The Bellevue Teatret (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: Bellevue Theatre) is a theatre in Klampenborg at the northern outskirts of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. Opened in 1936 to the design of

Arne Jacobsen Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA () 11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect and furniture designer. He is remembered for his contribution to architectural functionalism and for the worldwide success he enjoyed with simple we ...

, the building is considered one of his most important architectural works and exemplar of Danish functionalism. The theatre is part of a scheme also including the adjoining

Bellevue Beach Bellevue Beach (Danish: ''Bellevue Strand''), often simply referred to as Bellevue, is a beach at Klampenborg on the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark. With up to 500,000 visitors a year, it is one of the most popular beaches in the Copen ...

and residential block and was, at the time, seen as a manifestation of "the dream of the modern lifestyle".

History

In the early 1930s, Arne Jacobsen won a competition for a masterplan for the Bellevue area im Klampenborg,

Gentofte Municipality Gentofte Kommune is a municipality ( Danish, '' kommune'') in the Capital Region of Denmark (''Region Hovedstaden'') on the east coast of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. It covers an area of , and has a total population ...

, shortly after opening his own architectural office in 1930. The Bellevue Teatret was the last stage of this scheme, which also included facilities for the local Bellevue Sea Bath and the Bellavista residential buildings. The theatre opened in 1936 as a mondain summer theatre. It closed a few seasons later, then operating as a

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

until 1980, when it was reopened as a theatre and film centre by Jes Kølpin.

Building

The building is considered one of the most important architectural work by Arne Jacobsen, exemplar of early Danish functionalism. The inside has

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

decorations and is noted for the retractable roof. Walls, balcony and

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

are clad in

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...

and bamboo. The

front curtain A front curtain, also known as a (front-of-)house curtain, act curtain, grand drape, main curtain or drape, proscenium curtain, or main rag is the stage curtain or curtains at the very front of a theatrical stage, separating it from the house. ...

shows a beach girl, painted by Åge Sikker Hansen.

Repertoire

Since the reopening as a theatre, the repertoire has been dominated by modern music performances, particularly

rock musicals A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concep ...

. An annual tradition is a Summer Ballet. Until the 2008 season produced in cooperation with Copenhagen International Ballet, it is now made in produced in cooperation with

Tim Rushton Timothy John Rushton MBE (born 18 March 1963 in England) is a British choreographer and from 2001 to 2018 artistic leader of the Copenhagen-based Danish Dance Theatre, Denmark's largest modern dance company. Tim Rushton was trained at The Royal ...

and Danish Dance Theatre.

Bibliography

* Strømberg, Ulla: ''Bellevue Teatret. Arkitektur og teater i Arne Jacobsens bygningsværk''. Forlaget Bogvaerket.dk

References

{{coord, 55, 46, 39.2, N, 12, 35, 23.7, E, source:dawiki_region:DK_type:landmark, display=title Arne Jacobsen buildings Theatres in Copenhagen Listed buildings and structures in Gentofte Municipality Listed theatres in Denmark Buildings and structures completed in 1936 Functionalist architecture Modernist architecture in Copenhagen