 |
Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms |
|
|
|
HISTORY OF THE CABARET.
THE VERY BEGINNING
By Maximillien de La Croix de Lafayette
Photo: The woman is a
Cabaret “Working Girl” also called “Femme de Cabaret”. The man is a
customer.
This
is the true history of Cabaret and how it came to existence. Our story will
bring so many memories and passages of history forgotten in the dark alleys of
life and on the dusty shelves of our mind. Some names and places are familiar,
while others are obscure and unknown for obvious reasons. More precisely,
because many of those places disappeared long time ago from the old Parisian
landscape, some were ravished by the hardship of time, others demolished to give
place and definition to modern edifices, offices buildings, parking lots, and in
some instances to be replaced by more
modern Cabarets, facilities and
locals. As to people’s names, some were forgotten because, they shined for a
while and vanished for reasons we know and reasons we don’t. Once upon a time,
their music and words entertained many sad souls and adventurers who found
comfort and consolation in their warmth and imaginative style. But,
unfortunately, they lost appeal because they became “Demodes” meaning out of
fashion and out of style.
Les
Hydropathes
The world’s first and oldest Café-Cabaret was “Les Hydropathes”.
It opened on October 11, 1878 on Rue des Boulangers, in Le Quartier Latin (The
French Quarter) in Paris, France. Very few people noticed its grand opening,
because in May 1878, “L’ Exposition Universelle de Paris” (Paris World
Exhibition or Paris World Fair) opened its doors and attracted the public
attention. In a way, the Paris Fair was the only show and major attraction in
town. So, opening a new and a small Café-Cabaret like “Les Hydropathes” in
a Parisian neighborhood during the grand event of the Paris international fair,
did not mean much for the French, and consequently did not attract much
attention, generated enough interest or created Parisian curiosity. Besides, the
proprietor of the Cabaret, Mr. Emile Goudeau was looked upon as “not much of a
Parisian” because he came from the province.
This
establishment began to operate like an intellectual café-cabaret in the
tradition of old Parisian salons of literature, poetry and arts. It had a piano,
a bar, a small dancing floor and a few female dancers and singers. The very
first artists and intellectuals who offered their talents to Mr. Goudeau were
Georges Lorin, Maurice Rollinat, Rives and Abram. In the very first days of the
business, the café-cabaret did not do well. Customers complained, for the
ladies of the establishment did not show enough “skin”. The music was good
and the menu was very a propos but, not much too “skin” as they said.
Besides, the place has become a literary center for intellectuals and artists.
To many clients, the café-cabaret’s intellectual ambience began to
bore the hell out of them. Grosso modo, Goudeau began to loose
customers. He needed money to cover the daily expenses and to pay the
accumulating debts.
He
decided to run a baccara circle, a sort of a “mini-gambling joint” in the
back of his café. This was a fatal
mistake. The French gendarmerie (Police) knew about it, and shut down his
business. But this guy was a trooper. A few weeks later, he reopened another
spot on Rue Jussieu. Poets, artists, hustlers, self-proclaimed philosophers and
adventurers followed him and kept him in business for a while. This time,
Goudeau thought about something else. This character had passion for risky
undertakings and quite often, his approach to business was not “ Tellement
Catholique”, (meaning not totally honest and correct) as his compatriots used
to say. Goudeau’s café-cabaret became France’s first “after hour”
drinking joint. This was reported by Jules Jouy in the newspaper “Edition du
Tintamarre”, dated February 2, 1879. Two years later, Goudeau and his “boite”
disappeared from circulation, but not for long time, for he co-established
and created a new cabaret which took Paris by storm. A new kind of
Cabaret which defined the new concept of “Cabaret without Rules”. And that
notorious Cabaret was Le Chat Noire!!
Le Chat Noir
Photo: Rodolphe Salis
Le
Chat Noir known to Parisians as « Le Cabaret Artistique » (The
Artistic Cabaret), as well as « Le Cabaret Hors-Norme » meaning a
cabaret outside or above the norms or rules. In other words, it was the world’s
first intellectual-artistic-musical-anarchist cabaret which gathered all sorts
of painters, poets, artists, philosophers, “Raconteurs” (story-Tellers) and
performers of the era.
Photo, right: The
legendary Aristide Bruant, father of the Modern Cabaret.
Poster, left: “Aristide Bruant in his
Cabaret” by Henri de
Toulouse-Lautrec, 1892.
Le
Chat Noire was mystified and imbibed by the character and personality of his
co-founder, the legendary Aristide Bruant who is considered as the Father of
Modern Cabaret. To all its customers, Le Chat Noire was Aristide Bruant in
persona. This landmark Cabaret opened its doors in 1881 in Montmartre,
Paris, France. And with its opening night, the first chapter of Cabaret was
written. Among its illustrious clients were Guy de Maupassant, and Debussy. The
founders of Le Chat Noire were Aristide Bruant (1851-1925), Rodolphe Salis (1852-1897) and
our famous Emile Goudeau (1849-1906), the flamboyant and daring character we met
before!
Aristide Bruant was a character, a flamboyant bon-viveur and a
master of sarcasm. When “La Haute
Societe “ (High Society) and the Parisian bourgeoisie came to his cabaret, he
addressed them as “Cochons” (Pigs) and asked them to save their money and
spend it in his place. Yet, he was generous to a fault. He loved life,
adventures and celebrated the anarchists, the rebels, the free-spirited, the
liberals, the outlaws and the prostitutes. He was perfect for the cabaret
business at that time and place in history. He was the champion of the underdog,
the poor, the working class and the persecuted. He made fun of the famous and
the rich and ridicule the fashionable Parisian women.
Another poster of
Bruant by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1892.
He made a fortune and a fortune he spent on his
friends and the needy. He retired from the cabaret scene and devoted himself to
farming, writing books and publishing novels. In 1924, at 73, he made a brief
comeback at the Parisian theater “Theatre Empire”.
(1851-1925)
THE SONGWRITERS (LES CHANSONNIERS)
OF LE CHAT NOIRE
Gaston Couté
(1880-1911) Jules
Jouy (1857-1898)
Maurice Rollinat (1846-1903)
And :
Léon Durocher (1862-1918), Jean Goudezki
(1866-?), Vincent Hyspa ((1868-1914), Maurice Mac-Nab
(1856-1889), René Ponsard
(1830-1894), Léon Xanrof (1867-1953).
THE COMPOSERS (LES
COMPOSITEURS) OF LE CHAT NOIRE
Marie
Krysinska(1864-1908) Erik
Satie(1866-1925) and Léopold Dauphin (1847-?)
Gaston Couté
(1880-1911) Jules
Jouy (1857-1898)
Maurice Rollinat (1846-1903)
And :
Léon Durocher (1862-1918), Jean Goudezki
(1866-?), Vincent Hyspa ((1868-1914), Maurice Mac-Nab
(1856-1889), René Ponsard
(1830-1894), Léon Xanrof (1867-1953).