" The Gymnase Dramatique was erected after the designs of Rougevin and Guerchy, in 1820, upon the site of the Cafe Vaspard, on the boulevard de Bonne Nouvelle, which spot formed part of the moat of the city walls erected in 1631. The edifice is of an irregular quadrilateral form, one hundred and sixteen feet in length, by a front of fifty-nine feet, which presents two ranges of six three-quarter columns, Ionic and Corinthian, with pilasters at the angles. The doors are surmounted by pediments, and above them are niches with the statues of two Muses. The edifice is crowned by an attic. The vestibule is small, but the saloon is spacious and neatly ornamented. The plan of the house is semicircular. Its diameter between the fronts of the first tier of boxes is thirty-eight feet, and its height forty-two feet. It contains five tiers of boxes and two galleries. The boxes of the first and second tiers are separated by light pillars.

The decoration of the house, which is remarkably neat and chaste, is by Redouté. The front of the balcony presents scenes taken from the best French pieces. The first and second boxes are ornamented with blue draperies and red cameos. The ceiling is painted in arabesques composed of flowers of bright colours, and the ornaments of the stage-boxes are enriched with gold. In the tym-panum of the proscenium Apollo is seen crowning the Muses.
This theatre is unfavourable to music. The number of spectators it will contain is about a thousand."

In:  Whittaker, G. B.: The History of Paris from the Earliest Period to the Present Day: Vol. II. London, 1825

Autor: G. B Whittaker