The Théâtre Marigny () is a theatre in

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 ...

, situated near the junction of the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...

and the Avenue Marigny in the 8th arrondissement. It was originally built to designs of the architect Charles Garnier for the display of a

panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

, which opened in 1883. The panorama was converted to the Théâtre Marigny in 1894 by the architect Édouard Niermans and became a home to

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 ...

and other

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

Panorama

An earlier theatre on the site, the Salle Lacaze, became known in 1855, as the home of

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 ...

's Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, where he first built his reputation as a theatre composer. In 1864 this became the

Théâtre des Folies-Marigny The Théâtre des Folies-Marigny (), a former theatre with a capacity of only 300 spectators, was built in 1848 by the Paris, City of Paris for a magician named Lacaze and was originally known as the Salle Lacaze. It was located at the east end o ...

, which was demolished in 1881, giving way to a

built by Charles Garnier. In 1885,

diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...

s on Paris through the ages by Theodor Josef Hubert Hoffbauer (1839–1922), and on

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

on the day of the death of Christ, by Olivier Pichat, were displayed.

Theatre

In 1894, Édouard Niermans converted the venue into a theatre-in-the-round for summer musical spectacles. The hall was enlarged and modernized in 1925 by Volterra, and in that form opened with a revival of '' Monsieur Beaucaire'' by

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty , opérettes and other stage works, among which his ballet (1 ...

. This success led the management to devote the venue mainly to operetta and other

until the 1930s. Thereafter the Marigny mounted boulevard shows and revivals (such as

's '' La Créole'' by in 1936). In 1946 the Théâtre Marigny welcomed a troupe from the

Comédie-Française The Comédie-Française () or Théâtre-Français () is one of the few state theatres in France. Founded in 1680, it is the oldest active theatre company in the world. Established as a French state-controlled entity in 1995, it is the only state ...

to form the

Renaud Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (; born 11 May 1952 in Paris), known as Renaud, is a French singer-songwriter. With twenty-six albums to his credit, selling nearly twenty million copies, he is one of France's most popular singers. Several of h ...

- Barrault company, and in 1954, Barrault opened a smaller "Petit Marigny". The Grenier-Hussenot troupe followed and later the hall became a cinema. In 1965 the direction passed to Elvira Popescu; in 1978 she was succeeded by John Bodson. In 2000 the theatre was acquired by the Artemis Group, owned by François Pinault, who asked

Robert Hossein Robert Hossein (30 December 1927 – 31 December 2020) was a French film actor, director, and writer. He directed Les Misérables (1982 film), the 1982 adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and appeared in ''Vice and Virtue'', ''Le Casse'', ''Les U ...

to take over the theatre's direction. In 2008 Hossein retired and was replaced by Pierre Lescure. On 28 September 2006 Pinault and his wife put the entire facility at the disposal of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for its 20th anniversary celebration.

Musical theatre repertory

*''J'te veux'' (12 February 1923) *'' Monsieur Beaucaire'' (20 November 1925) *''Venise'' by Tiarko Richepin (25 June 1927) *''Le diable à Paris'' by Marcel Lattes (27 October 1927) (with

Raimu Jules Auguste Muraire (18 December 1883 – 20 September 1946), whose stage name was Raimu, was a French actor. He is most famous for playing César in the 'Marseilles trilogy' ('' Marius'', '' Fanny'' and '' César''). Life and career Born in T ...

, Edmée Favart) *'' Coups de roulis'' by Messager (29 September 1928) *''Boulard et ses filles'' by Charles Cuvillier (8 November 1929) *'' Madame Pompadour'' by Leo Fall (16 May 1930) (with René Hérent, Robert Burnier) *''Moineau'' by

Louis Beydts Louis Beydts (/bets/) was a French composer, music critic and theatre director, born 29 June 1895 in Bordeaux and died on 15 August 1953 at Caudéran in Gironde. Life and career His father was a wine-merchant who played the flute, while his mother ...

(13 March 1931) *''La belle saison'' by Jean Delettre (29 June 1937) (with Lucienne Boyer) *''Mes amours'' by Oscar Strauss (2 May 1940) *'' Un violon sur le toit'' (8 November 1969) (with Ivan Rebroff and Maria Murano)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marigny, Theatre Theatres in Paris Buildings and structures in the 8th arrondissement of Paris Charles Garnier buildings Édouard Niermans buildings