The Cercle grew rapidly. By the time of its first constitutive assembly in February 1888, it boasted seventy-five members, including many of the leading celebrities of the day, among them actors (Paul Legrand, Coquelin cadet), playwrights (Jules Lemaître, Jacques Normand, Paul Eudel, Félix Galipaux), novelists (Champfleury, J.-K. Huysmans, Léon Hennique, Jean Richepin), painters (Jules Chéret, Jules Garnier), composers (Jules Massenet, Francis Thomé), and critics and historians of the theater (Léopold Lacour, Arthur Pougin, Edouard Stoullig).Hugounet (1889), pp. 238-239. Its first evening of performances, in May 1888, at a small concert hall at 42, rue de Rochechouart,Hugounet (1889), p. 239; Levillain, p. 278. consisted of a prologue with verses by Jacques Normand accompanied by the miming of Paul Legrand; a pantomime, Colombine pardonée (Columbine Pardoned), written by Paul Margueritte and Beissier, its Pierrot mimed by Paul himself; Najac's pantomime L'Amour de l'art (The Love of Art), with Eugène Larcher as Harlequin; and a parade of the boulevards, Léandre Ambassadeur (Ambassador Leander), starring Félicia Mallet, who would later create memorable Pierrots for the Cercle.Hugounet (1889), pp. 241-242.Storey (1985) notes that a scene from the théâtre-italien of Jean-François Regnard, Arlequin Barbier (Harlequin-Barber), "was announced on the program for the first soirée, but the reviews make it clear that the piece was omitted" (p. 287, n. 11). Almost all subsequent performances would be held at the small Théâtre d'Application, later called La Bodinière.Hugounet (1889), p. 239.
