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. 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. 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. 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 ==