Paris's Unexpected Stages

In Paris, one popular treat is the ciné-concert, where you watch a film while a live orchestra performs its score. La La Land, Harry Potter and Whiplash are among the films shown this way. It isn't the hushed atmosphere of an ordinary cinema: audiences react when a favorite scene or character appears, so the mood sits somewhere between a movie night and a concert. At a Harry Potter ciné-concert the writer attended, the conductor encouraged the audience to cheer for their favorite characters before the show began, and the writer joined in with a little applause when Hermione appeared.

You can also find performances in unexpected places, such as museums and galleries. Contemporary dance pieces that interact with the works on display are staged often, including shows at the Fondation Cartier gallery and the Centre Pompidou.

Then there is street music, which is everywhere: in metro stations and train cars, along the Seine, up on Montmartre hill. Paris is practically one big stage. Interestingly, only musicians selected through Musiciens du Métro, a program run by the Paris transit authority (RATP), are allowed to perform in the metro. Launched in 1997 and still going, it aims to give riders a musical treat, discover emerging artists, and give them a platform in a system used by millions of people. Auditions are held twice a year, in spring and autumn. Roughly 1,000 musicians apply each season, and only 300 earn the right to play in metro stations and on platforms. So if you hear music in the metro, don't just walk past. It could be your first encounter with a future star.

If you dream of busking yourself, there's a spot for you. Near the Ladurée macaron shop in Paris's 15th arrondissement, a large Monoprix supermarket has a piano by its entrance. It's about a 20-minute walk from the Eiffel Tower, and shoppers often stop to play on their way in and out. No gear? No problem. Show off your piano skills here.