Le Ranelagh

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The Château de Boulainvilliers, acquired in 1722 by Samuel Bernard for his mistress, was transformed into a cultural epicentre under Alexandre Joseph de La Pouplinière, a patron of the arts with a passion for music. He transformed the estate into a gathering place for the great minds of the age, such as Rameau and Voltaire. Today, the Théâtre Le Ranelagh perpetuates this heritage by hosting shows that reflect the richness of its artistic past, linking the prestige of yesterday with contemporary creation.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Le Ranelagh was still only the private music salon of Alice & Louis Mors, who welcomed Debussy in 1913. For the first time, the transverse flute notes of the piece ‘Syrinx’ rang out. In doing so, they lived up to the Latin maxim inscribed on the pediment of their salon, to share their love of music «for my friends and me».

Having become a public venue in the early 1930s, Le Ranelagh theatre has played host to renowned filmmakers (Marcel Carné) and innovative shows (Paul Claudel). Its current programme, a mix of revisited classics and modern creations, echoes this rich history.

After the death of Louis Mors, a car manufacturer who was behind the creation of the chair of musicology at the Collège de France, the mansion designed by the architect Alban Chambon was sold by his wife Alice in 1925 and converted into a cinema by the buyer of the site, the ‘Groupe Immobilière de La Muette’. The Ranelagh theatre became a mecca for the 7th Art with Charles de Saint Poulof and Jean Galan as its first directors. Today, this entrepreneurial past is part of the DNA of the Le Ranelagh theatre, where architectural and artistic heritage coexist with modern artistic and technical advances.

After being an art-house cinema and a meeting place for icons such as Gérard Philippe, Marcel Carné and Coluche, in the mid-1980s the Théâtre Le Ranelagh became a stage for all the performing arts: circus, puppetry, theatre, music and opera, illustrating its ability to adapt and keep pace with artistic developments. Today, the diversity of its programming, from silent films to experimental shows, bears witness to its versatility and its commitment to art in all its forms.

The Ranelagh theatre, listed as a supplementary historical monument since 1977, is an architectural treasure trove with its carved oak ornamentation and 21 coffered ceiling. Its programme skilfully combines timeless classics and contemporary plays, attracting a varied audience for 500 curtain-raisers a season and paying tribute to its rich cultural heritage. Since 2022, under the direction of Benjamin Dumas and Bénédicte Dubois, this adventure continues!