Théâtre de l'Athénée (rue Scribe)

Théâtre de l'Athénée (French pronunciation: [teɑtʁ də latene]) or Salle de l'Athénée (pronounced [sal də latene]) was the name of a theatre in the basement of a building built in 1865 by the banker Bischoffsheim at 17 rue Scribe in the 9th arrondissement of Paris (near the new, but at the time unfinished opera house, now known as the Palais Garnier).

Opéras-bouffes, opérettes, and vaudevilles were presented, by composers such as Georges Bizet, Léo Delibes, and Charles Lecocq.

On 16 June 1870, when Martinet was appointed head of the Théâtre-Lyrique (on the Place du Châtelet), he decided to close the Athénée.

[3] The Franco-Prussian War and Siege of Paris (1870–71) prevented any of Martinet's productions from being staged at the Théâtre-Lyrique on the Place du Châtelet,[4] and when that theatre was destroyed by fire during the events of the subsequent Paris Commune, he decided to move the company to the Athénée, where they opened on 11 September 1871 under the name Théâtre-Lyrique, with Constantin as the conductor.

[6] The theatre reopened on 5 September 1874 as the Théâtre Scribe, under the direction of Noël Martin, who presented plays until 6 February 1875, when Un accroc dans l'dos (an opérette) and La belle Lina (an opérette-bouffe by Paul Avenel and Paul Mahalin with music by Charles Hubans) were performed.

[8] The last performance in the theatre was on 31 May 1883, after which the top gallery and the balcony below it were converted into a restaurant, and the orchestra pit became a coal cellar.