The company was invited to perform for the royal court of Louis XV in 1772 and thereafter took the name of Grands-Danseurs du Roi (pronounced [ɡʁɑ̃ dɑ̃sœʁ dy ʁwa]).

However, with the fall of the monarchy and the founding of the First French Republic in 1792, the name was changed to the less politically risky Théâtre de la Gaîté.

In 1759 a new Lieutenant General of Police, Antoine de Sartine, took office, and Jean-Baptiste Nicolet,[9] an actor who specialized in playing the role of Harlequin, and one of the foremost producers of popular entertainments at the Parisian fairs,[10] took the opportunity to obtain permission to begin performing in a rented theatre on the boulevard du Temple, although he also continued to present at the fairs until 1789.

It had been created on top of defensive earthworks erected by Charles V in the 14th century and in 1668, during the reign of Louis XIV, turned into a promenade with four rows of trees.

The term spectacle mécanique often referred to puppet shows, but in this case it more likely meant a small stage with scenic effects and cut-out flats as moving figures.

The site had previously been part of the moat, which had been filled in, but was still extremely boggy and needed to be drained, raised, and leveled before the wooden structure could be built.

[7][16] The new theatre, referred to as the Salle des Grands Danseurs,[11] opened in 1764,[17] and was even more successful at attracting large audiences, and "on Sundays, it was by no means unusual to see a couple of thousand spectators besieging the doors.

He also wrote and appeared in several pieces with Nicolet's troupe at the fair theatres, including L'ombre de Vadé at the Foire Saint-Germain in 1757.

[18][19] There he wrote a whole series of coarse but hilarious comedy sketches, some of which skirted obscenity, and in which he often appeared as an actor, usually as a working man, typically a cobbler, and a drunkard.

[11] An obituary in Bachaumont's Mémoires secrets, dated 21 January 1775 shortly after Taconet's death on 29 December 1774 (probably caused by excessive drinking), described him as "the soul of Nicolet's theatre".

[18][20] About 1767 one of the Nicolet's star attractions was a monkey named Turco who would lead parades along the boulevard to the theatre, then take the stage and enact current events.

[25] Lenoir had a more tolerant attitude toward the theatres on the boulevard and at the fairs, since he regarded them as a necessary and comparatively innocuous amusement for the continually increasing working-class population of the capital.

[25] Thus, the number of dramatic pieces performed at Nicolet's boulevard theatre steadily grew, especially pantomimes, the latter eventually developing into the early 19th-century melodrama.

[15] As Nicolet's audience grew, the more he could afford to improve the quality of the presentations, which resulted in even greater demand and a concomitant increase in the yield at the box office.

[15] By 1779 Bachaumont's Mémoires secrets reported that "it can scarcely be credited to what heights of industry this mountebank has ascended; his theatre today rivals the Opera itself and surpasses it in some respects: the stage machinery, admirably adjusted, functions very precisely, the scenery is magnificent, the costumes in the best taste, the production not lacking in splendour, the actors numerous and excellently directed.

Between December 2004 and November 2010, the City of Paris built a digital arts and modern music centre on the site, La Gaîté Lyrique, which restored and incorporated the surviving historic front section of the old building.