Opéra Comédie

Comédie, the square, comédie, the theater, is there a Montpellier naming trend? Not really, no. However, if these two flagship attractions of the city do share the same name, it’s not by chance. Their history is simply connected. When Place de la Comédie emerged in 1755, it was named after the municipal theater located beside it. The latter, freshly executed by Jacques Philippe Mareschal, royal engineer, was severely damaged by a fire on the night of December 17-18, 1785. Fortunately, the situation was quickly taken in hand and traces of the accident were erased by major reconstruction works that even allowed for some enlargements. So it was brand new and even more spacious than before when the new theater opened its doors in 1788. But poor thing, in 1881, history repeated itself and a second fire, even more violent than the previous one, completely reduced it to ashes. A witness to the scene would even tell the press that the brilliance of the fire projected “a spectacle both grandiose and frightening.” Again, no choice, it had to be rebuilt. To do this, the City Council organized a competition for the creation of the new theater. Among the 13 projects received, it was that of Joseph-Marie Cassien-Bernard, a student of the famous Parisian architect Charles Garnier, that was selected for this third version, officially inaugurated in 1888. Externally, the façade with its three grandiose bays resembles that of the Monte Carlo Opera. And internally, the immense stage curtain, with its painted fringe borders, recalls that of the Paris Opera. A place for shows, but also a place to be seen, the cultural address accumulates bourgeois adornments. Marble staircase, master sculptures, wall frescoes and ceiling frescoes over several meters, monumental Baccarat crystal chandelier weighing 2 tons, everything is permitted! Divided into 2 halls, one with 1200 seats and one with 350 seats, the Opéra Comédie is one of the largest Italian-style theaters in France, along with those in Paris and Bordeaux. Other peculiarities worth noting, the exterior clock is wound by hand each week, the original statue of the Three Graces fountain rests in its entrance, and, on either side of the hall are two vaults 18 meters apart in which one can communicate at a distance thanks to reverberation. Recently renovated on the eve of its 130th birthday, the Opéra Comédie is, of course, listed as a historical monument. And this, since 2020.