“CABARET, noun, 13th century. Borrowed from the Middle Dutch cabaret meaning inn or cheap restaurant.
1. Archaic. A small drinking establishment. He frequented the village cabaret. Expression: a cabaret regular, someone who is always at the cabaret and spends their time drinking.
2. An establishment where customers, while having refreshments, watch variety performances. Some cabarets include a dance floor. The chansonniers of the Montmartre cabarets.
3. Archaic. A tray on which coffee, tea or liqueurs are served; a set of cups and glasses placed on such a tray. A porcelain cabaret. By extension, a liqueur cabinet.”
The delicacy of porcelain, the warmth of the inn, an opportunity to drink and dine while admiring dancers or listening to singers… The Cabaret du Châtelet distils the very essence of the genre, the venue and its history!
The word cabaret refers, first and foremost, to a place: from the opening event of the season, held outdoors on the Place du Châtelet, to the backstage area, the very beating heart of the theatre, the Cabaret du Châtelet offers a different perspective on the performing arts. Indeed, audiences will be seated on the stage itself, specially arranged for this series of performances, where proximity to the artists forms an integral part of the experience.
A typical venue for a night out at the theatre, with its own customs and codes, the cabaret is also the sort of place where spectators play truant, as described by many 19th-century authors, including Gustave Flaubert, in reference to his young hero, Frédéric Moreau, who in Sentimental Education, ‘ate in fashionable cabarets, frequented the theatres and sought distraction […]’.
It is also a place where artists and writers come together. And in that sense, it embodies the history of Paris’s arts scene, which, from Le Chat Noir (founded in 1882) to Madame Arthur (open since 1946), has never given up on cabaret, even during the darkest and hardest of times! Perhaps because, in the cabaret more than anywhere else, freedom goes hand in hand with camaraderie, but also because one can eat and drink there, as well as revel in the talent of the chansonniers. So, whilst the Cabaret du Châtelet is both seasonal and ephemeral, it is very much part of this precious heritage, which it has made its own, and which it will enhance with that ‘Châtelet spirit’ to which audiences are so attached.
So, a single phrase is enough to sum up and introduce this new format: “Anything is possible at the Cabaret du Châtelet, a place where anything can happen!” Embodying the very essence of the Théâtre du Châtelet, this cabaret is joyful, accessible, ambitious and multidisciplinary. It is a home for artists of all eras – past, present and future – and the revue’s host, Jasmine Roy, throws open its doors to theatre lovers.
Including Miss Knife, who cannot resist sneaking backstage and onto the stage late at night, just to be adored. As must now be clear, the Cabaret du Châtelet is a musical cabaret, an open stage for emergence and discovery, but one where, later in the evening, audiences will also encounter a lighter, even mischievous repertoire, and perhaps even a touch of teasing striptease. Burlesque, often, vulgar, never, the Cabaret du Châtelet is open!
Programmation to come
