Olympia concert hall of Bruno Coquatrix, a 60 years success

Olympia concert hall, a legendary venue, was invented in 1888 by Joseph Oller, founder of the Pari Mutuel and the Moulin Rouge. He installed his wooden roller coaster in the courtyard of a building overlooking 28, boulevard des Capucines, near the Opéra Garnier. A few years later, the Prefect of Police, fearing that the wooden roller coaster would catch fire, closed the attraction. The owner then had a 2,000-seat auditorium built: the Olympia.

The first Olympia concert hall 

Opened on April 12, 1893, with La Goulue (cancan dancer), Loïe Fuller (American dancer) and Fregoli (transformist) as its first stars. Fairground attractions (acrobats, contortionists, etc.) took center stage.
From 1911 to 1914, Jacques Charles staged music-hall revues, and Mistinguett and Yvonne Printemps performed there. In 1916 Raphaël Beretta and Léon Volterra took over management.

World War 1: Olympia on the mute

During the First World War, the original Olympia closed its doors until 1928. Paul Franck succeeded them in its walls from 1918 to 1928, with attractions and more and more songs.
But in 1929, with the economic crisis, it became a cinema under the name Théâtre Jacques-Haïck. In 1954, it was rebuilt as a musi-hall with a modern sound system, and Bruno Coquatrix was hired as director.

The second Olympia in 1954 with Bruno Coquatrix

During the Second World War, the German army, then the American army, took over the venue. Cinema reigned until 1954.
Jacques Haïk (creator of Le Grand Rex cinema) completely rebuilt Joseph Oller's former music hall into a magnificent auditorium. In 1954, Sato (part of the "Groupe Jacques Haïk", owner of the Olympia business) fully finances a modern sound system and hires Bruno Coquatrix as director.
The new Olympia opened on February 5, 1954. It was a great success. Lucienne Delyle took to the stage, accompanied by Aimé Barelli's orchestra. Gilbert Bécaud made his debut, followed by Barbara, Georges Brassens, Brel, Ferré, Piaf... and foreign artists such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Dalida made her debut here in 1956.
Gilbert Bécaud created Et Maintenant in 1961.

But that same year, Olympia concert hall was on the verge of bankruptcy, saved by the performance of Édith Piaf, who was still very ill (Non, je ne regrette rien, Mon Dieu, les Flonflons du bal) and stayed for 3 months.
After Jacques Tati's Jour de fête (a reworking of scenes from his first film, with real acrobatics and sketches), Johnny Holiday takes over.

The new wave and the Olympia concert hall

Enthusiasm for Johnny Holiday was so great that new seats had to be ordered, broken by spectators during the show.
Then Jacques Brel sang Les Bourgeois, Madeleine, Les Paumés du petit matin and Ne me quitte pas.
At the end of 1961, the venue hosted the first shows of Sylvie Vartan, who went on to perform in larger venues, returning in 1996, 1999, 2009 and 2010.....

Rock and twist shows organized between 1961 and 1963.

In 1979, on the death of Bruno Coquatrix, management passed to his nephew Jean-Michel Boris (who remained until 2001).

The end of the Coquatrix era and the beginning of Jean-Michel Boris

In 1989, Sheila bid farewell to the chanson world, and nine years later, in 1998, she returned to the stage. In 1998, Annie Cordy celebrated 50 years in the business and 70 years on stage.
The record for the longest run was set by Michel Sardou in 1995, who remained on the bill for six months, giving 113 performances from January 10 to March 26 and, after an extension from April 11 to 30, finally completed his tour on June 10.
In addition to music and song, the Olympia concert hall hosts a wide variety of shows, including circuses, ballets, films and operettas.

A dance and show school is housed in the building's attic. Later, Béatrix Hoang (dancer and choreographer) taught the jazz sessions and Patrick Ehrhard (choreographer, teacher and dancer) took charge of the contemporary classes. Alice Dona and Bernard Lavilliers also have their performance schools here. Many dancers are trained here.

The fight to keep Olympia concert hall open

In 1992, the Société Générale bank, owner of the block, announced a vast real-estate project, with restructuring planned at the rear of the building to create a square.
Public and professional mobilization led to the former billiard hall being listed as a historic monument, by decree of May 23, 1991. As a result, the bank decided on a more moderate project: the hall was rebuilt identically (offset by a few meters), and equipped with improved technical features.

The Third Olympia, the Olympia concert hall of today

April 14, 1997 saw the last performance of the old 1954 Olympia concert hall. The new hall opened in November 1997 with Gilbert Bécaud.

In August 2001, Vivendi Universal, which became Vivendi in 2006, bought the business (the name "Olympia"). Since 1999, L'Olympia concert hall (the building) has been owned by SFL (Société foncière lyonnaise).