Marie Louise Marcadet - Background and Career

Background and Career

Marcadet was born in Sweden as the daughter of two actors of the French Theatre of Bollhuset and at the court theatre at Drottningholm of Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia; Jacques Anselme Baptiste and the prima donna Marie Baptiste, and of French descent. In 1780 she married a dancer from her parents home country, Jean-Rémy Marcadet (b. 1755), premierdancer and instructor of ballet at the Royal Swedish Ballet and was thereby known as Madame Marcadet.

When the French Theatre was dissolved in 1771, Marie Louise left Sweden with her parents and followed them touring in Europe; they returned to Sweden in 1776 and performed in a French Court Theatre at the Swedish court in 1776–81. She debuted at the Opera-theater in Bollhuset in Les deux avares, an opéra bouffon by Grétry in the 1777–1778 season and was later the same year acclaimed in Lucile by the same composer. From this year, she was employed at the Royal Swedish Opera as an opera singer.

She was also a dramatic actress; from 1781, she was a part of the French dramatic theatre of Monvel in Bollhuset, and from 1788, she was employed at the Royal Dramatic Theatre. When the director of the Royal Dramatic Theatre left the country in 1788 to escape his creditors, the actors ruled the theatre themselves by votes, and she became a member of the board of directors. This rule was considered quite chaotic, but Marcadets judgement was praised.

Together with Jaques Marie Boutet de Monvel and the couple Desguillons, she was the greatest contributor responsible for the fact that the Swedish national theatre and opera was formed after a French pattern.