After the second theatre at the Palais Royal was devastated by fire in 1781, the Opera was temporarily moved to the Hôtel des Menus Plaisirs, a furniture depository where decorative pieces from the Court were stored.
However, since the architect Nicolas Lenoir had promised Marie-Antoinette that he would quickly build a new theatre, the troupe remained there for barely three months.
The first performance in this stopgap theatre took place on August 14 1781 with Rousseau’s Le Devin du village and Myrtil et Lycoris, an opera-ballet by Desormery. Smaller than the Palais Royal’s second theatre, it had just two rows of boxes, however it was equipped with seats in the stalls.
Construction of the new theatre, which began on August 25, was so efficient, that the Opera was able to leave the Hôtel des Menus Plaisirs just 86 days later and move to its new location at the Porte Saint-Martin.
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