PARIS (AFP).- British arts supremo Ruth Mackenzie -- who ran the Cultural Olympiad for the 2012 London Olympics Games -- is to take the helm of one of the French capital's most important theatres, the Paris mayor's office said Tuesday.

Mackenzie's appointment comes as the Theatre du Chatelet prepares to close for nearly two and a half years for a 26.5-million-euro ($27.5-million) refurbishment.

Its new artistic director ran the Scottish Opera, the Manchester International Festival and was a cultural adviser to the British government before leaving Britain to run the Holland Festival in Amsterdam three years ago.

The prestigious Dutch festival told AFP that Mackenzie would see out her contract there and curate both its 2017 and 2018 events.

Mackenzie, 59, will take over from Jean-Luc Choplin, who is credited with winning over previously sceptical French audiences to the joys of the musical.

"42nd Street" is currently playing to packed houses at the theatre and its hit version of "Singing in the Rain" will be revived as part of an itinerant programme while the building is closed.

Choplin, 67, is leading the launch a new 170-million-euro concert hall complex on an island in the River Seine in western Paris next year called the Seine Musicale.


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