Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens

Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens in 2010

The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens (French pronunciation: ​[te.atʁ de buf paʁizjɛ̃]) is a Parisian theatre which was founded in 1855 by the composer Jacques Offenbach for the performance of opéra bouffe and operetta. 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.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

History

Salle Lacaze

The public at the Bouffes-Parisiens (ca. 1860)

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.^[3]

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,^[6] but was located on the Carré Marigny, 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 and "Jules Servières" (a nom de plume of Ludovic Halévy, 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 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 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.^[1][2][7]

Salle Choiseul

The Salle Choiseul during a performance of Offenbach's Un mari à la porte (1859)

Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens (ca. 1867)

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.^[8] 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,^[9][10] however, in March 1861 legislation was enacted which prevented the company from using both theatres, and appearances at the Salle Lacaze were discontinued.^[11] 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 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.^{[1][2][3][12]}

Upon the departure of Offenbach, the new director tore down the existing hall to erect a larger one with a capacity of 1100 spectators.^[1]

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 and Claude Terrasse and playwrights such as Robert de Flers, Albert Willemetz, Sacha Guitry and Henri Bernstein.

From 1986 to 2007, the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens was under the directorship of Jean-Claude Brialy, who died of cancer in May 2007.

List of premieres at this theatre

Date	Composer	Work	Ref
1855-12-29 29 December 1855	Offenbach Jacques Offenbach	Ba-ta-clan Ba-ta-clan	[3]
1856-08-08 8 August 1856	Delibes Léo Delibes	Dieux Dieux vielles gardes	[3]
1857-04-08 8 April 1857	Lecocq Charles Lecocq	Docteur Le docteur miracle	[3]
1857-04-09 9 April 1857	Bizet Georges Bizet	Docteur Le docteur miracle	[3]
1858-10-21 21 October 1858	Offenbach Jacques Offenbach	Orphée Orphée aux enfers	[3]
1859-06-08 8 June 1859	Delibes Léo Delibes	Omelette L'omelette à la Follembuche	[3]
1859-11-19 19 November 1859	Offenbach Jacques Offenbach	Geneviève Geneviève de Brabant	[3]
1860-02-10 10 February 1860	Offenbach Jacques Offenbach	Carnaval Le carnaval des revues	[3]
1866-11-17 17 November 1866	Hervé Hervé	Chevaliers Les chevaliers de la table ronde	[13][14]
1867-01-11 11 January 1867	Ugalde Delphine Ugalde	Halte Halte au moulin	[3]
1869-01-16 16 January 1869	Lecocq Charles Lecocq	Gandolfo Gandolfo	[3][15]
1871-11-19 19 November 1871	Lecocq Charles Lecocq	Barbier Le barbier de Trouville	[3][16]
1877-10-03 3 October 1877	Serpette Gaston Serpette	Petite Muette La petite muette	[17]
1877-11-28 28 November 1877	Chabrier Emmanuel Chabrier	Etoile L'étoile	[3][18]
1879-11-13 13 November 1879	Audran Edmond Audran	Noces Les noces d'Olivette	[19]
1880-05-16 16 March 1880	Varney Louis Varney	Mousquetaires Les mousquetaires au couvent	[20]
1880-12-29 29 December 1880	Audran Edmond Audran	Mascotte La mascotte	[21]
1882-11-11 11 November 1882	Audran Edmond Audran	Gillette Gillette de Narbonne	[22]
1884-04-19 19 April 1884	O'Kelly Joseph O'Kelly	Barbière La Barbière improvisée	[23]
1886-03-20 20 March 1886	Roger Victor Roger	Joséphine Joséphine vendue par ses sœurs	[3][24]
1887-10-08 8 October 1887	Pugno Raoul Pugno	Sosie Le sosie	[3][25]
1888-04-19 19 April 1888	Pugno Raoul Pugno	Valet Le valet de cœur	[3][25]
1888-10-15 15 October 1888	Roger Victor Roger	Oscarine Oscarine	[3][26]
1889-02-01 1 February 1889	Pugno Raoul Pugno	Retour Le retour d'Ulysse	[3][25]
1889-12-18 18 December 1889	Messager André Messager	Mari Le mari de la reine	[3][27]
1892-04-22 22 April 1892	Vidal Paul Vidal	Eros Eros	[3][28]
1893-03-29 29 March 1893	Audran Edmond Audran	Madame Suzette Madame Suzette	[29]
1893-11-03 3 November 1893	Pessard Émile Pessard	Mam'zelle Mam'zelle Carabin	[3][30]
1894-10-17 17 October 1894	Audran Edmond Audran	Enlevement L'enlèvement de la Toledad	[31]
1895-05-06 6 May 1895	Serpette Gaston Serpette	Dot De Brigitte La dot de Brigitte	[32]
1896-02-28 28 February 1896	Lecocq Charles Lecocq	Ninette Ninette	[3][33]
1897-11-16 16 November 1897	Messager André Messager	Ptites Les p'tites Michu	[34]
1898-12-10 10 December 1898	Messager André Messager	Veronique Véronique	[35][36]
1901-03-07 7 March 1901	Terrasse Claude Terrasse	Travaux Les travaux d'Hercule	[37][38]
1918-11-12 12 November 1918	Christine Henri Christiné	Phi Phi Phi-Phi	[39]
1921-11-10 10 November 1921	Christine Henri Christiné	Dede Dédé	[40]
1923-03-31 31 March 1923	Yvain Maurice Yvain	La Haut Là-Haut	[41]
1923-12-22 22 December 1923	Yvain Maurice Yvain	Dame En Dec La dame en décolleté	[42]
1924-03-07 7 March 1924	Moretti Raoul Moretti	En Chemyse En chemyse	[43]
1924-09-17 17 September 1924	Moretti Raoul Moretti	Troublez Moi Troublez-moi	[44]
1925-04-21 21 April 1925	Christine Henri Christiné	PLM P.L.M.	[45]
1925-12-03 3 December 1925	Moretti Raoul Moretti	Trois Jeune Filles Trois jeunes filles … nues	[46]
1926-12-22 22 December 1926	Christine Henri Christiné	Jaime J'aime	[47]
1929-05-09 9 May 1929	Szulc Joseph Szulc	Flossie Flossie	[48]
1930-12-12 12 December 1930	Honegger Arthur Honegger	Aventures Du Roi Les aventures du roi Pausole	[49]
1934-09-19 19 September 1934	Simons Moisés Simons	Toi Cest Moi Toi c'est moi	[50]

List of directors

The Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens was founded as a private entrepreneurship.^[51]

Date	Director(s)
5 July 1855	Jacques Offenbach, Charles Comte[52]
3 February 1862	Alphonse Varney[52]
27 September 1864	Eugène Hanappier, Armand Lapoint[52]
17 September 1866	François Varcollier[52]
8 July 1867	Julien-Joseph-Henry Dupontavisse, August Lefranc[52]
August 1868	Jules Noriac, Charles Comte[52]
1870	[Closed during the Franco-Prussian War][53]
16 April 1871	Jules Noriac, Charles Comte[52]
1873	Charles Comte[52]
1877	Louis Cantin[52][54]
15 October 1885	Delphine Ugalde[55]
1 September 1888	Chizzola[56]
1889	Oscar de Lagoanère[57]
1890	Félix Larcher[58]
1892	Charles Masset[59]
1893	Eugène Larcher[60]
1895	Georges Grisier[61]
1897	Michel-Amable Coudert[62]
1899	Coudert and Berny[63]
1900	Vildreux and Pezzani[64]
15 October 1901	André Lénéka[65]
1902	Lagoanère and Lénéka[66]
1904	Armand Bour[67]
1905	Monza and Darcour[68]
October 1906	Clot and Dublay[69]
1907	Deval and Richemond[70]
1909	Mme Cora-Laparcerie[71]
1913	Gustave Quinson[72][73]
1927	Gustave Quinson, Albert Willemetz[74]
1929	Albert Willemetz[74]
1958	Nicky Nancel (Madame Mondavi)[72][73]
1986	Jean-Claude Brialy[72]
2007	Bruno Finck[72]

References

Notes

1. Bouffes-Parisien website.
2. Lamb, Andrew. "Offenbach, Jacques" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, pp. 653–658.
3. Levin 2009, pp. 401–402.
4. Galignani 1862, p. 470.
5. Dickens 1882, p. 32.
6. Lamb ( "Offenbach, Jacques" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, p. 653) gives the capacity of the Salle Lacaze as 300. Gammond (1980, p. 37) says it held an audience of only 50.
7. Faris 1980, pp. 51–52.
8. Lamb ( "Offenbach, Jacques" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, p. 653) gives the capacity of 900; Faris (1980, pp. 52–53) provides an extensive quote from the periodical Le Ménestrel describing the demolition and reconstruction of the theatre and the size of the orchestra.
9. Yon 2000, pp. 760–762.
10. During the summer of 1858 the company went on tour, and Offenbach sublet the Salle Lacaze to Jean-Charles Deburau (Yon 2000, p. 201). During the summer of 1860 the company performed in Brussels and Lyon. Offenbach himself went to Berlin to supervise the rehearsals and conduct the Berlin premiere of Orphée aux enfers at the Friedrich-Wilhelmstädtisches Theater on 23 June 1860 (Yon 2000, pp. 232–233).
11. Levin 2009, p. 401.
12. Lamb, Andrew. "Orphée aux enfers" in Sadie 1992, vol. 3, pp. 774–776.
13. Gänzl 2001, pp. 360–362.
14. Lamb, Andrew. "Hervé" in Sadie 1992, vol. 2, p. 708.
15. Gänzl 2001, p. 722.
16. "Lecocq, [Alexandre] Charles" in Gänzl 2001, pp. 1165–1168.
17. Gänzl 2001, pp. 1602–1603.
18. Gänzl 2001, pp. 590–591.
19. Traubner 2003, p. 91; Gänzl 2001, pp.1494–1495.
20. The date of the premiere is given as 16 March 1880 by Andrew Lamb "Varney, Louis" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, p. 901 (see also OCLC 457931152), but as 16 May 1880 by Levin 2009, p. 402.
21. Traubner 2003, p. 91; Gänzl 2001, pp. 1341–1343.
22. Gänzl 2001, pp. 763–764.
23. Klein, Axel: O'Kelly - An Irish Musical Family in Nineteenth-Century France (Norderstedt 2014). ISBN 978-3-7357-2310-9.
24. Gänzl 2001, pp. 1038–1040.
25. "Pugno, [Stéphane] Raoul" in Gänzl 2001, p. 1662.
26. "Roger, Victor" in Gänzl 2001, pp. 1733–1734.
27. "Messager, André" in Gänzl 2001, pp. 1379–1382.
28. Charlton, David. "Vidal, Paul (Antonin)" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, pp. 987–988.
29. Gänzl 2001, p. 1297.
30. Gänzl 2001, p. 1307.
31. Gänzl 2001, pp. 581–582.
32. Gänzl 2001, p. 530.
33. Gänzl 2001, p. 1490.
34. Gänzl 2001, pp. 1660–1662.
35. Wagstaff 1992.
36. Gänzl 2001, pp. 2126–2127.
37. Charlton, David. "Terrasse, Claude (Antoine)" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, p. 700.
38. Gänzl 2001, pp. 2067–2068.
39. Gänzl 2001, pp. 1611–1613.
40. Gänzl 2001, pp. 480–482.
41. Gänzl 2001, pp. 1139–1140.
42. Gänzl 2001, p. 457.
43. Gänzl 2001, p. 578.
44. Gänzl 2001, p. 2079.
45. Gänzl 2001, pp. 1625–1626.
46. Gänzl 2001, pp. 2077–2078.
47. Gänzl 2001, pp. 1008–1009.
48. Gänzl 2001, p. 668.
49. Gänzl 2001, p. 87.
50. Gänzl 2001, pp. 2056–2057.
51. 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.
52. Levin 2009, p. 399.
53. Levin 2009, p. 399, indicates that the theatre was closed. The company's website states that the closure was due to the Franco-Prussian War. (See "Historique" at the Bouffes-Parisiens website, retrieved 20 August 2011).
54. "Cantin, Louis" in Gänzl 2001, pp. 308–309. According to Gänzl, Cantin gave up his directorship in 1885.
55. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1885, p. 62.
56. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1888, p. 56.
57. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1889, p. 57.
58. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1890, p. 58; Le Boulevard: Croquis Parisiens 1893, p. 191.
59. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1892, p. 64; Le Boulevard: Croquis Parisiens 1893, p. 191.
60. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1893, p. 66; Almanach Hachette 1895, p. 452.
61. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1895, p. 69; Gänzl 2001, p. 1490.
62. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1897, p. 57; Bulletin officiel 1899, vol. 65, p. 352.
63. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1899, p. 65.
64. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1900, p. 63.
65. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1901, p. 71; Martin 1901, p. 404.
66. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1902, p. 68.
67. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1904, p. 69.
68. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1905, p. 76.
69. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1906, p. 78.
70. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1907, p. 81.
71. Almanach des spectacles. Année 1909, p. 78.
72. "Historique" at the Bouffes-Parisiens website, retrieved 20 August 2011.
73. "Les Théâtres parisiens: Bouffes-Parisiens" at the website Encyclopédie multimedia de la comédie musicale, 1918–1940, retrieved 20 August 2011.
74. Gänzl 2001, p. 2198.

Sources

• Dickens, Charles (1882). Dicken's Dictionary of Paris, 1882. An Unconventional Handbook. London: Macmillan. View at Google Books.
• Faris, Alexander (1980). Jacques Offenbach. London & Boston: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-11147-3.
• Fauser, Annegret, editor; Everist, Mark, editor (2009). Music, theater, and cultural transfer. Paris, 1830–1914. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-23926-2.
• Galignani, A. and W., publishers (1862). Galignani's New Paris Guide for 1862. Paris: A. and W. Galignani. View at Google Books.
• Gammond, Peter (1980). Offenbach. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-7119-0257-2.
• Gänzl, Kurt (2001). The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre, second edition. New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 978-0-02-864970-2.
• 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.
• Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-56159-228-9.
• Wagstaff, John (1992). "Véronique" in Sadie 1992, vol. 4, pp. 961–962.
• Yon, Jean-Claude (2000). Jacques Offenbach. [Paris]: Galimard. ISBN 978-2-07-074775-7.

External links

• The Theatre's website

Coordinates: 48°52′09″N 2°20′08″E / 48.86917°N 2.33556°E