Difficult to miss as its color stands out next to the rest of the street. Sky blue, angels and golden columns… The Italian Comedy Theater, at 19, rue de la Gaîté in Paris, is known for its facade, so renowned that it received an Hors category mention in the competition for the most beautiful storefronts in the city of Paris in 1995, from the hands of Jacques Chirac, then mayor of the capital.
Today, however, Attilio Maggiulli, owner and founder of the theater, with Hélène Lestrade, collects the signatures for the petition he launched three weeks ago to save its facade threatened by a facelift. If the ground floor will remain intact, “for the moment”, the first floor, and those condemned windows which hide the storage space of the theater is threatened to find the immaculate white common to the rest of the building.
Yet Attilio Maggiulli assures him: “They have no right. I made a tacit agreement with the owner for this facade when signing the lease. In exchange for a few square meters for the garbage and toilet room on the ground floor, I could paint the outside of the second floor. “
Founded in 1980 in “the street of sex shops”
In 1995, Jacques Chirac then promised the actor, at his request, to classify the facade as a protected monument. “But three months later he was President of the Republic, so you can imagine he had something else to do. “Unfortunately, and as stated in the document from the Nexity trustee that he shows to whoever wants it,” after research into town planning by the architect, it is not the case and the architects of the City of Paris have given their agreement to a return to the original state. “
Without trace of this classification, nor of the agreement with the owner, Attilio Maggiulli has only this petition for only weapon. It still claims more than 21,000 signatures just 20 days after its launch, including high-sounding names from the theater: Fabrice Luchini, Francis Huster, Juliette Binoche, Jean Dujardin, Denis Podalydès or Isabelle Huppert.
The founder of the theater defends the history and the spirit of the place. In the old “rue aux théâtres”, a time “eaten up by sex shops”, in 1980 it replaced a former district police station located at 17, before expanding it into a small sex shop at 19 with the support of legends like Samuel Beckett or Marcello Mastroianni. Proud, he recounts the commedia dell’arte lessons he gave to Marcel “the mime” Marceau while showing the photos on the wall of the entrance hall.
Prestigious support, but not that of the authorities
Above all, Attilio Maggiulli fears for the survival of his theater, lair of commedia dell’arte and “the only Italian comedy theater in France”. According to him, the owner would like to recover the place to transform it into accommodation. “The lease we signed makes me pay a fairly low rent. With the prices in Paris and on the streets today, she would surely want to get a lot more out of it. “
In financial difficulties for several years, big names have eyeed this mythical place. From Jean-Pierre Mocky who wanted to transform it into a small genre theater, to Rocco Siffredi who wanted to “organize naked theater”, he especially feared “the Dieudonné threat”. “I will not have recovered,” he comments. For the moment, he owes his salvation only to the auction of a handkerchief that belonged to Marilyn Monroe and to the few aids he was able to benefit from during the health crisis.
To save his theater, Attilio hopes for support. In addition to the petition, he would like to see the city of Paris mobilize. If he contacted Carine Petit, mayor of the 14th arrondissement, from whom he had received a support letter after an attack, he has for the moment no response. Same story on the side of the town hall. “They finance Jeff Koons, they buy clubs like Tango, why can’t they help me, at least to save my facade? “