Folies Bergère

thumb|250px|A notice referencing the Folies-Bergère in [[Le Gaulois, 3 August 1869]]

thumb|Folies Bergère, 1872

thumb|Folies Bergère, 1900

thumb|Folies Bergère, 1914. A poster for the actress [[Musidora is on the wall]]

thumb|[[Édouard Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère, 1882]]

thumb|160px|[[Jules Chéret, Folies Bergère, Fleur de Lotus, 1893 Art Nouveau poster for the Ballet Pantomime]]

thumb|150px|Folies Bergère, by [[Franz Skarbina]]

thumb|160px|Mercedes, Folies Bergère, 1895

thumb|160px|Marinett, Folies Bergère, by [[Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg|Walery, ]]

thumb|150px|[[Josephine Baker in jewelry and a "bikini bottom" with rubber bananas attached, from the Folies Bergère production Un Vent de Folie, by Walery, 1927]]

thumb|, La Nikolska, from the Folies Bergère production La grande folie, 1928

thumb|160px|Melka Soudani, by [[Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg|Walery]]

The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the architect Plumeret. It opened on 2 May 1869 as the Folies Trévise, with light entertainment including operettas, comic opera, popular songs, and gymnastics. It became the Folies Bergère on 13 September 1872, named after nearby Rue Bergère. The house was at the height of its fame and popularity from the 1890s' Belle Époque through the 1920s.

Revues featured extravagant costumes, sets and effects, and often nude women. In 1926, Josephine Baker, an African-American expatriate singer, dancer and entertainer, caused a sensation at the Folies Bergère by dancing in a costume consisting of jewelry and a "bikini bottom" with rubber bananas attached.

The institution is still in business, and is still a strong symbol of French and Parisian life. The métro stations are Cadet and Grands Boulevards.

History

The Folies Bergère, located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement of Paris, was opened on 2 May 1869 under the name Folies Trévise as an opera house patterned after the Alhambra music hall in London by architect Plumeret, who was a building inspector of the French crown.

<blockquote>The term "folies" refers to pleasure houses, vacation homes built from the end of the 18th century near large cities to discreetly shelter the adulterous loves of the bourgeoisie and aristocrats.</blockquote>

When starting out as the Folies Trévise, it included light entertainment such as operettas, opéra comique (comic opera), popular songs and gymnastics. The original name derived from the street of that name by the stage door. However, the Duc de Trévise objected.

On 13 September 1872, it became the Folies Bergère, named after a nearby street, Rue Bergère ("bergère" means "shepherdess").

In 1882, Édouard Manet painted his well-known painting A Bar at the Folies-Bergère which depicts a bar-girl, one of the demimondaines, standing before a mirror.

In 1886, Édouard Marchand conceived a new genre of entertainment for the Folies Bergère: the music-hall revue. Women would be the heart of Marchand's concept for the Folies. In 30 November 1886, the Folies Bergère, staged the first revue-style music hall show Place au jeûne !, featuring and scantily clad chorus girls, was a tremendous success.

In the early 1890s, the American dancer Loie Fuller starred at the Folies Bergère. In 1902, illness forced Marchand to leave after 16 years.

In 1907, at the age of 13, Yvonne Printemps was dancing at the Folies Bergère.

In 1918, (1880–1966) made his mark on the revue. His revues featured extravagant costumes, sets and effects, and "small nude women". Derval's small nude women would become the hallmark of the Folies. During his 48 years at the Folies, he launched the careers of many French stars including Maurice Chevalier, Mistinguett, Josephine Baker, Fernandel and many others.

In 1926, Baker, an African-American expatriate singer, dancer, and entertainer, caused a sensation at the Folies Bergère in a new revue, La Folie du Jour, in which she danced a number Fatou wearing a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas and little else, and Un Vent De Folie(1927). Her erotic dancing and near-nude performances were renowned. The Folies Bergère catered to popular taste. Shows featured elaborate costumes; the women's were frequently revealing, practically leaving them naked, and shows often contained a good deal of nudity. Shows also played up the "exoticness" of people and objects from other cultures, indulging the Parisian fascination with the négritude of the 1920s.

In 1926 the facade of the theatre was given a complete make-over by the artist . The facade was redone in Art Deco style, one of the many Parisian theatres of this period using the style.

<blockquote>Nulls de Folies being followed by Folies en Folie and then En Super-Folies</blockquote>

In 1931, in the revue L'usine à folies, Malian dancer Melka Soudani starred with Senegalese dancer Féral Benga in the act Sur le plateau de la négresse.

In 1936, Josephine Baker returned from New York City and Derval signed her to lead the revue En Super Folies.

In 1937, Margaret Kelly hired Constance Tomkinson.

, a Hungarian from Balassagyarmat, designed the poster for En Super Folies and lasted 56 years at the Folies Bergère.

The funeral of Paul Derval was held on 20 May 1966. He was 86 and had reigned supreme over the most celebrated music hall in the world. His wife Antonia Derval, supported by Michel Gyarmathy, succeeded him. In August 1974, Antonia Derval passed on the direction of the business to Hélène Martini, the empress of the night (25 years earlier she had been a showgirl in the revues).

Since 2006, the Folies Bergère has presented some musical productions with Stage Entertainment like Cabaret (2006–2008) or Zorro (2009–2010).

Filmography

1926: ', from ', Josephine Baker dances the Charleston
1935: Folies Bergère de Paris directed by Roy Del Ruth, with Maurice Chevalier, Merle Oberon, and Ann Sothern
1935: Folies Bergère de Paris directed by Marcel Achard with Maurice Chevalier, Natalie Paley, Fernand Ledoux. A French-language version of the 1935 Hollywood film.
1937: En Super Folies - via: archive.org

::Mr. Paul Derval, Directeur des "Folies Bergére" passe commande a Mr. (Maurice) Hermite de la Grande Revue "EN SUPER FOLIES"

::Mr. Paul Derval, Director of the "Folies Bergére," commissions Mr. (Maurice) Hermite to produce the Grand Revue "EN SUPER FOLIES"

:::with Josephine Baker and the Bluebell Girls

1956: Folies-Bergère directed by Henri Decoin with Eddie Constantine, Zizi Jeanmaire, Yves Robert, Pierre Mondy
1959: Énigme aux Folies Bergère directed by Jean Mitry with Dora Doll,
1991: La Totale! directed by Claude Zidi with Thierry Lhermitte

Similar venues

The Folies Bergère inspired the Ziegfeld Follies in the United States and other similar shows, including the Teatro Follies in Mexico and a long-standing revue, The Las Vegas Folies Bergere, at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, which opened in 1959, closed at the end of March 2009 after nearly 50 years in operation.

In the 1930s and '40s the impresario Clifford C. Fischer staged several Folies Bergere productions in the United States. These included the Folies Bergère of 1939 at the Broadway Theater in New York and the Folies Bergère of 1944 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.

A recent example is Faceboyz Folliez, a monthly burlesque and variety show at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City.

In popular culture

Folies Bergère is mentioned in the movie, The Last Time I Saw Paris.

It is also mentioned in the movie, Nine.

Images

Salle-spectacle.jpg|The auditorium

Grand-foyer.jpg|The foyer

Loie Fuller Folies Bergere 01.jpeg|Loïe Fuller poster by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (circa 1895)

Cheret, Jules - The Rainbow.jpg|The Rainbow production poster by Jules Chéret, (circa 1896)

Liane de Pougy Paul Berthon.jpg|Liane de Pougy poster by Paul Berthon, (circa 1896).

Affiche Folies Bergère La Loïe Fuller.jpg|Loïe Fuller poster by PAL (circa 1895)

Loie Fuller Folies Bergere 02.jpg|Loïe Fuller poster by PAL, 1897

Affiche Folies Bergère La Cavalieri.jpg|Lina Cavalieri poster by PAL, 1897

Affiche Folies Bergère Jolie Thero.jpg|La Jolie Théro production poster by PAL, 1898

Baker Charleston.jpg|Josephine Baker dancing the Charleston for the silent film ' (1926), from ', at the Folies Bergère, Paris

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Notes

External links

Folies Bergère official site
Folies Bergere Dancers at Getty Images
En Super Folies (1937) (film) via archive.org