The former director of the Avignon Festival, Olivier Py, takes over the prestigious Châtelet theater in Paris
We finally know the name of the chosen one for the Châtelet, a prestigious Parisian theater that has been dormant since 2017, and it is a promotion that is making noise: it is the former director of the Avignon Festival, Olivier Py, who takes over the management of a place for which Valérie Chevalier and Sandrina Martins had also been candidates.
Olivier Py is appointed director of the Châtelet by the City of Paris. The news fell this Wednesday at the end of the day, putting an end to a very long wait but not to the questions which await solutions. Difficult to follow a soap opera where 33 contenders for the post have appeared for six months and even more, without a specific profile being really required. Finally, a fortnight ago there were only three left, Valérie Chevalier, Sandrina Martens and Olivier Py.
Valérie Chevalier, director of the Orchester Opéra National de Montpellier Occitanie, appointed in 2013, had every chance, and skills, to be appointed at the head of the Parisian theater which has been languishing since 2017 waiting for a better future and a real project. Sandrina Marten, who has quite a career, at the Center Chorégraphique de Grenoble, in Marseille, and since 2015 at the Carreau du Temple, was also well placed.
The last days have been moved. The appointment was eagerly awaited, initially scheduled for the first half of January. Recently The Musician’s Letter announced that Valérie Chevalier was elected. Fake news…
“Huge Artist”
Olivier Py is therefore chosen. Formerly director at Orléans and at the Odéon, this actor, playwright, director and director, was at the head of the Avignon festival from 2013 to 2022. “A huge artist broadcast all over the world”, comments Anne Hidalgo , PS mayor of Paris, on Twitter. He has staged dozens of theatrical works and as many operas, with more or less success.
His appointment is not unanimous, not that we regret the promotion of the famous director of Avignon, without a post since his departure from the festival, but Anne Hidalgo plays the theater card while the Théâtre de la Ville, located opposite du Châtelet, devoted himself to dramatic art.
In Montpellier, Valérie Chevalier therefore remains at the helm of the Opera Orchestra, which is already looking for a president and a principal conductor, and must face budgetary problems. Olivier Py inherits a deficit that would be more than six million euros, and he will have to be returned to find something to fill it, and give back to the Châtelet its lyrical aura of opera and operetta. He knows the music.
