Théâtre Mogador

The building you're looking at right now started as a romantic gesture. In 1913, the British impresario Alfred Butt fell deeply in love with the French actress and singer Régine Flory. To impress her, he bought an old horse stable on the Rue de Mogador and transformed it into a theatre modelled after his own London Palladium. That is a fairly dramatic way to say "I like you."

When the theatre opened in 1919, Woodrow Wilson was among the guests. The American president happened to be in Paris at the time, negotiating the peace terms that would become the Treaty of Versailles, and he attended the inauguration. The original name, the Palace Theatre, was meant to attract British soldiers, but it never quite caught on. So the theatre simply borrowed its name from the street it stood on, which itself was named after a Moroccan port city.

Since then, the stage has welcomed Édith Piaf, The Rolling Stones, Sting, and productions like Cats, The Lion King, and Mamma Mia! The Neo-Moorish façade with its ornate details hints at all that layered history, if you take a moment to look up.

Not bad for a converted horse stable.