Félicia Mallet

Félicia Mallet (1863–1928) was a French comedian, singer and pantomime artist.

Félicia Mallet
1891 poster by Jules Chéret for a pantomime of "the tightrope dancer"
Born1863
Bordeaux, France
Died1928
NationalityFrench
OccupationSinger, Pantomime artist

Career
Félicia Mallet (1894)

Félicia Mallet was born in Bordeaux in 1863.[1] In 1887 she played the part of Giovanni Paisiello, the court composer, in the first staging of Victorien Sardou's drama La Tosca.[2] In May 1888 she appeared with the Cercle Funambulesque pantomime company at the Fantaisies-Parisiennes in its first evening of performances, starring in Léandre Ambassadeur.[3] Her performances with the Cercle Funambulesque launched her into stardom.[1]

In 1890 Mallet played Pierrot in a production of L'Enfant prodigue staged in Paris.[4] In 1893 Maurice Lefèvre dedicated his book À travers chants to Mallet. In it he presented a defense of popular songs.[5] Georges Wague made his debut as a mime in 1893. Mallet assisted him in developing his own individual style in the years that followed. [6] Wague was an innovative mime artist who became a film actor.[7] Mime was important in the early days of silent films since a typical mime sketch was short, did not depend on words and could easily be enhanced by music.[8]

Mallet appeared in 1897 at the relatively high-brow La Bodinière theater, where she sang chansons brutales after being introduced in a talk by Lefèvre.[9] She sang Noël de Pierrot and Fête des Morts, both compositions by Xavier Privas.[10] Mallet visited London in 1897 and played Pierrot in A Pierrot's Life in matinees at the Prince of Wales Theatre.[11] In 1899 Mallet was an understudy for the cabaret singer and actress Yvette Guilbert.[12] Félicia Mallet acted in L'Enfant prodigue at the Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre, which opened on 28 April 1900 at the Exposition Universelle, and gave programs that featured films with manually synchronized sound tracks as well as live performances.[13]

Félicia Mallet died in 1928, aged about 65. According to Pierre Trimouillat she was "an incomparable mime, an impeccable story teller and an actress of the first order.[14]

Style

Mallet's style of pantomime was more human and natural than the traditional blank-faced style of Jean-Gaspard Deburau and his disciples, and more expressive of emotions.[15] She was known for the flexibility of her face and her figure.[12] The Irish critic and playwright George Bernard Shaw compared Mallet's 1897 performance to that of other Pierrot's, saying,

Felicia Mallet is much more credible, much more realistic, and therefore much more intelligible — also much less slim, and not quite so youthful. Litini was like a dissolute "La Sylphide": Mallet is frankly and heartily like a scion of the very smallest bourgeoisie sowing his wild oats. She is a good observer, a smart executant, and a vigorous and sympathetic actress, apparently quite indifferent to romantic charm, and intent only on the dramatic interest, realistic illusion, and comic force of her work. And she avoids the conventional gesture-code of academic Italian pantomime, depending on popularly graphic methods throughout.[11]

However, although she was praised for her ability, she was not able to attract large enough audiences with pantomime alone, and also became known as a singer.[12] Mallet often sang Aristide Bruant's songs.[16] She and others who sang Bruant's songs tried to imitate his harsh singing style.[17] Léon Xanrof dedicated his Le fiacre to Mallet, who made it one of her most popular songs in café concert performances.[16] Mallet, Guilbert, Emma Liébel and Eugénie Buffet were pioneers of the chanson réaliste style in their popular shows.[18]

Selected performances

Her performances included:[19]

References

Citations

  1. Salomon et al. 2003, p. 189.
  2. Sardou & Burton 2004, p. 1.
  3. Hugounet 1889, p. 242.
  4. Lust 2002, p. 238.
  5. Fulcher 2011, p. 272.
  6. Gaudreault, Dulac & Hidalgo 2012, p. 106.
  7. Gaudreault, Dulac & Hidalgo 2012, p. 103.
  8. Gaudreault, Dulac & Hidalgo 2012, p. 105.
  9. Fulcher 2011, p. 271.
  10. Mendès 1903, p. 234.
  11. Shaw & Huneker 1913, p. 228.
  12. Filon 1898, p. 268.
  13. Mannoni 2005, p. 516.
  14. Bigot 2012, p. 25.
  15. Lust 2002, p. 62.
  16. Fulcher 2011, p. 269.
  17. Whiting 1999, p. 20.
  18. Baudelaire 1996, p. 12.
  19. Félicia Mallet: Archives du Spectacle.

Sources

  • Baudelaire, René (1996-01-01). La Chanson Realiste: For Anthony. Editions L'Harmattan. ISBN 978-2-7384-4831-6. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Bigot, Chantal (2012). "PRETTY WOMEN" (PDF). Paris: Librairie les Amazones. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-05-14.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • "Félicia Mallet". Les Archives du Spectacle. 2008-08-22. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  • Filon, Augustin (1898). The Modern French Drama: Seven Essays. Kessinger Publishing. p. 268. ISBN 978-1-4179-6007-1. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Fulcher, Jane F. (2011). The Oxford Handbook of the New Cultural History of Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-534186-7. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Gaudreault, André; Dulac, Nicolas; Hidalgo, Santiago (2012-07-02). A Companion to Early Cinema. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4443-3231-5. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Hugounet, Paul (1889). Mimes et Pierrots: notes et documents inédits pour servir à l'histoire de la pantomime. Paris: Fischbacher. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Lust, Annette (November 2002). From the Greek Mimes to Marcel Marceau and Beyond: Mimes, Actors, Pierrots, and Clowns: a Chronicle of the Many Visages of Mime in the Theatre. SCARECROW PressINC. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-8108-4593-0. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Mannoni, Laurent (2005). "Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre". Encyclopedia of Early Cinema. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-23440-5. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Sardou, Victorien; Burton, Deborah (2004). "LA TOSCA" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Mendès, Catulle (1903). Le mouvement poétique français: de 1867 à 1900. Slatkine. ISBN 978-2-05-101274-4. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Salomon, Antoine; Vuillard, Edouard; Cogeval, Guy; Chivot, Mathias; Wildenstein Institute (2003). Vuillard: the inexhaustible glance : critical catalogue of paintings and pastels. Skira. p. 189. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Shaw, Bernard; Huneker, James (1913). Dramatic Opinions and Essays by G. Bernard Shaw: Containing as Well A Word on the Dramatic Opinions and Essays, of G. Bernard Shaw. Brentano's. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Whiting, Steven Moore (1999-02-18). Satie the Bohemian: From Cabaret to Concert Hall: From Cabaret to Concert Hall. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-158452-7. Retrieved 2013-06-05.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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