The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens () is a
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
ian theatre founded in 1855 by the
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...
for the performance of
opéra bouffe
''Opéra bouffe'' (, plural: ''opéras bouffes'') is a genre of mid- to late 19th-century French operetta, closely associated with Jacques Offenbach, who produced many of them at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, inspiring the genre's name.
It ...
and
operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...
. The current theatre is located in the
2nd arrondissement at 4 rue Monsigny with an entrance at the back at 65 Passage Choiseul. In the 19th century the theatre was often referred to as the Salle Choiseul. With the decline in popularity of operetta after 1870, the theatre expanded its repertory to include comedies.
[Bouffes-Parisien website]
.[Lamb, Andrew. "Offenbach, Jacques" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, pp. 653–658.][Levin 2009, pp. 401–402.] The theatre is still active with regular productions of stage plays.
History
Salle Lacaze
In February 1855, Offenbach successfully requested a license from the Parisian authorities for the performance of what he described as a "new and original" genre of musical theatre. He justified his proposed endeavour by saying that these works would have mass appeal and would provide opportunities for young French composers.
[
The company gave its first performances during the summer of 1855 at the Salle Lacaze. This theatre was unusually small with a capacity of only 300 spectators, but was located on the ]Carré Marigny
The Carré Marigny ("Marigny Square"), in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, is the site of an open-air market where postage stamps are bought and sold by hobbyists and serious philately, philatelists.
The Carré Marigny was featured as a locatio ...
, near the crowds attending the Exposition Universelle. The inaugural performance was on 5 July with Offenbach conducting four of his own works: a prologue called ''Entrez, messieurs, mesdames'', a one-act ''pièce d'occasion'' written by Joseph Méry
Joseph Méry (21 January 179717 June 1866) was a French writer, journalist, novelist, poet, playwright and librettist.
Career
An ardent romanticist, he collaborated with Auguste Barthélemy in many of his satires and wrote a great number of ...
and "Jules Servières" (a pen name
A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
of Ludovic Halévy
Ludovic Halévy (1 January 1834 – 7 May 1908) was a French people, French author and playwright, known for his collaborations with Henri Meilhac on the libretto, libretti for Georges Bizet's ''Carmen'' and comic operas by Jacques Offenbach, inc ...
, who worked as a government official and needed to protect his reputation); ''Une nuit blanche'', a one-act ''opéra-comique'' on a pastoral theme; ''Arlequin barbier'', a pantomime utilizing themes from Rossini's ''Il barbiere di Siviglia
''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy '' ...
'' arranged by "Alfred Lange" (Offenbach); and '' Les deux aveugles'', a one-act ''bouffonerie musicale'' about two swindling "blind" Parisian beggars. The latter was almost cut, since the invited audience who attended the dress rehearsal failed to laugh, but Offenbach decided to retain it, and it was the hit of the opening night. This little piece soon acquired an international reputation (due to visitors from the Exposition), and Offenbach's admirers soon included Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...
and Thackeray. Further performances in the summer of 1855 were primarily of satirical sketches which only included a few musical numbers. The season, however, was so successful that Offenbach was able to resign his position as conductor of the Théâtre Français.[
]
Salle Choiseul
In October Offenbach submitted another petition to the authorities, this time to merge his company with the Théâtre des Jeunes Élèves de Monsieur Comte ( Théâtre Comte). This company's theatre, which was not much larger than the Salle Lacaze, was demolished, and the larger Salle Choiseul with a capacity of about 900 was constructed. The new theatre was not only larger, but warmer, more luxurious and more comfortable than the Salle Lacaze. The orchestra was enlarged from sixteen players to thirty. Offenbach's new license permitted performances of one-act comedies, with or without music, but with fewer than five characters. It also specifically excluded sketches and required the performance of at least two works by composers other than Offenbach. The first performance of the merged company was on 29 December 1855 at the Salle Choiseul and included the premiere of Offenbach's '' Ba-ta-clan'', a one-act ''chinoiserie musicale'' with a libretto by Halévy. From this time performances were primarily given at the Salle Choiseul during the winter theatre season. The company performed at the Salle Lacaze during the 1856, 1857 and 1859 summer seasons, however, in March 1861 legislation was enacted which prevented the company from using both theatres, and appearances at the Salle Lacaze were discontinued. In spite of the restrictions of the license, Offenbach began including longer, more substantial works which violated its terms. For instance, his two-act ''Orphée aux enfers
''Orpheus in the Underworld'' and ''Orpheus in Hell'' are English names for (), a comic opera with music by Jacques Offenbach and words by Hector Crémieux and Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed as a two-act " opéra bouffon" at the Th ...
'' with a cast of 16 received its first performance at the Salle Choiseul on 21 October 1858. Even after Offenbach resigned as the director in January 1862, the company continued at the Salle Choiseul, performing light operas by other composers as well as Offenbach.[
Upon the departure of Offenbach, the new director tore down the existing hall to erect a larger one with a capacity of 1100 spectators.][
]
Legacy
While the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens is indelibly linked to Offenbach, it has also been the venue for a number of other important works. In addition to Offenbach's own operettas, the theatre has seen the premieres of musical works by Hervé, Emmanuel Chabrier
Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier (; 18 January 184113 September 1894) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and pianist. His Bourgeoisie, bourgeois family did not approve of a musical career for him, and he studied law in Paris and then worked ...
and Claude Terrasse
Claude Terrasse (27 January 1867 – 30 June 1923) was a French composer of operettas.
Terrasse was born in L'Arbresle, Rhône. He became known by writing the music for the play ''Ubu Roi'' by Alfred Jarry in 1896. In Paris, his brother-in-law, t ...
, and plays by writers such as Robert de Flers
Robert Pellevé de La Motte-Ango, marquis de Flers (25 November 1872, Pont-l'Évêque, Calvados – 30 July 1927, Vittel) was a French playwright, opera librettist, and journalist. Pierre Barillet, ''Les Seigneurs du rire: Flers – Caillavet � ...
, Albert Willemetz
Albert Willemetz (14 February 1887 – 7 October 1964) was a French librettist.
Career
Albert Willemetz was a prolific lyricist. He invented a new type of musical, with a humorous and "sexy" style. He was the author of more than 3000 songs, inc ...
, Sacha Guitry
Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre (aesthetic), boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French ac ...
and Henri Bernstein
Henri-Léon-Gustave-Charles Bernstein (20 June 1876 – 27 November 1953) was a French playwright associated with Boulevard theatre.
Biography
Bernstein was born in Paris. His earliest plays, including ''La Rafale'' (1905), ''Le Voleur'' (1907) ...
.
From 1986 to 2007, the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens was under the directorship of the actor Jean-Claude Brialy
Jean-Claude Brialy (30 March 1933 – 30 May 2007) was a French actor and film director.
Early life
Brialy was born in Aumale (now Sour El-Ghozlane), French Algeria, where his father was stationed with the French Army. Brialy moved to mainland ...
, after whose death in May 2007 his partner Bruno Finck took over. Subsequently Dominique Dumond, director of Polyfolies assumed the leadership in September 2013.
The theatre is part of the « Théâtres parisiens associés » and more recently the stage has witnessed straight theatre such as ''88 fois l'infini'' with Niels Arestrup
Niels Arestrup (; 8 February 1949 – 1 December 2024) was a French-Danish actor, film director and screenwriter.
Early life and career
Arestrup was born in Paris on 8 February 1949, into a family of modest means; his father was Danish and his ...
and François Berléand
François Berléand (; born 22 April 1952) is a French actor.
He plays Gilles Triquet, the officer manager and equivalent of David Brent in ''Le Bureau'', the French version of ''The Office'', produced by Canal+. He also appeared in the 2002 f ...
in 2021, ''La Note'' with Sophie Marceau
Sophie Marceau (; born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu, 17 November 1966) is a French actress. As a teenager, she achieved popularity with her debut films ''La Boum'' (1980) and ''La Boum 2'' (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising Act ...
and François Berléand in 2023, and ''A Streetcar Named Desire
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...
'' (in French) in 2024.
List of premieres
List of directors
The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens was founded as a private entrepreneurship.[Levin indicates that the company was a private entrepreneurship from its founding in 1855 up until 1885, which is the extent of her coverage of the topic. See Table 16.8. "Chronology and administration of the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens company" in Levin 2009, p. 399.]
References
;Notes
;Sources
* Dickens, Charles (1882). ''Dicken's Dictionary of Paris, 1882. An Unconventional Handbook''. London: Macmillan
View
at Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
.
* Faris, Alexander (1980). ''Jacques Offenbach''. London & Boston: Faber and Faber. .
*Fauser, Annegret, editor; Everist, Mark, editor (2009). ''Music, theater, and cultural transfer. Paris, 1830–1914''. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. .
*Galignani, A. and W., publishers (1862). ''Galignani's New Paris Guide for 1862''. Paris: A. and W. Galignani
View
at Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
.
*Gammond, Peter (1980). ''Offenbach''. London: Omnibus Press. .
*Gänzl, Kurt (2001). ''The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre'', second edition. New York: Schirmer Books. .
*Levin, Alicia (2009). "A documentary overview of musical theaters in Paris, 1830–1900" in Fauser 2009, pp. 379–402.
*Martin, Jules (1901). ''Nos Artistes: Annuaire des Théâtres et Concerts, 1901–1902''. Paris: Ollendorff
View
at Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
.
* Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes.
The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...
'' (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. .
*Wagstaff, John (1992). "''Véronique''" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, pp. 961–962.
* Yon, Jean-Claude (2000). ''Jacques Offenbach''. aris Aris or ARIS may refer to:
People
* Aris (surname)
Given name
* Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer
* Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player
* Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano
* Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter
* Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect
* ...
Galimard. .
External links
The Theatre's website
{{Coord, 48.8684, N, 2.3354, E, region:FR-75_type:landmark, display=title
Opera houses in Paris
Buildings and structures in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris
Theatres completed in 1855
Music venues completed in 1855