Does Paris have a ticket booth similar to the one in London at Leicester Square? Specifically, I'd like to attend an opera at Opera Bastille (Pelleas and Melisande by Claude Debussy). I know I can buy the tickets on-line at their website, but not the cheap ones I want! I can also go to the Opera's ticket window directly, but I thought if there were a central clearing house for all performance tickets like the one in London, perhaps I could buy other kinds of tickets as well for later in the week.

Another website, www.bonjourparis.com has in instruction to buy 1/2 price tickets from the Kiosque Theatre, 2 locations (Place de la Madeleine, 9th or in front of the Gare Montparnasse, 15th) but it wasn't clear what venues would be available...

Scroll down this web for pictures of the kiosk:
http://www.tdf.org/search/tkts_other.html

Yes, they do have those half-price ticket sites for local theater, and I think I've seen some musical performances listed there. YOu will never get half-price tickets to the opera there, or the ballet.

This is the website for Le Kiosque Theatre. It is in French (which I don't read), but it doesn't appear they sell opera tickets.
http://www.kiosquetheatre.com/WL_Kio...atre/index.asp

Thanks all. It looks like I will have to try my luck at the Opera Bastille, but nonetheless, we have a week in Paris. It might be nice to see what last minute performances of anything else might turn up. I'll look into the Kiosque Theatre.

Don't waste your time -- the Kiosk only deals in French-language theatre, cabaret etc. You probably don't want to sit through 2-3 hours of French-only theatre, probably . . .

The websites for ballet, opera etc. accurately reflect what's actually available. They do not have the tradition of holding some seats back 'til day of performance/half price tix/selling on same-day returns.

Do *not* buy from scalpers/touts out front; you can bet the tickets won't get you in the door.

For Anglophone culture listings I like

http://www.parisvoice.com/04/summer0...r/calendar.cfm

There's also some theatre listings there, I see. Sorry to be the voice of reality, but the events at Bastille and Garnier sell out months in advance . . . why not bite the bullet and pay big euros for P&M ? It'd be a once in a lifetime thing . . .

Also be sure to buy a Pariscope magazine (cost is only 0.40 Euros) from a news kiosk once you are in Paris. That lists a variety of cultural offerings.

I have regularly bought tickets from the cut price ticket booth at Gare Montparnasse, but, then again, I do not have a specific performance in mind when I do.

If you want to see something in particular, I would not wait until you get to Paris to see if you can buy a reduced price ticket. I would purchase in advance.

Its been years now but I do recall being able to buy cheaper tickets if any were left on the day of a performace at the opera box office (my mother and I saw Carmen by buying these cheaper tickets) but you had to get there early and wait in line etc. Perhaps someone can confirm if this still occurs (its been 5 years....)

dln-
I guess another option would be to call the Opera Bastille box office to ask what kind of tickets they still have left.
My one and only experience with Opera Bastille was 10yrs ago. I showed up the day of performance at the box office. Fortunately they had a few returned tickets which I bought one.

One thought about Pelléas et Mélisande I have, is that I believe it is in French, and I wonder if they will have any subtitles at all (if no subtitles, it could be rather boring if one doesn't know the opera or French).

Thank you again, everyone! Please cross your fingers that some leftover tickets are available. I had reserved tickets online for a performance of Carmina Burana at one of the churches on the Left Bank, but the concert was cancelled! That's when I found the Debussy opera. I might just bite the bullet and just buy a ticket anyway. My husband and I are bringing "dress up" clothes with us (my birthday falls the week we're in Paris) so I might just go for it!

As for the super- or sub-titles, I would think they'd be in French, don't you? Luckily we both read French well enough to pick up the gist of the story in the program. And we like Debussy well enough to simply enjoy the music and singing. Wish us luck, everyone. Can you imagine an opera in Paris????