe de chambre'' *1897: ''Paille d'avoine'',

opéra comique ''Opéra comique'' (; plural: ''opéras comiques'') is a genre of French opera that contains spoken dialogue and arias. It emerged from the popular '' opéras comiques en vaudevilles'' of the Fair Theatres of St Germain and St Laurent (and to a l ...

in 1 act *1899: ''Françoise les Bas-Bleus'', pièce patriotique mêlée de chant, in 3 tableaux, with S. Lemonnier *1899: ''Fidelio'', opera in 3 acts *1901: ''Le Premier modèle'', comedy in 1 act *1902: ''Les Mille et un souvenirs d'un homme de théâtre'' *undate: ''Huit ans au théâtre de la République''

References

Bibliography

* ''Le Théâtre'', revue, vol.10, partie 2, 1907, (p. 88) (obituary) * ''Le Ménestrel: journal de musique'', 1907, (p. 232) (obituary) * Henry Lyonnet, ''Dictionnaire des comédiens français'', 1911, (p. 190) * Guy Dumur, ''Histoire des spectacles'', 1965, (p. 1867) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemonnier, Alphonse 19th-century French journalists French male journalists 19th-century French novelists French chansonniers 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French theatre managers and producers 1842 births Writers from Paris 1907 deaths 19th-century French male writers