. 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
. With the decline in popularity of operetta after 1870, the theatre expanded its repertory to include comedies.
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.
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, but was located on the
. The inaugural performance was on 5 July with Offenbach conducting four of his own works: a prologue called
and "Jules Servière" (a pseudonym of Jacques Halévy, who worked as a government official and needed to protect his reputation);
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
. 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.
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. 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 1856 at the Salle Choiseul and included the premiere of Offenbach's
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, however, in March 1861 legislation was enacted which prevented the company from using both theatres, and appearances at the Salle Lacaze were discontinued. In spite of the restrictions of the license, Offenbach began including longer, more substantial works which violated its terms. For instance, his two-act
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 of 1862, the company continued at the Salle Choiseul, performing light operas by other composers as well as Offenbach.
Upon the departure of Offenbach, the new director tore down the existing hall to erect a larger one with a capacity of 1100 spectators.
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,
From 1986 to 2007, the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens was under the directorship of
| Date |
Composer |
Work |
Ref |
| 29 December 1855 |
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
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Ba-ta-clan Ba-ta-clan is a "chinoiserie musicale", or operetta, in one act by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Ludovic Halévy. It was first performed at Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, Paris, on 29 December 1855. The operetta uses set numbers and spoken dialogue and runs about one...
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| 8 August 1856 |
Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
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Dieux vielles gardes |
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| 8 April 1857 |
Charles Lecocq |
Le docteur miracle |
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| 9 April 1857 |
Georges Bizet Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
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Le docteur miracle Le docteur Miracle is an opérette in one act by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto, by Léon Battu and Ludovic Halévy, is based on Sheridan's play Saint Patrick's Day. Bizet wrote the work when he was just 18 years old for a competition organised by Jacques Offenbach. He shared first...
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| 21 October 1858 |
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
|
Orphée aux enfers |
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| 8 June 1859 |
Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes was a French composer of ballets, operas, and other works for the stage...
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L'omelette à la Follembuche |
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| 19 November 1859 |
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
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Geneviève de Brabant Geneviève de Brabant is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach, first performed in Paris in 1859. The plot is based on the medieval legend of Genevieve of Brabant....
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| 10 February 1860 |
Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
|
Le carnaval des revues |
|
| 17 November 1866 |
Hervé Hervé , real name Louis Auguste Florimond Ronger, was a French singer, composer, librettist, conductor and scene painter, whom Ernest Newman, following Reynaldo Hahn, credited with inventing the genre of operetta in Paris.-Life:Hervé was born in Houdain near Arras...
|
Les chevaliers de la table ronde |
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| 11 January 1867 |
Delphine Ugalde Delphine Ugalde, née Beaucé, was a French soprano. She was the mother of Marguerite Ugalde....
|
Halte au moulin |
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| 16 January 1869 |
Charles Lecocq |
Gandolfo |
|
| 19 November 1871 |
Charles Lecocq |
Le barbier de Trouville |
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| 3 October 1877 |
Gaston Serpette Henri Charles Antoine Gaston Serpette was a French composer, best known for his operettas. After winning the prestigious Prix de Rome as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, he was expected to pursue a career in serious music. Instead, he turned to operetta, writing more than twenty full-length...
|
La petite muette |
|
| 28 November 1877 |
Emmanuel Chabrier Emmanuel Chabrier was a French Romantic composer and pianist. Although known primarily for two of his orchestral works, España and Joyeuse marche, he left an important corpus of operas , songs, and piano music as well...
|
L'étoile |
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| 13 November 1879 |
Edmond Audran Achille Edmond Audran was a French composer best known for several internationally successful operettas, including Les noces d'Olivette , La mascotte , Gillette de Narbonne , La cigale et la fourmi , Miss Helyett , and La poupée .After Audran's initial success in Paris, his works also became a...
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Les noces d'Olivette Les noces d'Olivette is an opéra comique in three acts composed by Edmond Audran, with a libretto by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot. The work premiered under the direction of Louis Cantin in Paris on 13 November 1879 at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens...
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| 16 March 1880 |
Louis Varney Louis Varney was a French composer.-Biography:Louis Varney was the son of Alphonse Varney, a French conductor at the Bouffes-Parisiens and at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, he was also invited to conduct the "French Opera Season" abroad, notably in New Orleans, Louisiana, and this is how Louis came...
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Les mousquetaires au couvent Les mousquetaires au couvent is an opérette in three acts by Louis Varney, with a libretto by Jules Prével and Paul Ferrier, after a vaudeville by St-Hilaire and Dupont from 1835 entitled L'habit ne fait pas le moine...
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| 29 December 1880 |
Edmond Audran Achille Edmond Audran was a French composer best known for several internationally successful operettas, including Les noces d'Olivette , La mascotte , Gillette de Narbonne , La cigale et la fourmi , Miss Helyett , and La poupée .After Audran's initial success in Paris, his works also became a...
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La mascotte La mascotte is an opéra comique by Edmond Audran. The French libretto was by Alfred Duru and Henri Charles Chivot. The story concerns a farm girl who is believed to bring good luck to whoever possesses her, so long as she remains a virgin...
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| 11 November 1882 |
Edmond Audran Achille Edmond Audran was a French composer best known for several internationally successful operettas, including Les noces d'Olivette , La mascotte , Gillette de Narbonne , La cigale et la fourmi , Miss Helyett , and La poupée .After Audran's initial success in Paris, his works also became a...
|
Gillette de Narbonne |
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| 20 March 1886 |
Victor Roger Victor Roger was a French composer. He is best known for his operettas, particularly the lighter kind known as the "vaudeville-opérette". His thirty theatre works, composed between 1880 and 1902, also include pantomimes and ballets...
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Joséphine vendue par ses sœurs |
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| 8 October 1887 |
Raoul Pugno Stéphane Raoul Pugno was a French composer, teacher, organist, and pianist known for his playing of Mozart's works.Raoul Pugno was born in Paris. He made his debut at the age of six, and with the help of Prince Poniatowski he was then able to study at the École Niedermeyer. He then went to the...
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Le sosie |
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| 19 April 1888 |
Raoul Pugno Stéphane Raoul Pugno was a French composer, teacher, organist, and pianist known for his playing of Mozart's works.Raoul Pugno was born in Paris. He made his debut at the age of six, and with the help of Prince Poniatowski he was then able to study at the École Niedermeyer. He then went to the...
|
Le valet de cœur |
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| 15 October 1888 |
Victor Roger Victor Roger was a French composer. He is best known for his operettas, particularly the lighter kind known as the "vaudeville-opérette". His thirty theatre works, composed between 1880 and 1902, also include pantomimes and ballets...
|
Oscarine |
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| 1 February 1889 |
Raoul Pugno Stéphane Raoul Pugno was a French composer, teacher, organist, and pianist known for his playing of Mozart's works.Raoul Pugno was born in Paris. He made his debut at the age of six, and with the help of Prince Poniatowski he was then able to study at the École Niedermeyer. He then went to the...
|
Le retour d'Ulysse |
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| 18 December 1889 |
André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
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Le mari de la reine Le mari de la reine is an opérette in three acts of 1889, with music by André Messager and a French libretto by E Grenet-Dancourt and Octave Pradels....
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| 22 April 1892 |
Paul VidalPaul Antoine Vidal was a French composer, conductor and music teacher.Paul Vidal was born in Toulouse. He studied at the conservatoires in Toulouse and in Paris, under Jules Massenet in the latter. He won the Prix de Rome in 1883, one year before Claude Debussy did...
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Eros |
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| 29 March 1893 |
Edmond Audran Achille Edmond Audran was a French composer best known for several internationally successful operettas, including Les noces d'Olivette , La mascotte , Gillette de Narbonne , La cigale et la fourmi , Miss Helyett , and La poupée .After Audran's initial success in Paris, his works also became a...
|
Madame Suzette |
|
| 3 November 1893 |
Émile Pessard Émile Louis Fortuné Pessard was a French composer.He studied at the Paris Conservatoire where he won 1st prize in Harmony. In 1866 he won the Grand Prix de Rome with his cantata Dalila which was performed at the Paris Opera on February 21, 1867...
|
Mam'zelle Carabin |
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| 17 October 1894 |
Edmond Audran Achille Edmond Audran was a French composer best known for several internationally successful operettas, including Les noces d'Olivette , La mascotte , Gillette de Narbonne , La cigale et la fourmi , Miss Helyett , and La poupée .After Audran's initial success in Paris, his works also became a...
|
L'enlèvement de la Toledad |
|
| 6 May 1895 |
Gaston Serpette Henri Charles Antoine Gaston Serpette was a French composer, best known for his operettas. After winning the prestigious Prix de Rome as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, he was expected to pursue a career in serious music. Instead, he turned to operetta, writing more than twenty full-length...
|
La dot de Brigitte |
|
| 28 February 1896 |
Charles Lecocq |
Ninette |
|
| 16 November 1897 |
André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
|
Les p'tites Michu |
|
| 10 December 1898 |
André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
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VéroniqueVéronique is an opéra comique or operetta in three acts composed by André Messager. The French libretto was by Georges Duval and Albert Vanloo...
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| 7 March 1901 |
Claude Terrasse Claude Terrasse , was a French composer of operettas.Claude Terrasse was considered by some as the true successor to Jacques Offenbach , one of the originators of the operetta form, a precursor of the modern musical comedy.Terrasse was born in L'Arbresle, Rhône...
|
Les travaux d'Hercule |
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| 12 November 1918 |
Henri Christiné Henri Marius Christiné was a French composer of Swiss birth.The son of a French Savoyard watchmaker, Christiné was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He began by teaching at the lycée in Geneva, while pursuing his interest in music and playing organ in a local church...
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Phi-Phi Phi-Phi is an opérette légère in three acts with music by Henri Christiné and a French libretto by Albert Willemetz and Fabien Solar. The piece was one which founded the new style of French comédie musicale, the first to really use the latest rhythms of jazz along with a plot which emphasised...
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| 10 November 1921 |
Henri Christiné Henri Marius Christiné was a French composer of Swiss birth.The son of a French Savoyard watchmaker, Christiné was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He began by teaching at the lycée in Geneva, while pursuing his interest in music and playing organ in a local church...
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Dédé Dédé is an opérette or musical comedy in three acts with music by Henri Christiné and a French libretto by Albert Willemetz. It marked an important milestone in developing the career of Maurice Chevalier.-Performance history:...
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| 31 March 1923 |
Maurice Yvain |
Là-Haut |
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| 22 December 1923 |
Maurice Yvain |
La dame en décolleté |
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| 7 March 1924 |
Raoul Moretti |
En chemyse |
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| 17 September 1924 |
Raoul Moretti |
Troublez-moi |
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| 21 April 1925 |
Henri Christiné Henri Marius Christiné was a French composer of Swiss birth.The son of a French Savoyard watchmaker, Christiné was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He began by teaching at the lycée in Geneva, while pursuing his interest in music and playing organ in a local church...
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P.L.M. |
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| 3 December 1925 |
Raoul Moretti |
Trois jeunes filles … nues |
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| 22 December 1926 |
Henri Christiné Henri Marius Christiné was a French composer of Swiss birth.The son of a French Savoyard watchmaker, Christiné was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He began by teaching at the lycée in Geneva, while pursuing his interest in music and playing organ in a local church...
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J'aime |
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| 9 May 1929 |
Joseph Szulc |
Flossie |
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| 12 December 1930 |
Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
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Les aventures du roi Pausole Les aventures du roi Pausole is an opérette in three acts with music by Arthur Honegger and a French libretto by Albert Willemetz, based on the 1901 novel by Pierre Louÿs. It was Honegger’s third operatic work, but his first in lighter vein, composed between May and November 1930, and dedicated to...
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| 19 September 1934 |
Moisés Simons Moisés Simons , was a leading Cuban composer, pianist and orchestra leader. He was the composer of the Peanut Vendor, possibly the most famous piece of music created by a Cuban musician...
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Toi c'est moi |
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