Répertoire des Arts du Spectacle is an extensive index to archival collections that relate to musical theater found in numerous regional libraries and archives throughout France. In most cases the information provided consists of basic bibliographic descriptions, but in some cases, select images of documents are included. Music related topics covered include the following: arts de la rue, ballet, cabaret, café-concert, café-théâtre, chanson, cirque, comédie musicale, commedia dell’arte, danse, marionnette, mime, music-hall, musique, opéra, opérette, prestidigitation (magic), théâtre, théâtre audiovisuel, théâtre d’ombres, théâtre lyrique, théâtre musical, théâtre radiophonique, variétés. The index can be browsed by either topic (domaine) or location (les régions). An advanced search interface is also provided in which the user can limit a search to specific keywords, the names of institutions and fonds, the broad topics or domaine, names of persons, the types of documents, the historic era, date, and subject terms.
When browsing by topic the results for each heading appear as a list. When an entry includes images there is a picture icon in the left column.
The browse by region option results in a map of France divided by region. Clicking on a specific region will return a list of all the archival collections located in that area sorted by city.
The kinds of documents found in the fonds indexed include: handwritten or printed annotated documents (including scores), sound and audiovisual recordings, iconographic documents, works of art, scenic elements, costumes and stage props. The full display for entries provides a brief description of the archive, key bibliographic data, the location and contact information for the host institution, and links to other related collections.
The creation of Répertoire des Arts du Spectacles dates from 1997 and is a joint effort of the Ministère de la culture et de la communication, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the Centre national du théâtre.