The Paris Stage List: Must-Watch Plays, Operas & Revues

Because in Paris, the curtain doesn’t just rise—it breathes.

Paris doesn’t do theatre like London or Broadway. She does it her way—elegant, intellectual, often defiant, always sensual. Here, a performance isn’t just a night out, it’s a communion with history, a flirtation with culture, and sometimes a duel with ideas. Whether you’re visiting the city for the first time or have lived here for decades, these are the definitive Parisian stage experiences you must witness at least once.

The Socialites present your ultimate guide to the enduring masterpieces, operatic legends, and sequined fever dreams that define the Parisian stage.

🎭 Molière at the Comédie-Française

“L’esprit français” in its purest form

To see Le Misanthrope, Tartuffe, or L’Avare in the gilded theatre where Molière once performed is not simply a show—it’s time travel. The Comédie-Française, founded in 1680, has staged his works for over 300 years, with actors so enmeshed in the tradition they seem born from it.

📍 Comédie-Française (Salle Richelieu), Place Colette, 1er
🎟️ Must-watch: “Le Misanthrope” for razor wit, or “Le Malade Imaginaire” for comedic perfection

🪞Why go: Molière is to Paris what red wine is to Burgundy. This is cultural DNA.

🎶 Bizet’s Carmen

The original femme fatale, with castanets

Premiered at the Opéra-Comique in 1875, Carmen was a scandal. Too sultry, too brutal, too… true. Paris hated it—then canonized it. Today, it’s revived almost every season at Opéra Bastille or Opéra-Comique, a tempest of love, violence, and habanera heat.

📍 Opéra Bastille or Opéra-Comique
🔥 Best seats: Somewhere centre and close—Carmen is best when it smolders

💃 Paris moment: Watching Carmen return to the theatre that once rejected her.

🎶 Gounod’s Faust

Elegance, damnation, and a deal with the Parisian devil

Premiered in 1859 at the Théâtre Lyrique, Faust embodies 19th-century Parisian obsession with romantic ruin. It’s grand, seductive, and wickedly French. Regularly revived at Opéra Bastille, it’s a gothic feast for the eyes and ears.

📍 Opéra Bastille
🕯️ Most haunting moment: “Le Veau d’Or” chorus—decadence at its peak

🖤 Why it matters: It’s Paris at her most stylishly damned.

🎶 Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande

Moonlight wrapped in music

This symbolist opera, premiered in Paris in 1902, is haunting, elliptical, and very French. It’s Debussy whispering into a mirror, and when staged in the Opéra Garnier or Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, it’s like falling into a melancholic dream.

📍 Opéra Garnier or intimate venues like Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
🌙 Best if you love: Obscure myths, existential fog, and sonic lacework

🎩 La Bohème & La Traviata – The Operas Set in Paris

Love, disease, and candlelight

While not Paris-born, La Bohème and La Traviata are Paris-set, and thus culturally claimed by the city. You’ll often catch these operas revived in Opéra Bastille, Garnier, or even outdoor summer stagings near Montmartre.

📍 Opéra Bastille, Opéra Garnier, or open-air summer festivals
🥀 Tip: Sit back, listen for “Addio senza rancor”, and try not to cry.

💃 The Can-Can & Belle Époque Revues

Sequins, feathers, and scandalous history

The Parisian revue is more than a spectacle—it’s living folklore. Whether at the Moulin Rouge (Féerie), Paradis Latin, or Crazy Horse, these shows channel the ghosts of Toulouse-Lautrec, Josephine Baker, and the Belle Époque. Expect legs, lights, and legacy.

📍 Moulin Rouge (18e), Paradis Latin (5e), Crazy Horse (8e)
💋 Most iconic experience: The Can-Can finale—chaotic, outrageous, hypnotic

💄 Why it’s essential: It’s Paris unfiltered—risqué, glittering, eternal.

🎼 Baroque at the Opéra Royal de Versailles

Opulence, powdered wigs, and musical time travel

If you’ve never seen opera in a palace, start here. The Opéra Royal, within the Château de Versailles, hosts baroque operas by Lully, Rameau, and Charpentier, often played with period instruments, candlelit ambiance, and silk-drenched costumes.

📍 Château de Versailles, Opéra Royal
👑 Transport tip: Take the RER C and dress for royalty

✨ Why it’s unforgettable: Because Versailles was built for spectacles, and this one truly feels divine.

🎭 Avant-Garde Theatre at Théâtre de la Ville or Odéon

For lovers of provocation and poetry

Whether it’s Beckett, Genet, or a reimagined Chekhov with strobe lights, Parisian state theatres push boundaries. Théâtre de la Ville and Théâtre de l’Odéon champion avant-garde, multilingual, and politically charged productions, often with world-class directors.

📍 Odéon (6e), Théâtre de la Ville (Place du Châtelet)
🧠 Expect: Philosophical monologues, silence that screams, and flawless staging