Free visit of the Ranelagh Theatre
The Ranelagh had 3 lives, we celebrate it… In 1894, Louis Mors, a car manufacturer, had a magnificent mansion built on the site of the former Château de Passy theatre. He asked the architect Alban Chambon to decorate a music room made of carved oak in the Flemish Renaissance style. There he showcased his collection of ancient musical instruments and organized recitals “for himself and his friends” (to use the Latin maxim inscribed on the hall’s pediment). Debussy, Wagner coming to show off their work. In 1931, the operator of a small cinema in the borough, Charles Saint Pouloff, and the actor Jean Galland took over the theatre and transformed it into a cinema that stands out for the quality of its programming. The directions follow each other. From 1957 to the mid-1970s, the surrealist painter Henri Ginet, a former student of Fernand Léger and André Lhote, then his two sons turned Ranelagh into an art and essay room and combined exhibitions and film screenings. The Ranelagh becomes a cinematic hotspot of the capital, frequented by personalities like Marcel Carné, Arletty, Martine Carol, Vladimir Cosma. We can see great classics: Les Enfants du Paradis, Les Visiteurs du Soir, Et Dieu créa la femme, etc. In 1977, the hall was classified in the Supplementary Inventory of Historical Monuments, while Claude Condroyer and Micheline Daguinot took over the management of the cinema (1974 to 1986). In February 1979, first theatrical performance in the hall: J.P. Dusseaux mounted La Cantate à trois voix by Paul Claudel. Then Madona Bouglione (1986-2005) unites music, circus and theatre. Today, under the direction of Catherine Develay, a program mainly dedicated to theatre and music is taking shape, with the aim of highlighting the excellent acoustics of the venue, one of the few French-style theatres in Paris.