Folies Bergère
The Folies Bergère (French pronunciation: [fɔ.li bɛʁ.ʒɛʁ]) is a cabaret music hall, located 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.
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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 a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas and little else.
The institution is still in business, and is still a strong symbol of French and Parisian life.
Similar venues[edit]
The Folies Bergère inspired the Ziegfeld Follies in the United States and other similar shows, including a long-standing revue, the Las Vegas Folies Bergere, at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas and the Teatro Follies in Mexico.
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[5] and the Folies Bergère of 1944 at the Winterland Ballroom[6][7] in San Francisco.
The Las Vegas Folies Bergere, which opened in 1959, closed at the end of March 2009 after nearly 50 years in operation.[8][9][10]
A recent example is Faceboyz Folliez, a monthly burlesque and variety show at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City.[11][12]
In popular culture[edit]
Folies Bergère is mentioned in the movie, The Last Time I Saw Paris.