A rare event in the cultural landscape of a medium-sized town: on December 12, a brand new theater will open its doors in Amiens. A place dedicated solely to laughter and humor. Welcome to the Comédie d’Amiens, a project led by Bruno Romier, director and producer, who hopes to capture a popular audience, unaccustomed to attending a performance hall.
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Thursday, December 12, at 8:30 p.m., at 5 rue de Sully, in the emerging Montières district, in Amiens, the public is invited to a real event. The first and only private theater dedicated to comedy in this city will welcome its first 200 spectators, finally, Bruno Romier hopes, for The Cons Dinnerthe cult play by Francis Veber.
“Le Dîner de Cons” first comedy scheduled for December 12, 2024 at the opening of the Comédie d’Amiens. • © Bruno Romier
“It’s a real Christmas program that we are offering. An anthology of comic successes: A Customized Life will follow the Dîner de Cons, with Amiens actor Gabriel Charbonnet, who dreamed of playing in his hometown. Moreover, reservations for this show went out very quickly, the room is already almost full.”
The actor Gabriel Charbonnet in the play “Une vie tailor” which will be performed at the Comédie d’Amiens in December. • © Bruno Romier
“Amiens residents will also be able to laugh at the caustic humor of Count de Bouderbala, Massacre à la Princesse, Les Hommes sont des Femmes comme les Autres… 7 dates until the end of December, 7 shows, which toured throughout France and met with great success everywhere. I therefore highly recommend booking on our site comedie-amiens.fr“, encourages Bruno Romier.
“Like many positive events in my life, I chose Amiens by chance. I had first thought of Le Havre, but that didn’t come to fruition.continues Bruno Romier. Then a friend strongly advised me to take an interest in Amiens. This city was of real interest, because it does not have any private theater worthy of the name and its area of influence potentially concerns 400,000 people. Which is not negligible! It remained to find the location. And there, another stroke of luck: thanks to the help of a real estate agent whom I can never thank enough, an SCI proposes to build the theater in the Montières district, in the midst of redevelopment, on a wasteland, rue de Sully .“
“The Comédie d’Amiens, as this new stage is called, can accommodate 200 people in 350 square meters. And if the construction of the building and the stage didn’t cost me a cent, I have to pay rent and above all bring all the interior fittings: the chairs, the light, the overhead projector and even a pizza oven. There is no nearby food outlet, so I plan a snack bar area with drinks, boards and pizzas. It’s a race against time to be absolutely ready on December 12, but I have great support“, he says.
Curtain rising imminent at the Comédie d’Amiens, the latest performance hall in the Picardy capital. • © Bruno Romier
And to complete his final sprint, Bruno Romier is launching online crowdfunding on the French platform “Ulule”. Patrons, even the most modest, are invited to pay their contribution starting Thursday, November 7.
In parallel with purely theatrical activity, focused entirely on comedy, Bruno Romier also launched rue Sully, a theater school open to everyone, and especially to amateurs of all ages. “Children, teenagers, adults or seniors, everyone is welcome. Currently, we are in the recruitment phase for our theater courses and workshops. We want to recruit 4 or 5 teachers who live in the region for groups of 10 to 15 students. If the formula appeals, we will open other slots if necessary and then of course, we are planning end-of-year shows with our students.“
A school which will also offer a therapeutic theater course led by a professional speaker and a sophrologist. “I want to promote the well-being of students, making learning theater a pleasure for everyone. And then of course, I do not forbid myself from inviting regional companies or actors to the stage“, adds Bruno Romier, who has lived in Paris for 10 years, but claims his provincial origins.
Very attached to his hometown, Angers, Bruno Romier is an autodidact in the world of theater where he made his way through daring and perseverance. “My mother was a housekeeper and my father a plumber. I was raised in a very modest environment. In the evenings, we watched Drucker or Guy Lux shows. And I had to stop schooling early for health reasons. I was directed towards an apprenticeship as a pastry chef, but at 17, I decided to host a local radio show. An adventure which lasted two years and which was a revelation. I discovered an appetite for the world of show business, the world of glitter and light. I dreamed of becoming the producer of Claude François, whom I admired very much!“
“Men are women like any other”: the programming of the Comédie d’Amiens is exclusively focused on the world of comedy and humor. • © Bruno Romier
“I felt different, that’s obvious. With my childhood, you either become the product of your education, or you extricate yourself from it, in search of revenge. This desire was a driving force. I wanted to prove that I was not an imbecile, so I read a lot, I informed myself, a lot“.
A record seller, then a turner, as they say in the profession, he brought the headliners of the time to his town: Jeanne Mas, Francis Lalanne, William Sheller… Then he launched a festival: Les Soirées au Castle. “A festival which mixed dance and theater, but which I tried to make accessible to as many people as possible despite resistance to culture in certain circles“.
In this business, you are the king of the world when you own your own theater
Bruno Romier has done every possible job in the cultural field, driven by an insatiable curiosity and a certain ambition. “After Angers, I went to Angoulême. I ran a cinema, organized events, wrote for a free newspaper. And the day I received my press card was a great, memorable day. A revenge on my childhood“. Finally, Bruno Romier settled in Paris. He became an administrator in a group which owned three theaters and at the same time, directed the successful play Love Addict.
Bruno Romier, leader of the “La Comédie de Picardie” project, a self-taught man who knows the world of entertainment well. • © Bruno Romier
Then Amiens, the new adventure: its own room, with total freedom in programming. “In this business, you are the king of the world when you own your own theater“But there is no question for Bruno Romier of charging prohibitive prices. They will be between 17 and 35 euros depending on the notoriety of the artists, with reductions granted to RSA beneficiaries or students. “I hope to attract all ages and especially those who are not used to entering a theater. Comedy is an ideal way to bring everyone together. It’s ultimately a tribute to my childhood, I realize. But you know, at my age, 59, you feel better about yourself. We seek the shortest path to serenity and happiness“.
