The Champs-Elysées Theater is located at 15 Avenue Montaigne, in the 8th district of Paris, and was inaugurated on April 2, 1913. It is in the immediate vicinity of the Champs-Elysées.
The Champs-Elysées Theater and its unorthodox owner
As strange as it may seem, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, a private theater, is since 1970 the property of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations (State bank mainly used to finance public investments). It is the owner of the building (15 avenue Montaigne, including the restaurant Maison Blanche, and the restaurant-cabaret Le Manko) and the main sponsor to keep the Theatre's finances afloat.
The building, built in 1913 in a sober and rigorous style, is considered one of the first representatives of the Art Deco style in architecture. Its architects are Auguste Perret, Antoine Bourdelle, Henry Van de Velde.
One theater but 3 auditoriums
The building actually houses three auditoriums: the Theatre des Champs-Elysées (1905 seats), the Comédie des Champs-Elysées (601 seats) and the Studio des Champs-Elysées (230 seats).
The interior decoration of the theater includes some works of Bourdelle (bronze and frescoes). Maurice Denis realized the decoration of the dome of (1910-1912): The Greek Orchestic, The Opera, The Symphony, The Lyric Drama, separated by tondi illustrating The Chorus, The Orchestra, The Sonata, and The Organ. The painters Édouard Vuillard, Ker-Xavier Roussel, Jacqueline Marval, and Raphaël Drouart also contributed to the decor.
Anecdote: the Conseil d'Etat decided on December 16, 1994, that the 1,000 m2 elevation for the restaurant installed in the building shared with the theater should be subject to a building permit and not just a declaration of work. This was never done. This restaurant still does not exist administratively.
A high place of classical music
High place of classical music in Paris (with the Salle Pleyel, the Cité de la musique and the Salle Gaveau), the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées has hosted many foreign symphony orchestras. The Orchestre national de France is currently in residence there.
It was in this hall that two world premieres took place that caused a scandal: the first was the premiere of The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky on May 29, 1913, conducted by Pierre Monteux, which caused a tremendous outcry. The spectators came to blows.
The second was the creation of the first real "mixed" musical work (a piece for musical instruments and electroacoustic devices): Déserts by Edgard Varèse on December 2, 1954, with Pierre Henry at the magnetic tape and Hermann Scherchen at the baton. The shock inspired by the interpolations provoked booing, laughter, and jeers. The resulting scandal was comparable to that of The Rite 41.5 years earlier.
Much later, on April 26, 2012, Kurt Masur was invited to conduct, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Orchestre National de France of which he is Honorary Music Director, a program broadcast live on France Musique. Kurt Masur stumbled on the stage, even though it was protected by a safety railing, which caused him to fall back from the stage in front of the first row of spectators. He was transported by ambulance to the Georges-Pompidou hospital where the examinations were carried out resulting in minimal injuries.
Josephine Baker, La Revue Nègre and the Champs-Elysées Theater
Following financial problems in 1925, the large hall was transformed into a music hall and from October onwards programmed a new attraction: the Black Birds and the dancers of the Revue Nègre. Among them, a young black woman, naked, barely covered by a green-feather skirt, her short hair plastered on her head, caused a sensation. It is the dancer Josephine Baker. For some, this shamelessness is a scandal. The journalist Robert de Flers writes: "We are going back to the monkey faster than we came down." But Baker has his fans. Among them, the painter Pablo Picasso, who made her known throughout Europe. Born in St. Louis, Missouri to a white mother and a black father, Josephine Baker escaped her condition through dance.
The 2nd theater auditorium: the Comédie des Champs-Elysées
The theater was inaugurated on April 3, 1913 with the creation of L'Exilée by Henry Kistemaeckers, followed by Jean Bastia's revue, "En douce", with Mistinguett. In 1914, a revival of Paul Claudel's L'Annonce faite à Marie directed by Lu. This theater is since dedicated to the Comedies.
In July 1926, the theater hosted the first screening in France of the German film The Adventures of Prince Ahmed, by Lotte Reiniger, a pioneering work of animated cinema.
The Studio des Champs-Elysées: an experimental theater
In 1923, the director Jacques Hébertot decided to transform the Galerie Montaigne where exhibitions were organized (including the first one devoted to Modigliani and the first manifestations of Dadaism) into a performance hall dedicated to experimental theater. The Studio des Champs Elysées was entrusted to Louis Jouvet, the artistic direction to Kommisarjevski then Gaston Baty from March 28, 1924, to April 14, 1928.
Since 1966, the directors of the Comédie des Champs-Élysées have been Claude Sainval, Guy Descaux, Jacqueline Cormier, Michel Fagadau (assisted by Viviane Elbaz from 1997 to 2005) and Stéphanie Fagadau-Mercier.
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