L’Alliance New York announces a screening of Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, set for Thursday, March 5, 2026  at 7PM at the Florence Gould Theater, L’Alliance New York, 55 East 59th Street, New York, NY, 10022. Tickets start at $15.

Le Bourgeois gentilhomme

Long nicknamed “La Maison de Molière,” the Comédie-Française offers a bold new production of one of its patron playwright’s seminal comédie-ballets. Rarely seen in the US as a piece of theater but perhaps more familiar to New York audiences as a Balanchine ballet, this rollicking satire follows an upstart bourgeois merchant in his elaborate attempts to ascend to the aristocracy.

Acclaimed directing partners Valérie Lesort and Christian Hecq reimagine this 17th-century classic as a deliciously relevant class farce complete with fantastical costumes and Balkan-inspired music. Run time is two hours and twenty minutes with no intermission. Tickets can be purchased at https://lallianceny.org/event/le-bourgeois-gentilhomme/.

This program is presented as originally created. It contains cultural stereotypes and representations that reflect the period in which it was produced. These depictions do not reflect L’Alliance New York’s values today. We present this work in its original form to acknowledge its place in history and to encourage thoughtful discussion.

Please note that an 18-minute pre-recorded interview precedes the start of the play.

Le Bourgeois gentilhomme

Comic ballet by Molière

Directed by Valérie Lesort and Christian Hecq

Sets: Éric Ruf

Costumes: Vanessa Sannino

Lights: Pascal Laajili

Original music and arrangements: Mich Ochowiak and Ivica Bogdanić

Choreography: Rémi Boissy

Puppets: Carole Allemand and Valérie Lesort

Assistant director: Florimond Plantier

Sets assistant: Julie Camus

Costumes assistant: Claire Fayel (from the Comédie-Française academy)

With:

Véronique Vella: Nicole, student of the master of music and puppetry

Sylvia Bergé: Madame Jourdain, singer

Françoise Gillard: Dorimène, dancer

Laurent Stocker: Covielle, Mufti

Guillaume Gallienne: Master of philosophy

Christian Hecq: Monsieur Jourdain

Nicolas Lormeau: Master of music and puppetry

Clément Hervieu-Léger: Dorante

Gaël Kamilindi: Master of dance and Master tailor

Yoann Gasiorowski: Cléonte, percussionist, puppetry

Jean Chevalier: Master of weaponry, puppetry

Géraldine Martineau: Lucile, dancer

And the actors from the Comédie-Française academy:

Antoine de Foucauld: Lackey, tailor’s assistant, puppetry

Nicolas Verdier: Lackey, tailor’s assistant, puppetry

And:

Ivica Bogdanić: Musician (accordion, percussion)

Remi Boissy: Dancer, tailor’s assistant, puppetry

Julien Oury: Musician (trombone, tuba)

Alon Peylet: Musician (trombone, trumpet, tuba)

Victor Rahola: Musician (helicon)

Martin Saccardy: Musician (trumpet)

© Comédie-Française – France 2022

Worldwide distribution: Pathé Live

In association with: Bel Air Média

Directed by Dominique Thiel

About L’Alliance New York

As an independent, not-for-profit organization, L’Alliance is committed to providing members and students with engaging French language classes and audacious multi-disciplinary programming that celebrates the diversity of francophone cultures and creativity around the world.

A welcoming and inclusive community for all ages and backgrounds, L’Alliance New York cultivates a space where people can meet, learn, explore the richness of heritage, and share discoveries. They strive to amplify voices and build bridges from the entire francophone world to New York and beyond.

L’Alliance New York’s history began in 1898 when the Alliance Française established a chapter here in New York City. In 1911, francophile New Yorker MacDougal Hawkes founded the Museum of French Art, French Institute, and opened a space in 1925 inside a beautiful Beaux-Arts building at 22 East 60th Street, where L’Alliance still operates. In 1971, the two institutions combined to create the French Institute Alliance Française, now known as L’Alliance New York.

As a product of this union, L’Alliance is infused with the spirit of the original French Institute. Designed to serve as a museum, library, and intellectual and social club for New York’s francophone community, the French Institute is a place where all are welcome – a place of community, culture, support, and festivity.

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