Le Théâtre Gabrielle-Dorziat

The Gabrielle-Dorziat theater in Louis XV style and built in 1898, is decorated by very great artists. It is named after the Sparnacian actress Gabrielle Dorziat and is listed as a historical monument.

In 1898, the Municipal Council of Epernay decided to build a new 850-seat theater on what is now Place Mendès-France. On December 5, 1900, the first stone was laid under the orders of the architect Stanilas Loison, also designer of the theaters of Tours and Cherbourg.

Other artists participated in the decoration such as the sculptor Georges Trugard or Georges Clairin, official painter of the Belle-Epoque and decorator of the Opéra Garnier. Joseph Ascoli, Sparnacian sculptor, decorates the upper pediment of the facade with his work "The Champagne vine inspiring theatrical Art". The theater was inaugurated on October 18, 1902 with the performance of a comic opera.

Magnificent Italian-style theater in the Louis XV style, listed in the Inventory of Historic Monuments, the theater suffered a fire in 1915, then the bombings of 1918. During the Second World War, it was the core of the resistance of the occupants to the liberation of the city.

On November 30, 1987, the theater took the name of Gabrielle Dorziat to honor the famous Sparnacian actress. Born in 1880 in Epernay, Gabrielle Dorziat - whose real name is Gabrielle Sigrist - began a career in the theater in 1920 before becoming a film star in 1936.

She interpreted more than 100 plays, played in more than 70 films and in 1949 won the female cinema prize for best actress. She married King Fouad's cousin in 1925 and became the Countess of Zogheb. In 1971, she made her last film with Jean-Claude Brialy at the age of 90.

For more than 100 years, the theater has hosted numerous plays, concerts and performances. Since 1993, the association "Le Salmanazar" has been responsible for the programming of the Gabrielle-Dorziat theatre.