(Visit April 2007)
Unbelievable. For fans of Phantom the staircase and chandelier will give you chills. For those who don’t know the connection it’s still a spectacle. Almost 150 years old and still functioning and glamorous . Exploring the various rooms and parlors surrounding the main theatre may be more impressive. There is a cutaway model of the whole opera that shows it true grandeur. The theatre is relatively small maybe a ¼ of the building. I think the stage may be bigger than the whole theatre. Makes any Broadway theater or even the Met in NYC look like dinky community theater buildings.

This building is beautiful, well worth the 8 Euro entrance fee. In particular for fans of Phantom of the Opera (Film or Stage Show) its wonderful, brings so much to life when you see things which have so obviuosly influenced the show & film. But even if youve never seen Phantom & frankly dont want to, its still worth the visit. The archtecture & totally over the top decor has to be seen to be believed.
Make sure you have the correct money or very close to it for the ticket desk as even on first opening in the morning the "jobsworth" on the desk is quite willing to turn people away if they try to pay with too large a note.
We thought we were going to be dissapointed as there were signs saying the auditorium/stage wasnt open due to rehersals, but were lucky that they were opened during our visit for 10 minutes & boy the ceiling, chandellier etc in there was amazing.
So if your planning a vist to Paris allocate 2/3 hours for this along with Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Notre Damn, Boat Trip & Arc de Triomphe.

Chagall lovers MUST see the interior ceiling of the main performance hall. The ceiling was created by Marc Chagall and is signed in the White Section of the outer circle, dated 1964. Another signature is also placed in the Inner Circle between the Inner Yellow and Blue Sections. I visited and shot photographs on October 1, 2005. If you are a Chagall lover, this ceiling is a dream come true.

In the outer circle there are five color sections. Each section is dedicated to different composers and musical works. The Blue Section is dedicated to Mussorgsky and Mozart and features The Enchanted Flute. The Green Section is dedicated to Wagner (Tristan and Isolde) and Berlioz, and features images of Romeo and Juliette. The White Section is dedicated to Rameall and Debussy and features Pelleas and Melisande. The Red Section is dedicated to Stravinsky and features Ravel and Daphnis and Chloe. The Yellow Section is dedicated to Tchaikowsky and features Swan Lake, Firebird and Giselle (by Théophile Gautier).

For photographers who wish to take the best photographs of the ceiling, take a short tripod (Slik mini pro, for instance) with you to Europe. A short tripod can be placed on the edge of the box seats from which you are allowed to view the ceiling after you have paid your $7 Euro entrance fee. It is next to impossible to shoot quality hand-held shots in the low-lighting situation that exists for viewing. I found that even in place where tripods were not allowed, the short tripod was allowed. You should also consider purchasing a camera that has a 2-second delay and a twist-out LCD screen. Please check the Sterling Images site for quality photographs of the Chagall ceiling.

The Opera house is just amazing. Not only does it look breath taking outside, it is just beautiful inside.
We got there just before it opened at 10.00am. I would advise this time as about 10.30 onwards it got quite busy.
The staircase is just like it is in the show and film my sister did sing Masqurade 'excuse spelling' going up it.
The fine detail on the celings etc, is just amazing.
You get to go into 2 of the boxes so you can see the actual theatre which I was very pleased about, I think it would be a con if you could not actually see stage and seating area..

Yes as someone said there is box 5...

It cost 7 Euros to get in which I thought it was well worth it. That is if you are into that type of thing.