Opera Bastille... behind the scenes!

From this huge stage where dancers and singers evolve according to ballet or opera performances that punctuate each season, this is what the artists see: a glass ceiling surmounting a room in blue granite and pear wood which can accommodate up to 2,745 spectators .

It is the essential room of the Opéra Bastille, designed by the architect Carlos Ott and inaugurated on July 13, 1989. With its homogeneous acoustics, its comfortable seats and its excellent visibility, this room fulfils the ambition of a modern and popular opera.

Before the curtain goes up, hundreds of people are busy in the decor workshops of the Opéra Bastille. Their vast dimensions make it possible to fulfill the monumental ambitions of scenographers: huge palaces, imposing painted canvases... (almost) everything is possible!

In this room are stored thousands of meters of fabric, hundreds of ribbons or shoulder pads. Brocades, tulles or taffetas, cottons, woolens or linen: all that is needed to make, cut, adjust dresses with corsets, frock coats or Roman tunics, depending on the shows.

In this workshop, wigs of all styles are made to measure from natural hair or even yak hair. It is also here that the artists come to try on their wigs just before the show.

The Paris Opera being an alternating theater, it requires a large space to quickly assemble and disassemble the sets. Located on the 6th floor below the stage, this gigantic area is accessible by a 400 m2 elevator that supports up to 800 tons of scenery!

Who could imagine that at the very top of the Opéra Bastille is… a vegetable garden? Offering a 360° view of Paris, the rooftop harbors a market garden. Vegetables, aromatic herbs and edible flowers are grown for staff or nearby restaurants.