Émile Isola was born on 4 September 1860 in Blida, Algeria and died in Paris on 17 May 1945. Along with his younger brother Vincent Isola with whose life and career he was closely involved, he was a conjurer and theatre director in Paris; they were known as the Frères Isola – the Isola Brothers.
Born in Algeria of Italian parents, Émile Isola arrived in Paris in 1880, and with his brother undertook a variety of jobs before they first showed their conjuring act in public. They acquired the Théâtre des Capucines in 1892 and renamed it Théâtre Isola attracting large audiences.
At the end of 1895, the Isola brothers discovered the invention of the Frères Lumière, cinematography, and devised a projector called Isolatographe for which the films were provided by another pair of brothers, Frères Emile and Charles Pathé. By colouration of the films they were able to show 'colour films' at the Théâtre Isola. [1]
In 1897, they bought the Parisiana and stopped their own act to become theatrical producers. The brothers became the directors of the Olympia in 1898, the Folies Bergère in 1901, and the Gaîté-Lyrique from 1903-1913. As joint directors of the Opéra-Comique from 1914-1925 (with Pierre-Barthélemy Gheusi and subsequently with Albert Carré), [2] they revived Penelope by Fauré and Le Festin de l'araignée by Roussel, and produced Milhaud's first opera La brebis égarée. [3]
Their tenure at the Théâtre Mogador saw the Paris premieres of No, No, Nanette and Rose-Marie , and revivals of Offenbach operettas.
Directorship of the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt from 1926 brought about their ruin despite the success of the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, and of Sacha Guitry and Yvonne Printemps. In 1936 the brothers were obliged to restart touring with their conjuring act. During the occupation of Paris in 1943, they took over the direction of the Théâtre Pigalle. They died in relative obscurity after the war.
In 1917 the Bouffes-Parisiens presented L'Illusioniste, a play about the sentimental adventures of a magician, by Guitry inspired by the Isola brothers.
He received the Légion d'honneur in 1922. He was married twice, to Sidonie Victorine Marie Courbarien and after her death, to Yvonne Cadet.
Henri Meilhac was a French dramatist and opera librettist, best known for his collaborations with Ludovic Halévy on Georges Bizet's Carmen and on the works of Jacques Offenbach, as well as Jules Massenet's Manon.
Joseph Méry was a French writer, journalist, novelist, poet, playwright and librettist.
Pierre-Eugène Veber was a French playwright and writer.
La Vie parisienne is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, composed by Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.
Albert Carré was a French theatre director, opera director, actor and librettist. He was the nephew of librettist Michel Carré (1821–1872) and cousin of cinema director Michel Carré (1865–1945). His wife was the French soprano Marguerite Carré (1880–1947).
Vincent Isola was a French theatre director. Along with his older brother Émile Isola with whose life and career he was closely involved, he was a conjurer and theatre director in Paris; they were known as the Frères Isola – the Isola Brothers.
Pierre-Barthélemy Gheusi, also known by the pseudonym Norbert Lorédan, was a French theatre director, librettist, journalist and writer. He was born in Toulouse and died in Paris.
Auguste Nompar de Caumont, 13th Duke of La Force, was a French duke and historian. Specialising in the 17th century, his work allowed him to reconstruct events in which his ancestors had taken part. He was elected a member of the Académie française on 19 November 1925.
Jean Oberlé was a French painter who became a member of the French Resistance.
The Théâtre des Capucines was a former theatre on the boulevard des Capucines in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. Built in 1889 by architect Édouard-Jean Niermans, it was taken over by two brothers, Émile Isola and Vincent Isola, in 1892 to become the Théâtre Isola. They managed the theatre until 1897.
Draner, actually Jules Joseph Georges Renard, was a Belgian painter, Illustrator and cartoonist. Draner, who began working as an illustrator for renowned newspapers in 1861 and resided in Paris, created late costumes for a variety of renowned theaters and opera houses. He is also considered to be an early Belgian comics artist.
Pierre Henri Cami was a French humorist.
Henri Philippe Moïse Monteux was a French theatre and film actor, and an elder brother of the conductor Pierre Monteux. His family was descended from Sephardic Jews who settled in France.
Antoine Albalat (1856-1935) was a French writer and literary critic.
Jacques Baumer, was a French theatre director and comedian.
Christian Gérard Mazas, known as Christian-Gérard, was a French stage and film actor as well as theater director.
Denis d'Inès, real name Joseph-Victor-Octave Denis, was a French actor and theatre director for some plays. He entered the Comédie-Française in 1914, was a sociétaire from 1920 to 1953, and General administrator by intérim in 1945.
Pierre Albéric Second, was a 19th-century French journalist, novelist and playwright.
Auguste Luchet was a 19th-century French playwright, journalist, novelist and writer.
Boris Lipnitzki (1887–1971) was a Russian Empire-born French photographer of the arts; ballet, fashion, cinema, visual art, writing and music.