Paris (AFP)

It was a dance temple early twentieth century with the legendary Ballets Russes and, just before its closure almost three years ago for work, was a Parisian Mecca of the musical.

A new page is turning Friday for the Théâtre du Châtelet which reopens after a renovation project that has allowed him to regain its original colors of the Second Empire and especially modernized it, with a new computerized stage cage that will allow among other things, changes of scenery faster.

With almost 160 years of history behind it, the prestigious Parisian theater - some posters from the Ballets Russes season and signed by Cocteau or Léon Bakst are almost as famous as the theater itself - promises for its first season post-works eclectic and unconventional programming.

For the opening day, at the end of the afternoon, the theater is planning a giant puppet parade in Mozambique with more than 200 participants, from the Town Hall to the Châtelet. This is a wink to "Parade", a ballet created at the Châtelet in 1917 for the Ballets Russes by the French composer Erik Satie on a poem by Jean Cocteau, with Picasso's sets and costumes and choreography Leonid Massine.

This will be followed by free entertainment around Satie's fantasy world in the theater's foyers and lounges, followed by an evening music performance.

- "Innovation Theater" -

This is the first season of the pair Ruth Mackenzie - British and first woman at the head of the theater-- and Thomas Lauriot-dit-Prévost, both named in 2017, shortly before the start of work that cost 31, 5 million euros, mainly financed by the City of Paris.

"Historically, it's a theater of innovation that is constantly reinventing itself," says AFP Ruth Mackenzie.

The actual programming, which will begin at the beginning of October, is bold: Abdel Malik transforms Camus's text "The Righteous" into a musical rap show, with the participation of young people from Aulnay-sous-Bois in Seine-Saint- Denis.

"We want to reinvent the notion of + music +," says Mackenzie. His co-director called the show "musical tragedy, a + Hamilton + French".

The theater, however, resumed a great success from 28 November to 1 January 2020: "An American in Paris", which former director Jean-Luc Choplin co-produced with Broadway in 2014. The choreography is by Christopher Wheeldon, a popular British choreographer the "Cinderella" will also be on view (2-8 July 2020) with the Dutch National Ballet

In addition to Abdel Malik, another contemporary music artist, Erwan Castex, known as Rone, a French figure in the electro scene, will have carte blanche.

Legends of the choreography, alive or disappeared, are invited, with choreographies of William Forsythe, Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch or Akram Khan.

The Australian Barrie Kosky will present in January his stage version of Haendel's oratorio "Saul" which has been a triumph since its creation in 2015 while the National Theater of Korea and the Singaporean Ong Keng Sen transform "Les Troyennes", Greek tragedy of Euripides, in contemporary Korean opera in June 2020.

Atypical staging, the American Peter Sellars will mount the show "Black Pearl" in tribute to Josephine Baker and, world premiere, the Malian musician Rokia Traore will pay tribute to Miriam Makeba, an icon of the fight against apartheid.

The enfant terrible of classical music, the highly sought-after Greek-Russian conductor Teodor Currentzis, will be in residence in 2020.

And the Franco-Austrian artist Gisèle Vienne will reproduce her show "This is how you will disappear", a mix of dance, theater, visual arts and electro music.

© 2019 AFP