La Bodinière appealed to an elite audience, and staged a variety of lectures and performances until Bodinier retired in 1902.

[2] In 1886 Bodinier proposed to establish a small theater where the students of the Conservatoire could stage performances of the Classics, a concept that was well received by the Minister of Fine Arts.

[3] In his application to the Commission des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques Bodinier insisted that the Théâtre d'Application would be a school and not a profit-making enterprise, and on that basis he was given permission for six months.

[5] In 1887 Bodinier opened the Théâtre d'Application in an old tannery at 18 rue Saint-Lazare for use by students at the Conservatoire de Paris.

The artists Jules Chéret, Ferdinand Bac and Théophile Steinlen had their first one-person shows there while the main room was being used for the Théâtre d'Application.