La Belle Hélène – Opéra bouffe de Jacques Offenbach
The Values of Opéra Éclaté
Opéra Éclaté, a National Company of Lyric and Musical Theater, upholds three core principles. First, it aims to make opera and musical theater accessible across the country, drawing in new audiences and ensuring that everyone has the right to experience these performances. Second, it emphasizes discovering, promoting, and professionally supporting young singers, offering emerging talents opportunities to grow in their craft. Finally, Opéra Éclaté focuses on expanding audiences through educational outreach, working closely with schools and teachers to promote cultural understanding and appreciation.
Creation is the heart of Opéra Éclaté’s mission. The company has collaborated with celebrated theater directors, including Jean-Luc Boutté, Michel Fau, and Éric Perez, and plans to support young directors in vocal stage productions in coming seasons.
Key Statistics
Since 1986, Opéra Éclaté has engaged over 800 artists, produced 51 shows, performed in 155 cities worldwide, and given more than 2,500 performances to over 1.35 million spectators.
Current and Repertoire Productions
Upcoming productions include Carmen Al Andalus, Cosi fan tutte, and La Vie Parisienne. The repertoire also features classics like La Traviata and Madame Butterfly as well as Cabaret and Lost in the Stars in musical theater.
Ideas for Staging (Olivier Desbordes)
Offenbach used La Belle Hélène to satirize the power of Napoleon III. For our adaptation, we’ll reimagine the Atrides as a royal family that aspires to live like ordinary bourgeois—capturing a timeless parody of the elite who dream of simpler lives. In the beginning, Hélène expresses this fantasy: “I would have loved to be a bourgeois.” We’ll make that her reality!
In our production, the royal family awkwardly attempts to behave like “everyone else,” but only as they imagine life to be. This caricature exposes their disconnect with everyday reality as they adopt superficial trends and affected language. The characters use the speech patterns found on highbrow radio and in trendy publications, wearing simple clothes from luxury brands to feel “of the people”—immaculate people who avoid any real labor.
Through this satire, we’ll highlight the absurdity of power, whether religious, political, or domestic. Offenbach’s anachronisms lend a timeless quality to his critique. Here, our infantile, materialistic royals become puppets of their fantasies, ripe for ridicule. The ludicrousness of La Belle Hélène embodies Offenbach’s intent, allowing us to present Hélène as a fictional twin to today’s tabloids’ botoxed princesses and influencers—making satire as fun as it is insightful.
