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• 1 media/Thumb 1411.png 2024-11-26T15:07:13-05:00 "The Theatre: Reopenings and Premières" 13 Overview of what's on in the theatre in Paris: A mediocre play by a new writer – An opera in rehearsal – A successful reprise at the Gaîté – The Folies-Bergères renovated and offering an exciting variety show plain 2024-12-03T17:34:03-05:00 09-16-1890 Translation:
  
  At the Odéon – The second Théâtre-Français reopened this year with the première of a debutant. Mr. Porel, who artfully directs this charming theatre that is so dear to the students, did not want a banal reprise. "My duty," he said, "is to play the young!" And he bravely chose from among them the one who would "cut their teeth" in the 1890-91 season. The lot fell to Mr. Théodore Massiac, very popular in the world of theatrical journalism.
  
  It was around the 15th of August the Gilberte's Secret, such is the name of the play, was received at the Odéon and read to the artists. "No one complained at that time," Mr. Porel was keen to repeat, "that I should "fiddle with" the play. I didn't change a single scene, I left the author the full responsibility." And indeed, Gilberte's Secret was presented just as it was performed, with all the inexperience of its debutant author.
  
  We admit, despite all the benevolence due to our colleague, the concern for the truth obliges us to say that this première was an... honest flop.
  
  The play revolves around a rape, just like Joseph Basaimo by Alexander Dumas père and fils, which was a flop at the Odéon in 1878, and like l'Outrage by Plouvier and Barrière, which, apparently, was one of the great successes at the Porte-Saint-Martin, in 1859. This idea of a rehabilitation by marriage that a gallant lover offers after the woman confesses the wrongdoing, is not new: it is found in many plays by Dumas fils. But it is such a delicate subject that it requires the finesse of the author of Denise to have the public accept it.
  
  And a Monsieur in the orchestra found, the other night, a word that summarizes the impressions of the press: "Mr Théodore Massiac was the only one to possess Gilberte's Secret; he should have kept it."
  
  Opéra – Rehearsals for Sigurd will begin at the Opéra. Mrs. Rose Caron is back.
  
  At the Gaîté – The reprise of Suzette's Voyage was excellent. The authors, who had no pretension other than to entertain the public, were clearly successful. The interpretation is perfect with the creators: Mrs. Simon Girard and Mrs. Gélabert are simply charming; Messrs. Alexander and Simon-Max are worth the applause that was doled out upon them, as is Mr. Vauthier who has returned in the role of Girallor.
  
  A debutant worth noting is in the cross-dressing role created by Miss Burty.
  
  At the Folies-Bergères – The reopening took place on Saturday the 13th.
  
  O glorious transformation! The grand old hall the colour of ochre, coated with the accumulated smoke of millions upon million of cigars, has given way to a luxuriously parqueted salon. Walkways with dubious carpets, faded theatre boxes, worn out seats, all gone—advantageously replaced. Of the old garden, nothing is left but the fountain, which has been modernized and illuminated. The old gas chandeliers have gone to join the old streetlamps, and electric lighting now projects its soft white rays throughout.
  
  Certainly, we must acknowledge the tireless activity of Mr. Marchand, the fin de siècle impresario who continuously roams the world looking for new curiosities.
  
  Jugglers, gymnasts, Tyrolean marksmen, Spanish mandolinists—they are perhaps Batignolles, but without fail they are virtuosos—the bright harmonies that continually flow from the forty-piece orchestra: such was the first part of the performance.
  
  After a pause of a few minutes, the curtain went up to reveal a delightful ballet, The Bored King, a collaboration between Messrs. Ch. Aubert for the book and Desormes for the music. It is worth noting Mrs. Lola-Rouvier and Mrs. Correnti, whose gracefulness and figures thrilled all of the spectators with opera glasses.
  
  A new entr'acte in which the orchestra of Toth Ferko, the great gypsy artist, masterfully removed certain pieces of his repertoire. 
  
  After which, came a vertiginous tightrope walker, his head pressed agains the bar of a trapeze, thrown into space as hard as possible, smoking, eating, drinking and playing a Basque drum as if he was in a natural position.
  
  Then the Griffiths who are delectable comedians. And then the seven Sheffer brothers, who are handsome men of a truly Athenian suppleness and grace.
  
  The soirée concluded gaily with The Misadventures of a Tourist, an English pantomime executed by the Alexanders, with liberal use of slaps and kicks.
  
  In short, it was a spectacle full on interesting variety, which fully satisfied the Parisian curiosity.